4. The Language used Dutch is the Netherlands official
Language
5. The Government Constitutional Monarchy Since 1815 The
Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy. Historically for
centuries before, it had been the proud republic, a union of
provinces. Since 1848, the Netherlands is also a parliamentary
democracy. Dutch monarch has no real political power, but serves as
representative head of state and a symbolic person uniting the
divided parliamentary politics. The parliament The parliament
consists of two chambers. The Lower House (Dutch: Tweede Kamer, or
Second Chamber) is elected every four years in a direct national
elections together with the provincial parliaments. It consists of
150 members. Only the political parties can take part in the
elections. The lower chamber approves the budget and has the right
of the legal initiative, the right of submitting amendments, the
right to start its own inquires and the right of interpellation.
The members of the provincial parliaments vote for the less
importantSenate (Dutch: Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber) consisting
of 75 members who approve or reject all laws of the Netherlands
without the right of amendment. Together, the First and Second
Chamber constitute The Estates-General (Dutch: Staten Generaal,
established 1593). In fact, Dutch political system gives a lot of
freedom to the government, as long as it has support of the
parliament. Head of state The King King Willem-Alexander van
Oranje-Nassau is the nominal head of state of the Netherlands. The
King has several mostly representative functions. He nominates all
the mayors in the Netherlands as well as the politician who forms
the government after the general elections. The monarch also signs
all the laws approved by the parliament. Government The Netherlands
is usually governed by a coalition of different political parties.
Prime minister is usually coming from the party, which won the most
seats in the elections. Usually the King gives the leader of the
party, which won the elections, or an important politician coming
from this party, the task of forming the new government. The
constitution does not permit to a member of the parliament to serve
in the government. The council of ministers leads the countrys
policy, the minister together with junior ministers govern. The
council of ministers with the King form together the Crown, an
organ which nominates the members of the State Council (Dutch: Raad
van State), an institution with influence on certain decisions and
more important nominations. Prime Minister Prime Minister is the
head of the government. Mark Rutte from the People's Party for
Freedom and Democracy VVD (liberals) is at present the Prime
Minister of the Netherlands.
6. Customs and Traditions Putting up Christmas trees Queens Day
Market Eating Oilliebollen on New Years eve Painting Easter eggs
Carnaval Beschuit met muisjes Blowing out birthday cake candles
Singing Sint Maarten songs on November 11 Eating herring
7. Religions and Beliefs was predominantly Christianity until
late into the 20th century. Although religious diversity remains,
there has been a decline of religious adherence. From a December
2014 survey by the VU University Amsterdam it was concluded that
for the first time there are more atheists (25%) than theists (17%)
in the Netherlands. The majority of the population being agnostic
(31%) or ietsistic (27%).[1] In 2013, Statistics Netherlands found
that 26% of the population identified as Roman Catholic, 16% as
Protestant, 5% as Muslim, and 6% as "other" (the last includes
other Christian denominations, Hindus 0.6%, Jews 0.1%, and
Buddhists 0.4%).[2] Approximately 56.1% (51.3-61%) of the
population has no religious affiliation.[3] Religion is in the
Netherlands generally considered a personal matter which is not
supposed to be propagated in public.[4] Atheism, ietsism,
agnosticism, and "Christian atheism" are on the rise; the first
three being widely accepted and the last being more or less
considered to be non-controversial. Among those who adhere to
Christianity there are high percentages of atheists, agnostics and
ietsists, since affiliation with a Christian denomination is also
used in a way of cultural identification in the different parts of
the Netherlands.[5] The Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau (Social and
Cultural Planning Agency, SCP) expects the number of non-affiliated
Dutch to be at 72% in 2020.[6]
8. Economy According to the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund, the Netherlands was the 18th largest economy of the
world in 2012 (see: List of countries by GDP (nominal)). GDP per
capita is roughly $43,404 which makes it one of richest nations in
the world (see: List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita). Between
1996 and 2000 annual economic growth (GDP) averaged over 4%, well
above the European average. Growth slowed considerably in 2001-05
as part of the global economic slowdown. 2006 and 2007 however
showed economic growth of 3.4% and 3.9%. The Dutch economy was hit
considerably by the on going global financial crisis and the
ensuing European debt crisis. Several banks went bankrupt, and a
number of others had to receive governmental aid. In 2009 the
economy declined 3.5%, followed by two years of mild growth. The
Dutch economy is in a recession again, with an economic decline of
0.5% in 2012. Inflation is at 2.9% in June 2013. Unemployment has
been relatively low compared to other EU nations for decades but
after mid-2012 it has seen a fast increase and in May 2013 it has
hit 8.3%. The Netherlands managed to maintain its AAA rating at
least until July 2013 according to the three major credit rating
agencies.[1 The Netherlands have a prosperous and open economy,
which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for
stable industrial relations, fairly low unemployment and inflation,
a sizable current account surplus, and an important role as a
European transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly
in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical
machinery. A highly mechanised agricultural sector employs no more
than 2% of the labour force but provides large surpluses for the
food-processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along
with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on
1 January 2002. The country is one of the leading European nations
for attracting foreign direct investment.[
9. Education Educational policy is coordinated by the Dutch
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science with municipal
governments. Compulsory education (leerplicht) in the Netherlands
starts at the age of five, although in practice, most schools
accept children from the age of four. From the age of sixteen there
is a partial compulsory education (partile leerplicht), meaning a
pupil must attend some form of education for at least two days a
week.[3] Compulsory education ends for pupils aged eighteen and up
or when they get a degree. Public, special (religious), and
general-special (neutral) schools[1] are government-financed,
receiving equal financial support from the government if certain
criteria are met. Although they are officially free of charge,
these schools may ask for a parental contribution (ouderbijdrage).
Private schools rely on their own funds, but they are highly
uncommon in the Netherlands, to the extent that even the Dutch
monarchs have traditionally attended special or public schools.
Public schools are controlled by local governments. Special schools
are controlled by a school board and are typically based on a
particular religion; those that assume equality between religions
are known as general-special schools. These differences are present
in all levels of education. As a result, there can be Catholic,
Protestant, Jewish and Muslim elementary schools, high schools, and
universities. A special school can reject applications of pupils
whose parents or guardians disagree with the school's educational
philosophy, but this is uncommon. In practice, there is little
difference between special schools and public schools, except in
traditionally religious areas of the Dutch Bible Belt. All school
types (public, special and private) are under the jurisdiction of a
government body called Inspectie van het Onderwijs (Inspection of
Education, also known as Onderwijsinspectie)
10. The Dutch government wants to promote sustainable economic
growth in developing countries. And it wants to work towards global
stability and security and to foster human rights. It can best do
so by focusing on the fields in which the Netherlands itself
excels, for example water management and food security.
