Netherlands: Difference between revisions
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The Netherlands literally means ''"lower countries"'' in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with only about 57% of its land exceeding 1 meter (3ft 3 in) above sea level, and nearly 26% falling below sea level. Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders, are the result of land reclamation that began in the 14th century. Colloquially, the Netherlands is occasionally referred to by the pars ''pro toto Holland''. With a population of 26.4 million people, all living within a total area of roughly (insert square kilometers) —of which the land area is (insert number) square kilometers —the Netherlands is the 10th most densely populated country in the world and the 2nd most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of (insert people per square km). Nevertheless, it is one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products (in terms of value), owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture, and strong agriculture-technology sector.
The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised abortion, prostitution and human euthanasia, along with maintaining a liberal drug policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in Civil Law in 1870, though it was not completely removed until a new constitution was approved in 1983. The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919, before becoming the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 1983. Its mixed-market advanced economy has one of the highest levels of per capita income in the world. The Netherlands from its inception and well into the modern day is known as a country of freedom where the press is respected, where religions are tolerated and diversity is embraced. This is most notable in the large influx of immigrants from the Dutch East Indies in the 1970s that reshaped the country her demographic forever. The country is sometimes seen as the least European country due its diversity and strange customs compared to the norm. Despite all that nobody can deny that the Netherlands stands at the center of a complex network of a cultural sphere that has and to this day is influential far beyond what its size would suggest.
== Etymology ==
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== Geography ==
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the European Netherlands has a total area of (insert number ) km<sup>2</sup> , including water bodies; and a land area of (insert numbers) km<sup>2</sup> The Caribbean Netherlands has a total area of 328 km<sup>2</sup> (127 sq mi) It lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N, and longitudes 3° and 8° E.
The Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is considered a flat country, with about 31% of its area and 39% of its population located below sea level, and only about 50% of its land exceeding one metre above sea level. The European part of the country is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast, up to a height of no more than 321 metres, and some low hill ranges in the central parts. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made, caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation. Since the late 16th century, large polder areas are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes, canals and pumping stations. Nearly 23% of the country's land area is reclaimed from the sea and from lakes.
Much of the country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers: the Rhine (''Rijn''), the Meuse (''Maas'') and the Scheldt (''Schelde''), as well as their tributaries. The south-western part of the Netherlands is to this day a river delta of these three rivers, the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta.
The European Netherlands is divided into north and south parts by the Rhine, the Waal, its main tributary branch, and the Meuse. In the past, these rivers functioned as a natural barrier between fiefdoms and hence historically created a cultural divide, as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognisable on either side of what the Dutch call their "Great Rivers" (''de Grote Rivieren''). Another significant branch of the Rhine, the IJssel river, discharges into Lake IJssel, the former Zuiderzee ('southern sea'). Just like the previous, this river forms a linguistic divide: people to the northeast of this river speak Dutch Low Saxon dialects (except for the province of Friesland, which has its own language).
== Government and politics ==
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