Netherlands

The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland; IPA pronunciation: /"ne:d?rlant/) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that is formed by the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.(Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). The Netherlands is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, located in northwestern Europe. It borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east.

Demographics

The Netherlands is the 15th most densely populated country in the world, with 393 inhabitants per square km (or 482/km² if only the land area is counted, 20% is water). Partly because of this it is also one of the most densely cabled countries in the world. Internet penetration http://www.internetworldstats.com/top25.htm is at 66.2% the 7th highest in the world.

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According CBS Statline, the official statistics bureau of the Netherlands, the ethnic origins of the citizens are very diverse. The vast majority of the population however still remains Dutch. They were: 80.8% Dutch, 8.7% other European, 2.2% Turkish, 1.9% Moroccan, 6.4% other

Related Topics:
Dutch - European - Turkish

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Languages

The official language is Dutch, which is spoken by practically all inhabitants. Another official language is Frisian, which is spoken in the northern province of Friesland and has a strong resemblance to English. Frisian is co-official only in the province of Friesland, although with a few restrictions. Several dialects of Low Saxon are spoken in much of the north and are recognised as regional languages, as protected by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. To the south, the Dutch language shifts into other varieties of Low Franconian and German, which may or may not be best classified as Dutch, most notably West Flemish. One of these, Limburgish, which is spoken in the southeastern province of Limburg has been recognised as a minority language since 1977.

Related Topics:
Dutch - Frisian - Friesland - English - Low Saxon - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages - Low Franconian - West Flemish - Limburgish - Limburg - 1977

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Religion

The Reformation was particularly succesful in the Netherlands and produced a great number of Calvinists, particularly in the ruling class, but at the end of the Eighty Years' War that formed the Netherlands, the people had already returned to Catholicism as a result of the Counter-Reformation.

Related Topics:
Reformation - Calvinists - Eighty Years' War - Catholicism - Counter-Reformation

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According to the governmental statistics agency (CBS) 30% of the population consider themselves to be Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant (predominantly Dutch Reformed) and 8% 'other denominations'. 42% consider themselves not to belong to any religious denomination. Church attendance however is much lower than these figures may suggest: some 70% of the population 'rarely or never' visit a house of worship (be it a church, mosque, synagogue or temple).

Related Topics:
CBS - Roman Catholic - Protestant - Dutch Reformed

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The largest part of the 'other denominations', at 920,000, are Muslim immigrant workers, mostly from Morocco and Turkey, and their offspring. The other denominations also include some 200,000 (1.3%) Hindu, mostly descendents of indentured servants who migrated from India to the former Dutch colony of Surinam around 1900. Prior to the Holocaust about 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands, however the vast majority of Dutch Jewry was murdered in the Holocaust. About 30,000 Dutch Jews now live in The Netherlands.

Related Topics:
Muslim - Morocco - Turkey - Hindu - Indentured servants - India - Surinam - The Holocaust - Jews

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