Netherlands

The Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Nederland
Established	Treaty of Vienna (1814)
Capital	The Hague Amsterdam
Largest City	Amsterdam
Government Type	Constitutional Monarchy
Languages	Dutch (Official) West Frisian Flemish English
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 Rhenia to the east, France to the southwest, and the North Sea.

The European part of the Netherlands is one of the three constituent countries of the kingdom, the two others being Ceylon, New Batavia. Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and nominal capital, while Antwerp is the second busiest port in Europe.

The Netherlands is home to the largest diaspora of Southeast Asians resulting from colonialism in Southeast Asia and the East Indies Independence Crisis in the late 20th century. After the fight for independence in the Dutch East Indies, nearly two million Southeast Asian refugees entered the Netherlands, culturally reshaping the country. By the 21st century, they have already integrated and have contributed to Dutch society, setting Dutch culture apart from its neighbors.

Terminology

In English, the country is also known as Holland. The term specifically refers to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the lowlands. The adjectival form "Hollandic" refers to ideas and things related to European Netherlands, as opposed to Dutch, which could refer to the entire kingdom and its three constituent countries as a whole. Hollandic is also the name of the standard dialect of Dutch, setting it apart from other dialects like Afrikaans-Dutch and Amerikaens-Dutch (until it was considered a separate language in 1910).

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.

Structure of the Kingdom

Structure of the Kingdom of the Netherlands circa 1990:

The kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden;) commonly known as the Netherlands, or Dutch union, is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territories in Europe, Oceania, and Southeast Asia and with several cities scattered around Asia & Africa and small island territories scattered around the world. While the majority of its land area is in Asia the largest and most densely populated part of the kingdom is in Europe, in the Netherlands proper as it is called.

The three constituent countries of the Kingdom—The Netherlands, Nieuw Batavia, and Ceylon. They participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom, while the smaller cities and islands operate either as counties within constituent countries of the Kingdom or are special districts, this may vary. Due to the wide diversity of the population, land area economic power, and military power, the kingdom has developed institutions that are a blend of federal confederation methods of governance being a sui generis.

Confederation in the sense that the constituent countries have their parliament and limited powers, federal due to a common foreign policy military police, and economic policy. From a practical perspective within the Kingdom, the Netherlands is the premier source of tax revue, economic power, military force, and governance. This often in practice leaves the Netherlands to decide the common policies of the Kingdom.

Despite this structures are in place such as the Raad der Staaten, which consists of the elected leaders of the three constituent countries and is presided over by the monarch. This body dictates common foreign policy and economic policy, however, due to the balance of power the Dutch side often has a stronger voice. However, all members of the kingdom have an equal say in policy and have a great deal of domestic autonomy with their parliaments and constituents.  This is a unique structure that some say is only possible due to modern technologies and a shared history and economic & military dependency upon each other.

The vast majority of the nation’s land area is located in Oceania in Nieuw Batavia while the Netherlands is the economic and population juggernaut of the Kingdom, with Ceylon being second. There are several city enclaves around the world that have special autonomous status and are equal to the constituent countries in most factors. The total population of the Kingdom is roughly around 58 million.