The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815.

In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom.

The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II.

A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products.

The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 16,570,613 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 17.8% (male 1,505,931/female 1,436,532) 15-64 years: 67.8% (male 5,683,877/female 5,557,745) 65 years and over: 14.4% (male 1,015,731/female 1,370,797) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 39.7 years male: 38.9 years female: 40.5 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.464% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 10.7 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 8.69 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 2.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.023 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.741 male(s)/female total population: 0.981 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 4.88 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.43 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.11 years male: 76.52 years female: 81.82 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 19,000 (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women) adjective: Dutch

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Ethnic groups: Dutch 83%, other 17% (of which 9% are non-Western origin mainly Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans, Surinamese, and Indonesians) (1999 est.)

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Religions: Roman Catholic 31%, Dutch Reformed 13%, Calvinist 7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 2.5%, none 41% (2002)

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Languages: Dutch (official), Frisian (official)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)

The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, moderate 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 mechanized agricultural sector employs no more than 2% of the labor 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 continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment. Economic growth slowed considerably in 2001-06, as part of the global economic slowdown, but for the four years before that, annual growth averaged nearly 4%, well above the EU average.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $529.1 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $612.7 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 2.9% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $32,100 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.1% industry: 23.9% services: 73.9% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 7.6 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 2% industry: 19% services: 79% (2004 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 5.5% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 10.5% (1999)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.5% highest 10%: 22.9% (1999)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 30.9 (2005)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.4% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 19.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $304.3 billion expenditures: $306.5 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 50.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock

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Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing

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Industrial production growth rate: 2.3% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 92.7 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 102.4 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 5.2 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 21.4 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 95,800 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - consumption: 946,700 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: 1.546 million bbl/day (2004) Oil - imports: 2.465 million bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - proved reserves: 106 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 85.98 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 51.3 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 53.56 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 18.85 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.756 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $50.17 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $413.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs

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Exports - partners: Germany 25.5%, Belgium 14%, UK 8.9%, France 8.6%, Italy 5.1%, US 4.4% (2006)

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Imports: $373.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing

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Imports - partners: Germany 17.1%, Belgium 9.5%, China 9.4%, US 7.8%, UK 5.9%, Russia 5.1%, France 4.6% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $10.24 billion (August 2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $1.899 trillion (30 June 2006)

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Economic aid - donor: ODA, $4 billion (2003 est.)

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Currency (code): euro (EUR) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

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Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year