| Form of government |
Constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy |
| Head of state |
Queen Beatrix |
| Administrative regions |
12 provinces: Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland |
| Dependencies |
Aruba, Netherlands Antilles |
| Currency |
Euro |
| Location |
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany |
| Capital |
Amsterdam |
| Largest cities |
Amsterdam: 743,393 inhabitants |
| |
Rotterdam: 599,859 inhabitants |
| |
The Hague: 472,087 inhabitants |
| Area |
Total: 41,526 square kilometres Land: 33,883 square kilometres Water: 7,643 square kilometres |
| Land boundaries |
Total: 1,027 kilometres Belgium: 450 kilometres, Germany: 577 kilometres |
| Coastline |
451 kilometres |
| Climate |
Temperate; maritime; cool summers and mild winters |
| Terrain |
Mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders) |
| Elevation extremes |
Lowest point: Zuidvlaspolder - 7 m below sea level Highest point: Vaalserberg - 322 m above sea level |
| Natural resources |
Natural gas; petroleum; peat; limestone; salt; sand and gravel; arable land |
| Population |
16,486,587 (February 2009) |
| Age strucutre |
0 - 20 years: 23.9% |
| |
20 - 45 years: 25.7% |
| |
45 - 65 years: 35.5% |
| |
65 - 80 years: 11.2% |
| |
80-years and older: 3.8% |
| Population growth rate |
0.49% (2009 est.) |
| Migration balance (immigration minus emigration) |
26,842 (2008) |
| Ethnic groups |
Dutch: 80,4%, other: 19,6% (of which 10,8% are non-Western origin; mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese and Indonesians (2008) |
| Religions |
Roman Catholic: 27%, Protestant: 16.6%, Muslim: 5.7%, other: 2.3%, none: 48.4% (2005) |
| Languages |
Dutch (official), Frisian (official) |
