Netherlands
| The Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| Kingdom of the Netherlands | |
| Nederland | |
 | |
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File:Locator Netherland.pngLocation of The Netherlands | |
| Established | Treaty of Vienna (1814) |
| Capital | The Hague Amsterdam |
| Largest City | Amsterdam |
| Government Type | Constitutional Monarchy |
| Languages |
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| Currency | Gulden |
The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland), officially the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a country primarily located in Western Europe with numerous small overseas territories. The European Netherlands consists of 15 provinces, bordering the West German confederation to the east, France to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. The country's official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland, and English and Papiamento as secondary official languages in the Caribbean Netherlands. Dutch Low Saxon, Flemish and Limburgish are recognized regional languages (spoken in the east, south and southeast respectively). The Netherlands is the home to the largest population of East Asians in all of Europe which is a result of the east indies crisis. After the war was over nearly 2 million refugees entered the Netherlands reshaping the country physically and culturally. In the modern-day they have been integrated and contributed to Dutch society, making Dutch society and culture a unique one. Its a constituent country within the larger Kingdom of the Netherlands
The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Antwerp. Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and nominal capital. The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe, while the port of Antwerp holds the title of second busiest port in Europe, Rotterdam is the largest seaport outside of Asia, however according to some Antwerp and Rotterdam can be seen as one port making it the largest port in the world.
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 cultural, economic & political sphere that has and to this day is influential far beyond what its size would suggest. Despite its small stature it is thus to this day seen as one of the greater nations and even the world being a leader in many fields and ready for the future.
Etymology
The Netherlands' turbulent history and shifts of power resulted in exceptionally many and widely varying names in different languages. There is diversity even within languages. In English, the Netherlands is also called Holland or (part of) the Low Countries, whereas the term "Dutch" is used as the demonym and adjectival form.
The Netherlands and the Low Countries
The region called the Low Countries (Largely the Netherlands yet the Walloon region of France) and the Country of the Netherlands, have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nedre, Nether, Lage(r) or Low(er) (in Germanic languages) and Bas or Inferior (in Romance languages) are in use in low-lying places all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a deictic relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Super(ior), Up(per), Op(per), Ober, Boven, High, Haut or Hoch. In the case of the Low Countries / Netherlands the geographical location of the lower region has been more or less downstream and near the sea. The geographical location of the upper region, however, changed tremendously over time, depending on the location of the economic and military power governing the Low Countries area. The Romans made a distinction between the Roman provinces of downstream Germania Inferior (nowadays part of Belgium and the Netherlands) and upstream Germania Superior (nowadays part of Germany). The designation 'Low' to refer to the region returns again in the 10th century Duchy of Lower Lorraine, that covered much of the Low Countries. But this time the corresponding Upper region is Upper Lorraine, in nowadays Northern France.
The Dukes of Burgundy, who ruled from their residence in the Low Countries in the 15th century, used the term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries, as opposed to les pays de par delà ("the lands over there") for their original homeland: Burgundy in present-day east-central France. Under Habsburg rule, Les pays de par deçà developed in pays d'embas ("lands down-here"), a deictic expression in relation to other Habsburg possessions like Hungary and Austria. This was translated as Neder-landen in contemporary Dutch official documents. From a regional point of view, Niderlant was also the area between the Meuse and the lower Rhine in the late Middle Ages. The area known as Oberland (High country) was in this deictic context considered to begin approximately at the nearby higher located Cologne.
From the mid-sixteenth century on, the "Low Countries" and the "Netherlands" lost their original deictic meaning. They were probably the most commonly used names, besides Flanders, a pars pro toto for the Low Countries, especially in Romance language-speaking Europe. The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the Low Countries into an independent northern Dutch Republic (or Latinised Belgica Foederata, "Federated Netherlands", the precursor state of the Netherlands) and a Spanish controlled Southern Netherlands (Latinised Belgica Regia, "Royal Netherlands", the precursor state of Belgium). The Low Countries today is a designation that includes the countries of the Netherlands and parts of France, although in most Romance languages, the term "Low Countries" is used as the name for the Netherlands specifically.
Holland
The Netherlands is also referred to as Holland in various languages, including English. The region of Holland proper consisted of current Holland province and large parts of Utrecht, currently provinces of the Netherlands. Following the decline of the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Flanders, Holland became the most economically and politically important county in the Low Countries region. The emphasis on Holland during the formation of the Dutch Republic, the Eighty Years' War, and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, made Holland serve as a pars pro toto for the entire country, which is now considered informal or incorrect. Nonetheless, the name "Holland" is still widely used for the Netherlands national football team, including in the Netherlands, and the Dutch government's international websites for tourism and trade are "holland.com" and "hollandtradeandinvest.com". In 2020, however, the Dutch government announced that it would only communicate and advertise under the name "the Netherlands" in the future.
Dutch
The term Dutch is used as the demonymic and adjectival form of the Netherlands in the English language. The origins of the word go back to Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz, Latinised into Theodiscus, meaning "popular" or "of the people"; akin to Old Dutch Dietsch, Old High German duitsch, and Old English þeodisc, all meaning "(of) the common (Germanic) people". At first, the English language used (the contemporary form of) Dutch to refer to any or all speakers of West Germanic languages (e.g. the Dutch, the Frisians, and the Germans). Gradually its meaning shifted to the West Germanic people they had most contact with, because of their geographical proximity and for the rivalry in trade and overseas territories. The derivative of the Proto-Germanic word *þiudiskaz in modern Dutch, Diets, can be found in Dutch literature as a poetic name for the Dutch people or language, but is considered very archaic. Although it had a short resurgence after World War II to avoid the reference to Germany. It is still used in the expression "diets maken" – to put it straight to him/her (as in a threat) or, more neutral, to make it clear, understandable, explain, say in the people's language (cf. the Vulgate (Bible not in Greek or Hebrew, but Latin; the folks' language) in meaning vulgar, though not in a pejorative sense).
History
Geography
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the European Netherlands has a total area of (insert number) km2, including water bodies; and a land area of (insert numbers) km2.The Caribbean Netherlands has a total area of 328 km2 (127 sq mi) It lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N, and longitudes 3° and 8° E.
The European Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is a mostly flat country, with roughly 31% of its area and 39% of its population located below sea level and only about 50% of its land exceeding one meter above sea level. The European mainland is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast that stretch to a height of no more than 321 meters; additionally there are some low hill ranges in the central region of the country. Most regions below sea level are man-made, caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation. Since the late 16th century, through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes, canals and pumping stations, large areas of coastal land were reclaimed from the sea (known as polders). Today 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. These three rivers create the largest river delta in the country which also creates the whole south-western geographic region of the Netherlands, the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. The European Netherlands is divided into north and south 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 have historically created a cultural divide, this is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognizable 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
The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815, and due to the efforts of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke became a parliamentary democracy in 1848. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterized by an effort to achieve broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole. On top of that, the Netherlands itself is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which is often described as a unique state.
The monarch is the head of state, Constitutionally, the position is equipped with limited powers. By law, the monarch has the right to be periodically briefed and consulted on government affairs. Depending on the personalities and relationships of the monarch and the ministers, the monarch might have influence beyond the power granted by the Constitution of the Netherlands. The majority of said influence comes from the overall popular status the monarchy holds within Dutch society.
The executive power is formed by the Council of Ministers, the deliberative organ of the Dutch cabinet. The cabinet usually consists of 13 to 16 ministers and a varying number of state secretaries including 3 ministers each from the other constituent countries. The head of government is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,, who often is the leader of the largest party of the coalition. The Prime Minister is a primus inter pares, with no explicit powers beyond those of the other ministers with some exceptions. The Prime Minister had been the leader of the largest party of the governing coalition continuously since 1973. Due to a constitutional amendment, the prime minister is the person with executive authority over the use of military force for a period of 190 days. In relation to the kingdom of the Netherlands and her other two countries, each of the two other constituent countries sends its ministers to the Netherlands her council of ministers which in turn together forms the executive body of the Netherlands.
The cabinet is responsible for the bicameral parliament, which also has legislative powers. The 150 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house, are elected in direct elections on the basis of party-list proportional representation. These are held every four years, or sooner in case the cabinet falls (for example: when one of the chambers carries a motion of no confidence, the cabinet offers its resignation to the monarch). The States-Provincial are directly elected every four years as well. The members of the provincial assemblies elect the 75 members of the Senate, the upper house, which has the power to reject laws, but not proposes or amend them. Both houses send members to the OVL Parliament, a consultative council.