Part 596

National capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government

Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincien, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland

Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Independence: 1579 (from Spain)

National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)

Constitution: 17 February 1983

Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; judicial review in the Supreme Court of legislation of lower order rather than Acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state : Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), Prince of Orange, son of Queen BEATRIX head of government: Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 22 August 1994) and Vice Prime Ministers Hans DIJKSTAL (since 22 August 1994) and Hans VAN MIERLO (since 22 August 1994) cabinet : Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the queen is a constitutional monarch; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the queen; vice prime ministers appointed by the queen

Legislative branch: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: First Chamber - last held 9 June 1995 (next to be held 9 June 1999); Second Chamber - last held 3 May 1994 (next to be held in 1998) election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - PvdA 24.3%, CDA 22.3%, VVD 20.4%, D'66 16.5%, other 16.5%; seats by party - PvdA 37, CDA 34, VVD 31, D'66 24, other 24

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or De Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the crown from a list compiled by the Second Chamber of the States General

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Hans HELGERS]; Labor or PvdA [Wim KOK]; Liberal or VVD [Frits BOLKESTEIN]; Democrats '66 or D'66 [Hans VAN MIERLO]; a host of minor parties

Political pressure groups and leaders: large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and Interchurch Peace Council or IKV

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Adriaan Pieter Roetert JACOBOVITS DE SZEGED chancery : 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 244-5300 FAX: (202) 362-3430 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission : Ambassador Kirk Terry DORNBUSH embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ The Hague mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715 telephone: (70) 310-9209 FAX: (70) 361-4688 consulate(s) general: Amsterdam

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer

Economy

Economy - overview: This highly developed and affluent economy is based on private enterprise. The government makes its presence felt, however, through many regulations, permit requirements, and welfare programs affecting most aspects of economic activity. Industrial activity features food-processing, oil-refining, and metalworking. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 4% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. Indeed, the Netherlands ranks third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. Sharp cuts in subsidy and social security spending have been accompanied by sustained growth in output and employment. The Dutch will almost certainly qualify for the first wave of countries entering the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $317.8 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.7% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,500 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3% industry: 26% services: 71% (1993)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 2% (1996 est.)

Labor force: total: 6.4 million (1993) by occupation: services 73%, manufacturing and construction 23%, agriculture 4% (1994)

Unemployment rate: 6.5% (November 1996)

Budget: revenues: $107.2 billion expenditures: $118.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)

Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics