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The Netherlands is a country in the centre of northern Europe. The Kingdom of The Netherlands also includes the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten.

Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea.

The land is incredibly flat and much of it has been reclaimed. This is done by building dykes and draining low lying land. More than a quarter of the country is below sea level and, if ocean levels rise just a little bit, much of the country would be flooded.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of The Netherlands, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 52 30N
Longitude - 5 45E

The capital of The Netherlands is Amsterdam although the government buildings are in The Hague.

The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy with a King (or Queen) as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. The present King (2017) is Willem-Alexander who came to the throne in 2013 on the abdication of his mother Queen Beatrix. He is 49 years old. His daughter, Catharina Amalia, aged 13, is heir to the throne.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in The Netherlands is the euro. The Netherlands was a founder member of what is now the European Union.

Dutch is the official language.

Check the weather in Amsterdam now.

This is the time in Amsterdam now

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The Netherlands flag is 3 equal horizontal stripes of red, white and blue. The colours were those of William, Prince of Orange, who led the fight for independence from Spain in the 16th century. The original top stripe was indeed orange but as it tended to fade to red, they changed it offically to red. Orange is though the national colour.

Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Dutch National Anthem called The William. It was adopted in 1932. It is one of the oldest national anthems in the world. The tune was known before 1572 and the words written in 1626. There are 15 verses but the first, and sometimes the sixth, are used as the anthem. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

First verse

 William of Nassau, scion
Of an old Germanic line, 
I dedicate undying
Faith to this land of mine.
A prince I am, undaunted,
Of Orange, ever free,
To the king of Spain I’ve granted
A lifelong loyalty.

Sixth verse

A shield and my reliance,
O God, Thou ever wert. 
I’ll trust unto Thy guidance. 
O leave me not ungirt. 
That I may stay a pious.
Servant of Thine for aye
And drive the plagues that try us
And tyranny away.

The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of The Netherlands is 33,893 sq kms which is the 30th largest in Europe.

The Netherlands has lakes, rivers and canals which total 7,650 sq kms.

The Netherlands has boundaries with 2 countries

• Germany 575 kms
• Belgium 478 kms

The Netherlands has a coastline of 451 kms which is the 18th longest in Europe.

The highest point in The Netherlands is Vaalserberg at 322 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of The Netherlands is 17.0 million people, making it the 9th largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 8.6 million are females and 8.4 million are males.

A person from The Netherlands is called a Dutchman or a Dutchwoman.

To be a citizen of Netherlands, one of your parents must be a citizen of Netherlands. It is not sufficient to be born in Netherlands. You have to live in Netherlands for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in The Netherlands, by population are:-

• Amsterdam 741,636 people
• Rotterdam 598,199
• The Hague 474,292
• Utrecht 290,529
• Eindhoven 209,620

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



78.0% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in The Netherlands is 10.9 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in The Netherlands is 8.8 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 3.0 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 3.9 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 43.4 and for males is 41.4. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 29.4.

The elderly dependency ratio is 27.4. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 3.6. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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The Netherlands spends 10.9% of its total income on health care.

There are 3.48 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 4.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

20.4% of the population are estimated as obese.

100% of the Dutch have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

97.5% of the urban population and 99.9% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

The Netherlands releases 233.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 8th highest in Europe.

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The Netherlands spends 5.6% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 5 in The Netherlands. Primary education is for eight years until age 13 and secondary education must continue till 17 or 18. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

The school year varies around the country but consists of 3 terms. It starts between the middle of August and the beginning of September and finishes between the beginning of July and the end of July, depending on the start date. There is usually a 2 week break at Christmas and Easter, and a one week break in the middle of each term.

We have no figures for the number of people who are able to read and write by the age of 15.

10.8% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 10.3% are unemployed while with males 11.4% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in The Netherlands is 7.90 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

6.9% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 23 paved airports in The Netherlands, which is the 22nd highest number in Europe.


There are 3,223 kilometres of railways in The Netherlands, which is the 22nd longest in Europe.


There are 138,641 kilometres of roads in The Netherlands, which means The Netherlands is in 8th place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 6 major national newspapers in Netherlands.

There are 20.8 million mobile phone users which is greater than the total population. This means some people will have more than one mobile.

41% of the people have a fixed landline.



15.8 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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