Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Nederland

Flag of the Netherlands
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer; the colors were those of WILLIAM I, Prince of Orange, who led the Dutch Revolt against Spanish sovereignty in the latter half of the 16th century; originally the upper band was orange, but because it tended to fade to red over time, the red shade was eventually made the permanent color; the banner is perhaps the oldest tricolor in continuous use
Flag of the Netherlands

Creative Industries Netherlands at Europa Regina

Population:
17,463,930 (2023 est.)
17,337,403 (2021)
17,280,397 (2020)
17,084,719 (2017)
Capital: Amsterdam
Internet country code: .nl

Government:
Official website: government.nl
Official Dutch tourist office: holland.com
Netherlands Enterprise Agency: english.rvo.nl
Statistics Netherlands (CBS): cbs.nl

UN:
Netherlands at UN: PR UN, New York
UN Women Nederland: unwomen.nl
Universal Periodic Review: ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/nl-index

Nederland Sociale Media Atlas

Social Media Atlas
Curious about Dutch diplomats & diplomatic posts on social media? Visit > netherlandsandyou.nl/social-media

Kingdom of the Netherlands / Nederland

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 German invasion and occupation 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. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba – became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In February 2018, the Sint Eustatius island council (governing body) was dissolved and replaced by a government commissioner to restore the integrity of public administration. According to the Dutch Government, the intervention will be as “short as possible and as long as needed.”