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Netherlands - GENERAL INFORMATION
 
Population - Local time - Languages - Religion - Political system - Climate - Tourism - Food



Population



Main Cities Population
Amsterdam   1,100,764  
Rotterdam   1,076,442  
Hague   695  
Utrecht   545  
Eindhoven   393  
Arnhem   311  



Total population (millions): 16.3
Source: World Bank 2004

Urban population: 66%
Source: World Bank 2004

Average annual population growth: 0.2%
Source: World Bank 2004

Surface area (km²) : 41,53


Population origin

Origin of the population% Of the population
Dutch 95.4
Turkish 1.3
Moroccan 1.2
German 0.2
Other 1.9




Local time


It is %T:%M %A in Amsterdam


GMT+1 in winter, GMT+2 in summer


Languages


Official language: Dutch
The majority of the population speaks English, which is the most used language in trade.

Free translation tools in Netherlands :
Eurodicautom
The European Union Dictionary (12 languages avalaible)

Systran
Free English-Dutch-English translator of texts and web pages

Tranexp
Free English-Dutch-English translator of texts and web pages

Freedict.com
Dutch-English-Dutch dictionary



Religion


Religious practises : Catholics 34.1%
Protestants 25.2%
No religion 8.9%
Muslims 2.9%
Others 28.9%.


Political system


The political system is a parliamentary monarchy. The Parliament is composed of two Chambers. The first Chamber (Eerste Kamer) is made up of 75 members elected for 4 years by the twelve regional Parliaments; the second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) is made up of 150 members elected by direct suffrage every four years
Capital City: Amsterdam
Head of State: Queen Beatrix, since April 30, 1980
Prime Minister: Jan Peter Balkenende (CDA - Christian democratic),appointed in 2002.


Climate

 


Tourism

Number of visitors in Netherlands 2002 2003 2004 World rank
Number of visitors (1000) 9595   9181   9646   20
Source : World Tourisme Organization, data available in November 2005

 

Tourist sites


-Rijks's museum ( Amsterdam ),
-Anne Frank's house (Amsterdam),
-Kroller-Muller museum ( Otterlo ),
-Zuiderzee museum ( Enkhuizen ),
-Mauritshuis museum ( The Hague ),
-Bonnefanten museum ( Maastricht ),
-Boymans Van Beuningen museum ( Rotterdam ),
-Groninger museum ( Groningen ),
-Dutch museum outdoors ( Arnhem) .

For more information about tourism in Netherlands , check out the following web site(s) :
Netherlands Tourism Board


Food


Traditional dishes


The present Dutch cooking is the result of a long tradition, not only at recipes level, but also regarding the composition of the menus.
The Dutch food has been widely influenced by recipes and ingredients of the former colonies, notably by the Indonesian food habits.
Dutch have generally three meals a day, of which only one is actually properly cooked: the breakfast is hearty, the lunch is mostly buffet-like and the dinner, which is served quite early, at about 6 pm.
Among others, the Dutch specialities are:
Boerenkool: curled cabbage with smoked sausage
Hutspot: Dutch stew
Haagse Bluf: whipped eggs
Speculoos: traditional Saint Nicolas cake
Borstplaat or the fondant: titbit, mainly eaten between Saint Nicolas and New Year's day.
Anijsmelk: aniseed milk: one of the favourite drinks of the Dutch just as hot chocolate.
Bisschopswijn: heated wine
Boerenmeisjes: apricot brandy.

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Last modified in October 2005
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