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THE NETHERLANDS PROFILE |
People
Population: 16.4 million.
Ethnic groups: Predominantly Dutch; largest minority communities are Moroccans, Turks, Surinamese.
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, other.
Language: Dutch.
Cities: Capital--Amsterdam (pop. 742,884). Other cities--The Hague, seat of government (473,941); Rotterdam (584,058); Utrecht (288,401).
The Dutch are primarily of Germanic stock with some Gallo-Celtic mixture. Their small homeland frequently has been threatened with destruction by the North Sea and has often been invaded by the great European powers.
Julius Caesar found the region which is now the Netherlands inhabited by Germanic tribes in the first century B.C. The western portion was inhabited by the Batavians and became part of a Roman province; the eastern portion was inhabited by the Frisians. Between the fourth and eighth centuries A.D., most of both portions were conquered by the Franks.
Economy:
GDP: USD 792 billion.
GDP real growth rate: 3.5%.
GDP per capita: USD 45,600.
After a strong performance in the 1990s, which brought unemployment to below 3%, the Dutch economy struggled through 2002 and 2003, plagued by relatively high costs and weak domestic demand. Real GDP growth recovered to 2.0% in 2004, but fell back slightly in 2005 to 1.5% largely due to lagging corporate investment and decreased government consumption. The economy grew by 2.9% in 2006. The 2007 growth rate of 3.5% was the highest since 2000. In 2007, the volume of imports increased 6% and exports 8%. In 2006 both grew by 10%.
The Netherlands was one of the first EU member states to qualify for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Its fiscal policy has sought to strike a balance between further reductions in public spending and lower taxes and social security contributions. After an unexpected sharp economic downturn in 2003 caused the nominal deficit to breach the 3% GDP limit set by the EMU's Growth and Stability Pact, the center-right coalition government agreed to a package of spending cuts, which helped to lower the budget deficit in 2004 and 2005. The government achieved a budget surplus of 0.6% in 2006 and 0.7% in 2007. |
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