Netherlands

THE KINGDOM OF the Netherlands is a modern and industrialized western European country. The country is one of the Benelux group (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) and it has prospered economically since the end of World War II. In addition to a strong industrial base, the Netherlands has a productive and modern agricultural sector. The area of the Netherlands is 42,526 square kilometers, of which nearly 20 percent is water. The Netherlands has a long coastline on the North Sea, giving the country access to the oceans of the world. The country claims a 200-nautical-mile “exclusive fishing zone.” Located between Germany and Belgium and having three major European rivers within its borders (Rhine, Meuse, and Schelde), the Netherlands has a significant measure of transportation advantage, an attribute that has enhanced its economic growth.

A significant amount of the land is reclaimed from the sea. A series of dikes keeps the North Sea from inundating the low-lying land. It is not surprising that the potential for flooding is the greatest natural hazard faced by the country. The Netherlands has developed a successful agricultural sector. Major products include a variety of grains, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables, fruits, and livestock. The country's burgeoning industrial sector includes agricultural processing, metalworking, engineering processes of all types, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, and microelectronics. Proximity to the North Sea has also allowed the Netherlands to develop an important fishing industry.

Trading partners with the Netherlands are primarily in western Europe, with Germany being the largest. Although the Netherlands produces both crude oil and natural gas, the amounts of each fall far short of that required to keep its economy going. As such, both of these important energy sources must be imported in large volumes.

The population of the Netherlands was 16.3 million in 2002, with a rate of natural increase of 0.4 percent. The latter figure is indicative of a country that has completed the demographic transition and is in a slow growth mode. In fact the estimated population for the Netherlands in 2050 is 16.9 million, an increase of only 600,000 people in 45 years.

Other demographic data for the Netherlands are on a par with other western European countries: life expectancy at birth is 79 years (females 81 and males 76); and Gross National Income per capita in 2004 was $31,220, a figure that is higher than the western European average.

Despite the economic success of the Netherlands, 10 percent of households live below the poverty line, mostly in urban settings.

Despite its economic success, it is estimated that 10 percent of households in the Netherlands live below the established poverty line. Those in poverty are primarily immigrants from Turkey, Morocco, and the Antilles. In addition a higher number of households in the large cities (Amsterdam—the country's capital, Rotterdam, and The Hague) live in poverty.

Research indicates that the number of immigrants living in poverty will most likely increase in the near future, as will the elderly and people who are lacking in education. This prospect may be softened if the predicted rise in economic activity in the Netherlands in 2006 is realized.

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