Religion
About 24 percent of the population are Roman Catholic and 22 percent
Protestant, of which many (including the Dutch royal family) are of
the Dutch Reformed church. About six percent, mainly immigrants and
their offspring, consider themselves to be Muslims.
Of the Dutch total population, more
than 40 percent have no professed religion. Roman Catholics constitute more than 80 percent of the population
of Noord-Brabant and Limburg provinces. Jews now constitute less
than 1 percent of the population. On the other hand, because of immigration
from countries such as Turkey and Morocco, the number of Muslims
is still going up.
Until the 1960s, Dutch society was strictly divided along religious
lines. Catholics and Protestants not only sent their children to
different schools, but also read different newspapers and voted for
different political parties. Today this division has almost been
replaced by separateness between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Demography
More than 40 percent of the Dutch live in cities with 50,000 inhabitants
or more, and nearly half the population are concentrated in an area
of coalescing municipalities known as the Randstad urban conglomeration
that stretches from Utrecht through Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam.
The largest cities are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven
and Groningen. The population density is one of the highest in the
world. Zuid-Holland is the most densely populated province, and the
province of Drenthe the most sparsely. Since 1900, the country's population
has more than tripled.
The Arts
The Netherlands' most famous literary figure is the 17th-century poet
Joost van den Vondel. Leading contemporary writers include the poets
A. Roland Holst and J. C. Bloem and the novelist Simon Vestdijk. Major
painters include Karel Appel, Frans Hals, Piet Mondriaan, Rembrandt,
Vincent Van Gogh, and Jan Vermeer.
The nation's rich historical
and architectural heritage is apparent in more than 40,000 |
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King William I (1772-1843) salutes Parliament
after losing his absolute powers in 1840
monuments, ranging from medieval castles, Gothic churches, old townhouses, farmhouses, and windmills to municipal fortifications
from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra is considered one of the
world's finest orchestras. The Dutch National Ballet and Netherlands
Dance Theater are world famous. Major museums are Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum
and Stedelijk, The Hague's Mauritshuis, and the Vincent van Gogh
National Museum in Amsterdam. Strong support is extended by the government
to the arts.
Economic Activity
From an early economy based on fishing and commerce, the western areas
of the Netherlands later developed shipbuilding, diamond cutting,
and industries manufacturing cocoa, chocolate, gin, and liqueurs from
raw materials provided by overseas areas. The Industrial Revolution,
less dramatic in the Netherlands than in Great Britain and Germany,
did not begin on a large scale until the Limburg coalfields were developed
in the late 19th century.
The Depression of the 1930s and the
devastation of World War II left the nation impoverished by 1945,
but recovery and |
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expansion of trade and industry proceeded rapidly
after 1950 through closer economic ties within the Benelux, composed
of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the
European Economic Community (EEC), and later the European Union (EU).
Government
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy with a
constitutional and hereditary monarchy. The Head of State since 1980
is Queen Beatrix of the House of Orange, who reigns but does not rule.
Executive power is vested in the Crown and in the council of ministers
(cabinet). Legislative authority rests with the Crown and the States-General,
a bicameral parliament consisting of a 150-member Lower House, chosen
every 4 years by direct ballot, and a 75 -member Upper House, or Senate,
elected for 6-year terms by the provincial councils.
All Dutch
citizens over the age of 18 may vote. Seats in the parliament are
allocated among the parties on the basis of proportional representation,
a system that usually results in a proliferation of parties and formation
of multiparty coalition governments. Each of the 11 provinces is governed
by a elected council headed by an appointed Queen's Commissioner.
The more than 800 municipalities are each headed by a mayor. History
Germanic tribes, including the Batavi and Frisians, occupied the area
in pre-Roman times. In 12 BC the Romans extended their empire north
as far as the Rhine River, remaining there until about AD 300. The
Franks and Saxons settled during the great Germanic migration beginning
in the 5th century. The Franks absorbed the Batavi and subjugated
the Frisians and Saxons during the 8th century to integrate the parts
of the Netherlands into a wider European empire under the Frankish
emperor Charlemagne.
When the Frankish Empire disintegrated after Charlemagne's death,
most of the Netherlands passed eventually to the East Frankish Kingdom.
Frankish rule progessively weakened, and at the same time Vikings
invaded and pillaged the whole region.
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