Netherlands

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The flag of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands (Dutch Nederland), officially Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch Koninkrijk der Nederlanden), colloquially also referred to as Holland, is a country that lies at the western end of the North European Plain. Along with Belgium and Luxembourg it comprises the Low Countries' or 'BENELUX. The country is bordered on the south by Belgium, on the east by Germany, and on the north and west by the North Sea. Except for the southeastern part, the Netherlands is flat and about 40% of the country lies below sea level. The inhabitants of the Netherlands, called the Dutch, have built dikes to hold back the sea. The country is situated at the estuary of the river Rhine, which originates in Switzerland, and the river Meuse, which runs via Belgium from France to the city of Rotterdam, the main seaport of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is highly industrialized and one of the most densely populated countries in Europe. Its surface area is 41.528 km² (of which 18,41% is water) and its 2007 population is 16,570,613. This gives 489 inhabitants per km² of dry land. The capital of the country is Amsterdam, while the government is seated in The Hague.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands also includes two overseas constituent territories: the Netherlands Antilles, which consists of the islands of Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Martin, Saba, and St. Eustatius, and the self-governing island of Aruba. Note: As of 15 December 2008, the country of the Netherlands Antilles will be disbanded. Curaçao and St. Martin will become autonomous islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (essentially the same status as Aruba). Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius will become "special municipalities" of the Netherlands with the same governing structure and rights as Dutch towns, including voting rights in the Dutch and European parliaments.

Name and Usage

The name Netherlands in English is taken from the extended official name for the country Kingdom of the Netherlands. This name goes back to the history of the country as a federal republic during the 17th and 18th centuries, when each of the constituent provinces were considered semi-independent states. In modern Dutch, even in most official contexts, the country is referred to as Nederland, which is a singular noun rather than a plural.

The colloquial name Holland, which is commonly used outside of the Netherlands, is not entirely accurate. In practice it is an instance of metonymy (naming the whole after a part) ), as it technically only refers to the historical province of Holland, now represented by the provinces of Noord Holland (North Holland) and Zuid Holland (South Holland). The name is ancient and derives from Old Dutch holt "wood, forest" and land, which suggests that ancient Holland was heavily wooded.

The adjective for the inhabitants and the language of the country is Dutch. This is an old Germanic word with a very generic meaning: of the people. The usage of this adjective in English goes back to a time when it was applied to an area including both Germany and the Netherlands. The German word for "German" is Deutsch, which is the same word as "Dutch." Until the 18th century, it was usual in English to distinguish between the German and Dutch language, or the German people and the Dutch people, by using "High Dutch" for the former and "Low Dutch" for the latter, though this term did not properly distinguish between Dutch and Low German. The Pennsylvania Dutch in the U.S. are in fact Germans (i.e. "Deutsch"), not Dutch.

Government and Administration

National Government

The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. The head of state is the monarch, currently Queen Beatrix. Under the Dutch Constitution, the monarch has to approve all legislation, appoints and dismisses government secretaries, and is head of the supreme court of appeal, but in practice, the monarch's power is limited and his role is largely ceremonial. The power of the executive is vested in the Cabinet (Dutch ministerraad "Council of Ministers"), headed by the Prime Minister, currently Jan Peter Balkenende.

Legislative power is held by the bicameral Dutch parliament. The Lower House (Dutch Tweede Kamer) has 150 seats, the members of which are elected by direct proportional elections. Members have the right to propose, sponsor, and amend bills. The term of office is four years. The Upper House (Dutch Eerste Kamer or Senaat) has 75 seats. The members of the Upper House are elected indirectly by the delegates of the provincial assemblies. Members only have the right to approve or reject legislation.

Administrative Divisions

The Netherlands is divided in provinces, twelve in total:

Political Parties

Current Dutch politics remain shaped to a great extent by the consequences of political and religious polarizations of the nineteenth century. A number of emancipatory movements, including socialists, Catholics, and Protestant Reformed Christians increasingly came to oppose each other on political matters and organized into separate groups. This process, known in Dutch as verzuiling (lit. "pilarization"), produced separate political parties, trades unions, and literary and cultural organizations. At present, the main political parties are the following:

left (progressive) center-left center-right right (conservative)
Secular Parties PvdD, SP, Groen Links PvdA, D66 - VVD, PVV, TON
Religious Parties CDA ChristenUnie, SGP
  • PvdD = Partij voor de Dieren ¶ Party for Animal Rights
  • SP = Socialistiese Partij ¶ Socialist Party
  • Groen Links ¶ a federation of socialists and environmentalists
  • PvdA = Partij van de Arbeid ¶ Labor Party (Social-Democrats)
  • D66 = Democraten 66 ¶ Pragmatists
  • CDA = Christen-Democratisch Appèl ¶ Christian-Democrats
  • VVD = Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ¶ Libertarians
  • PVV = Partij voor de Vrijheid ¶ Party for Liberty (Conservatives)
  • ChristenUnie ¶ Christian Union (Conservative Christian Party)
  • SGP = Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij ¶ Conservative Christian Party
  • TON = Trots op Nederland ¶ A new populistic "movement", does not want to be a party

International Relations

The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Economic Community, which evolved into the present European Union. The country has played an active role in NATO and the United Nations. It sent 1700 soldiers to Iraq, 2003-2005. In 2005 480 military personnel were in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of EUFOR and 278 military personnel served in Afghanistan as part of the NATO operation there and as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.[1]

History

Prehistory and Conversion to Christianity

It is believed the area of land now known as the Netherlands was inhabited from as early as 150,000 BC. Historical records date back to about 57 BC, when Roman armies under general Julius Caesar invaded and occupied the southern portion of the Low Countries. The northern frontier of the Roman Empire ran along the Rhine river through the Netherlands. The Romans established a number of fortifications along this frontier which became centers of trade. Germanic tribes living north of the frontier, such as the Frisians were still heavily influenced by Roman culture through trade contacts. As the Roman Empire disintegrated, Roman armies withdrew from the Netherlands by about AD 406.

The Low Countries were inhabited by numerous Germanic tribes who had an agricultural society. By the third century, these tribes organized into larger federations and three main groups emerged: the Franks in the South, the Saxons in the East, and the Frisians in the North and West. Little is known of the pre-Christian pagan beliefs of the Germanic tribes, though it seems that Wodan and Donar were worshiped by the Germanic tribes in the Low Countries. The southern parts of the country were already nominally Christianized when the Roman Empire converted to Christianity. The Frankish king Clovis I (ca. AD 466 - 511) converted to Christianity in the early fifth century, according to legend in the heat of battle. By AD 700 most of the Low Countries below the Rhine had been converted. The conversion of the Frisians by Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries took place in the early eighth century by the monks Willibrord and Boniface. That Christianity did not immediately take hold is shown by the fact that Boniface was murdered in Friesland in AD 754 by pagan Frisians.

Middle Ages

Renaissance and Reformation

Early modern era

19th century

Dutch empire

20th century

Culture

Language and Literature

For more information read: Dutch language, Dutch literature, Frisian language

The official language of the Netherlands is Dutch, which is a West-Germanic language closely related to German and English. In the province of Friesland, Frisian is an official second language.

Art

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Low Countries (the modern day countries of the Netherlands and Belgium) produced a number of masterful painters, including Frans Hals (1580-1666) and Rembrandt van Rijn (usually known simply as "Rembrandt"; 1606-1669).

Religion

The Netherlands have historically been a Christian nation, with the Reformed branch of Protestant Christian doctrine being the most influential since the Reformation until about the middle of the twentieth century. Church membership has steadily declined in the twentieth century. As of 2005, about 45.5% of the Dutch population is a member of a Christian church. Of the different denominations, the largest church is the Roman Catholic Church with 4,644,800 members (28.5% of the population). About 2,687,625 people (16.5% of the population) are members of some Protestant Christian church, of which the Protestant Church in the Netherlands with 2,002,155 members is the largest denomination.

Among the many other religions practiced in the Netherlands, Islam is the largest and fastest growing religion. There are currently about 944,000 Muslims in the Netherlands (5.8% of the population).[2]

See also

Bibliography

Current

History: surveys

Specialty studies

  • Abbenhuis, Maartje M. The Art of Staying Neutral: The Netherlands in the First World War, 1914-1918. (2006). 423 pp.
  • Darby, Graham. The Origins and Development of the Dutch Revolt (2001) online edition
  • Geyl, Pieter. History of the Dutch Speaking Peoples 1555-1648 (new edition 2001)
  • Geyl, Pieter. the Revolt of the Netherlands: 1555-1609 (1958) online edition
  • Green-Pedersen, Christoffer. The Politics of Justification: Party Competition and Welfare-State Retrenchment in Denmark and the Netherlands from 1982 to 1998 (2002) online edition
  • Israel, Jonathan. Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000) (2002) online edition
  • Koenigsberger, H. G. Monarchies, States Generals and Parliaments: The Netherlands in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. (2002). 381 pp.
  • Moore, Bob. Victims and Survivors: The Nazi Persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands 1940-1945. (1997). 340 pp.
  • Prak, Maarten Roy. The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century. (2005). 317 pp.
  • Price, J. L. Holland and the Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Politics of Particularism (1994) online edition
  • Vandenbosch, Amry. Dutch Foreign Policy since 1815: A Study in Small Power Politics (1959) online edition

Cultural and social studies

  • Berkel, Klaas van; VanHelden, Albert; and Palm, Lodewijk, eds. A History of Science in the Netherlands: Survey, Themes and Reference. (1999). 659 pp.
  • Blom, J. C. H.; Fuks-Manfield, R. G.; and Schoffer, I., eds. The History of the Jews in the Netherlands. (2002). 508 pp.
  • Dekker, Rudolf. Childhood, Memory and Autobiography in Holland: From the Golden Age to Romanticism. (2001). 174 pp.
  • Goudriaan, Koen et al, eds. Education and Learning in the Netherlands, 1400-1600: Essays in Honour of Hilde de Ridder-Symoens (2004) online edition
  • Grijzenhout, Frans and Veen, Henk van, eds. The Golden Age of Dutch Painting in Historical Perspective. (1999). 333 pp.
  • Hsia, R. Po-Chia, and Henk Van Nierop, eds. Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age (2002) online edition
  • Israel, Jonathan, and Reinier Salverda. Dutch Jewry: Its History and Secular Culture (1500-2000) (2002) online eedition
  • Kiers, Judikje and Tissink, Fieke. The Golden Age of Dutch Art: Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Art. (2000). 366 pp.
  • Mak, Geert. Amsterdam: Brief Life of the City. (2000). 352 pp.
  • Mathijs, Ernest, ed. The Cinema of the Low Countries. (2004). 268 pp.
  • Muizelaar, Klaske and Phillips, Derek. Picturing Men and Women in the Dutch Golden Age: Paintings and People in Historical Perspective. (2003). 246 pp.
  • Muller, Sheila D. Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia. (1997). 489 pp.
  • O'Brien, Patrick Karl; Keene, Derek J.; Wee, Herman Van der; and Hart, Marjolein t', eds. Urban Achievement in Early Modern Europe: Golden Ages in Antwerp, Amsterdam and London. (2001). 361 pp.
  • Price, J. L. Dutch Society, 1588-1713. (2000). 306 pp.
  • Schama, Simon. The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. ISBN 0394510755. Very well written survey excerpt and text search
  • Smith, Jeffrey Chipps. The Northern Renaissance. (2004). 447 pp.
  • Westermann, Mariet. A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic, 1585-1718 (2005) excerpt and text search
  • Wintle, Michael. An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800-1920: Demographic, Economic and Social Transition. (2000). 399 pp. online edition

Dutch Empire and economic history

  • Aymard, Maurice, ed. Dutch Capitalism and World Capitalism (1982).
  • Beekman, E. M. Troubled Pleasures: Dutch Colonial Literature from the East Indies, 1600-1950. (1996). 654 pp.
  • Bogucka M. "Amsterdam and the Baltic in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century", Economic History Review, 2nd ser. 26 (1973), 433-47. in JSTOR
  • Boxer C. R. The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1660-1800 (1965).
  • Dash, Mike. Tulipomania. The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. London: Victor Gollancz, 1999. ISBN 0575067233. Very entertaining and informative book about tulips and the Dutch in the 17th century
  • Emmer, Pieter. The Dutch in the Atlantic Economy, 1580-1880: Trade, Slavery and Emancipation. (1998). 283 pp.
  • Gouda, Frances. Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies, 1900-1942 (1995) online edition
  • Israel, Jonathan I. Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585-1740 (1989) 462 pgs. online edition
  • Jones, Geoffrey. Renewing Unilever: Transformation and Tradition. (2006). 447 pp.
  • Moore, Bob and Nierop, Henk van, eds. Colonial Empires Compared: Britain and the Netherlands, 1750-1850. (2003). 204 pp.
  • Ormrod, David. The Rise of Commercial Empires: England and the Netherlands in the Age of Mercantilism, 1650-1770. (2003). 400 pp.
  • Palmer, Leslie H. Indonesia and the Dutch (1962) online edition
  • Sluyterman, Keetie E. Dutch Enterprise in the Twentieth Century: Business Strategies in a Small Open Economy (2005) online edition
  • Ungerm Richard W. "Herring, Technology, and International Trade in the Seventeenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jun., 1980), pp. 253-280 in JSTOR
  • Unger, Richard W. A History of Brewing in Holland, 900-1900: Economy, Technology and the State. (2001) 428 pp.
  • Van Hoesel, Roger, and Rajneesh Narula. Multinational Enterprises from the Netherlands (1999) online edition
  • Veenendaal, Augustus. Railways in the Netherlands: A Brief History. (2001) 235 pp.
  • Vries, Jan de and Woude, Ad van der. The First Modern Economy: Success, Failure, and Perseverance of the Dutch Economy, 1500-1815. (1997). 767 pp.
  • Wintle, Michael. An Economic and Social History of the Netherlands, 1800-1920: Demographic, Economic and Social Transition. (2000). 399 pp. online edition
  • Zanden, Jan Luiten and Riel, Arthur van. The Strictures of Inheritance: The Dutch Economy in the Nineteenth Century. (2004). 384 pp.

Notes

  1. ↑ See Royal Netherlands Embassy, "The Netherlands and Iraq" (March 2005 press release)
  2. ↑ Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau. Godsdienstige veranderingen in Nederland, 2007, p. 30-31
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