Source: MAPS IN MINUTES™ © RH Publications (1997)

A European country on the North Sea. It is also known informally as Holland, although this properly refers only to two western provinces.

Physical

Bounded by Germany on the east and Belgium on the south, the Netherlands is built up of sediment brought by the Rhine, Meuse, and other rivers. Everywhere, except for the extreme southern corner, is low and flat, much of the land being below sea level. The coast has several estuaries and a large lagoon, the IJsselmeer, partly reclaimed from the Zuider Zee. An ongoing programme of maritime land reclamation has increased total land area.

Economy

Trade, banking, and shipping have traditionally been important and remain crucial to the economy, with Rotterdam being the largest port in Europe. A highly mechanized agricultural and market gardening sector produces grains, potatoes, sugar beet, fruit, vegetables, and livestock for food-processing industries and export. Other industries include metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, and chemicals.

History

The area was conquered as far north as the River Rhine by the Romans; the Franks and Saxons moved in during the early 5th century. After the collapse of the Frankish empire in the mid-9th century, there was considerable political fragmentation. Consolidation began under the 14th- and 15th-century dukes of Burgundy, and in 1477 the whole of the Low Countries passed to the House of Habsburg. In 1568 the Dutch Revolts against Spanish Habsburg rule began. The independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands (the northern provinces, which formed a self-governing federation) was finally acknowledged at the Peace of Westphalia (1648). During the 17th century it was a formidable commercial power, and it acquired a sizeable Dutch empire. It began to decline after the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the protracted wars against Louis XIV’s France. From 1795 to 1814 the Netherlands came increasingly under the control of France. During those years Britain took over the colonies of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Cape Colony in South Africa, important trading posts of the Dutch East India Company. At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna the entire Low Countries formed the independent kingdom of the Netherlands (1815). Despite the secession in 1830 of Belgium, the Netherlands flourished under the House of Orange, adopting in 1848 a constitution based on the British system. It remained neutral during World War I, suffered economic difficulties during the Great Depression, and was occupied by the Germans during World War II, when many Jews were deported to concentration camps. Until World War II it was the third largest colonial power, controlling the Dutch East Indies, various West Indian islands, and Guiana in South America. The Japanese invaded the East Indian islands in 1942 and installed Sukarno in a puppet government for all Indonesia. In 1945 he declared independence and four years of bitter war followed before the Netherlands transferred sovereignty. Guiana received self-government as Suriname in 1954 and independence in 1975, but Aruba, Curaçao and four small Antilles islands remained linked to the Netherlands. Following the long reign of Queen Wilhelmina (1890–1948) her daughter Juliana (1909–2004) became queen. She retired in 1980 and her daughter succeeded her as Queen Beatrix (1938– ); she in turn abdicated in 2013 in favour of her son Willem-Alexander (1967– ). The Netherlands was a founder member of the European Community, and of NATO. Since 1945 the Netherlands has been ruled by a succession of coalition governments. It adopted the euro as its currency in 2002. In 2011 austerity measures to reduce the country’s public deficit led to popular protests. This century has seen rising support for extreme right-wing politics, but the Freedom Party, under Geert Willders, failed to become the largest party after the 2017 elections, much to the relief of the political establishment.