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Kingdom of the Netherlands

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This article is about the sovereign state. For the
constituent country with the same name, see
Netherlands. For other uses, see Netherlands
(disambiguation).

The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk

der Nederlanden; pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkrɛiɡ dɛr
ˈneːdǝrlɑndǝ(n)] ( listen)),[g] commonly known as
simply the Netherlands,[h] is a sovereign state and
constitutional monarchy with 98% of its territory and
population in Western Europe and with several small
West Indian island territories in the Caribbean (in the
Leeward Islands and Leeward Antilles groups).

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Dutch)

Flag Coat of arms

Motto: "Je maintiendrai" (French)[a]
(English: "I will uphold")

Anthem: "Wilhelmus" (Dutch)
(English: "William of Nassau")

0:49

Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale

Capital Amsterdam[b]
and largest city 52°22′N 4°53′E
Government seat The Hague[b]
Official languages Dutch[c]
Official regional English
languages[c]
Papiamento
West Frisian

Recognised Dutch Low Saxon

languages[c]
Dutch Sign Language
Limburgish
Sinte Romani
Yiddish

Demonym(s) Dutch

Countries Aruba
(non-sovereign parts)
Curaçao
Netherlands
Sint Maarten

Government Devolved unitary

parliamentary
constitutional monarchy
• Monarch Willem-Alexander
• Chairman of the Mark Rutte
Council of Ministers[d]
• Minister Plenipotentiary Guillfred Besaril
of Aruba
• Minister Plenipotentiary Anthony Begina
of Curaçao
• Minister Plenipotentiary Rene Violenus
of Sint Maarten
Independence from Spain and France
• Dutch Republic 26 July 1581 (declared)
30 January 1648
(recognised)
• Batavian Republic 19 January 1795
• Kingdom of Holland 5 June 1806
• Annexation by First 1 July 1810
French Empire
• Kingdom of the 16 March 1815
Netherlands
• Secession of Belgium 4 October 1830 (declared)
19 April 1839 (recognised)
• Charter for the 15 December 1954
Kingdom
(colonial inclusion)

Area
• Total 42,531[8] km2
(16,421 sq mi) (131st)
• Water (%) 18.96

Population
• 2019 estimate 17,737,438[9] (64th)
• Density 515/km2 (1,333.8/sq mi)

Currency 4 currencies
Euro (EUR)
(Europe)
US dollar (USD)
(Caribbean Netherlands)
NA guilder (ANG)
(Curaçao/Sint Maarten)
Aruban florin (AWG)
(Aruba)

Time zone European Netherlands:

CET (UTC+1)
CEST (UTC+2) (DST)
Caribbean Netherlands:
AST (UTC-4)
DST not observed

Date format dd-mm-yyyy

Driving side right

Calling code 4 codes

+31      (Netherlands)
+297    (Aruba)
+599    (Curaçao /
Caribbean)
+1 721 (Sint Maarten)

ISO 3166 code NL

Internet TLD 5 TLDs

.nl  (Netherlands)[e]
.aw  (Aruba)
.cw  (Curaçao)
.sx  (Sint Maarten)
.bq  (Caribbean Netherlands)
[f]

The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the

Netherlands and Sint Maarten—are constituent
countries (landen in Dutch; singular: land) and
participate on a basis of equality as partners in the
Kingdom.[10] In practice, however, most of the
Kingdom's affairs are administered by the
Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the
Kingdom's land area and population—on behalf of
the entire Kingdom. Consequently, Aruba, Curaçao
and Sint Maarten are dependent on the Netherlands
for matters like foreign policy and defence, but are
autonomous to a certain degree, with their own
parliaments.

The vast majority of land area of the constituent

country of the Netherlands is in Europe, while its
three special municipalities (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius
and Saba) are located in the Caribbean, as are the
other three constituent countries. The kingdom has
a population of 17,737,438 as of November 2019.[9]

History

Constituent countries …

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four

constituent countries: the Netherlands, Aruba,
Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. There is a difference
between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the
Netherlands: the Kingdom of the Netherlands is the
comprehensive sovereign state, while the
Netherlands is one of its four constituent countries.
Three Caribbean islands (Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint
Maarten) are the three remaining constituent
countries. Three other Caribbean islands (Bonaire,
Sint Eustatius, and Saba) are special municipalities
within the country of the Netherlands. Until its
dissolution in 2010, the islands had formed the
Netherlands Antilles, with the exception of Aruba,
which left the grouping in 1986.

Constituent countries of the Kingdom of

the Netherlands
Country Population[9] Perc
(as of
  Subdivision November King
2019) pop

 Netherlands[i] 17,424,978

European provinces 17,399,821

 Bonaire†‡ 20,104

 Sint Eustatius†‡ 3,138

 Saba†‡ 1,915

 Aruba† 112,309

 Curaçao† 158,665

 Sint Maarten† 41,486

 Kingdom of the Netherlands 17,737,438 1

†
Forms a part of the Dutch Caribbean.
‡
Forms a part of the Caribbean Netherlands.

Comparison table

Major Major
Subdivision Currency
languages religions

No
Netherlands Euro Dutch religion,
Christianity

Papiamento,
Catholic,
Bonaire US dollar Dutch
Protestant
(official)

English,
Sint Protestant,
US dollar Dutch
Eustatius Catholic
(official)

Papiamento,
Aruban Dutch
Aruba Catholic
florin (official),
Spanish

English,
Saba US dollar Dutch Catholic
(official)

Netherlands Papiamento,
Curaçao Antillean Dutch Catholic
guilder (official)

English,
Netherlands
Sint Dutch Catholic,
Antillean
Maarten (official), Protestant
guilder
Spanish

Netherlands …

KingdomoftheNetherlands

Aruba Curaçao SintMaarten Netherlands

Caribbean Europe

Bonaire SintEustatius Saba provinces

Tree structure of subdivisions of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands, showing the
geographic location of its four constituent
countries

The Netherlands is a representative parliamentary

democracy organised as a unitary state. Its
administration consists of the Monarch and the
Council of Ministers, which is headed by a Prime
Minister (currently Mark Rutte). The people are
represented by the States General of the
Netherlands, which consists of a House of
Representatives and a Senate. The Netherlands is
divided into 12 provinces: Drenthe, Flevoland,
Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, North
Brabant, North Holland, Overijssel, South Holland,
Utrecht and Zeeland. The provinces are divided into
municipalities. The Netherlands has the euro as its
currency, except in the special municipalities of the
Caribbean Netherlands (BES islands), where the
Netherlands Antillean guilder was replaced by the
U.S. dollar in 2011.[21]

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba

…
The special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius,
and Saba (referred to as Caribbean Netherlands or
BES islands) are part of the Netherlands proper but
are not part of any province.[22] They resemble
ordinary Dutch municipalities in most ways (with a
mayor, aldermen, and a municipal council, for
example) and are subject to the ordinary Dutch
legislative process. Residents of these three islands
are also able to vote in Dutch national and European
elections. There are, however, some derogations for
these islands. Social security, for example, is not on
the same level as it is in the Netherlands proper. In
November 2008 it was decided to introduce the U.S.
dollar in the three islands.[23] The date of
introduction was 1 January 2011. The Netherlands
carries the risk of exchange rate fluctuations
regarding cash flows between the state and the
islands.

Aruba …

Aruba, with its own constitution, is a representative

parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary
state. Its administration consists of the Governor,
who represents the Monarch, and the (Aruban)
Council of Ministers, headed by a Prime Minister.
The sovereign people of Aruba are represented by
21 parliamentarians in the Parliament of Aruba. The
Governor of Aruba is Alfonso Boekhoudt, and the
Prime Minister is Evelyn Wever-Croes. It has its own
Central Bank and currency, the Aruban florin, linked
to the U.S. dollar; the U.S. dollar is accepted almost
everywhere on the island. Aruba has two official
languages: its own national language Papiamento
and the Kingdom of the Netherlands' Dutch
language.[24]

Curaçao …

Historic Area of Willemstad,

declared a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1997

Curaçao is a centralised unitary state, with similar

administrative characteristics to Aruba. It has the
Netherlands Antillean guilder as its currency.

Sint Maarten …

Sint Maarten is a centralised unitary state, with

similar administrative characteristics to Aruba. It has
the Antillean Guilder as its currency. Unlike the other
Dutch Caribbean countries and special
municipalities, Sint Maarten covers only part of an
island. It consists of roughly the southern half of the
divided island of Saint Martin. The northern half of
the island is the French Collectivity of Saint Martin.

Institutions

Judiciary

Kingdom affairs

Constitutional nature

Relationship with the

European Union

Constitutional reform of the

Netherlands Antilles

Distinction between the

Netherlands and the Kingdom

Geography

Timeline of constituent
countries

See also

Notes

References

External links

Last edited 7 days ago by Qzd

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