Kingdom of the Netherlands Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Timeline: Differently | ||||||
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Motto: Je maintiendrai |
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Anthem: "Wilhelmus" |
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Netherlands (green)
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Capital (and largest city) | Amsterdam | |||||
Official languages | Dutch | |||||
Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
- | King | Bernard II | ||||
- | Prime Minister | Mark Rutte | ||||
Establishment | ||||||
- | Independence from Spain | 30 January 1648 | ||||
- | Kingdom established | 16 March 1815 | ||||
Area | ||||||
- | Total | 41,526 km2 16,033 sq mi |
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Population | ||||||
- | Estimate | 17,737,438 (73rd) | ||||
Currency | Hitler (ђ) (HTL ) |
The Netherlands, officially the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is a country in the Low Countries region in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the south and Germany to the east. Its surface area of 41,526 square kilometers makes it the 24th-largest country in Europe and the 121st-largest in the world. With a population of over 17.7 million inhabitants, it is the 11th-most populous country in Europe and the 73rd in the world.
History[]
The Netherlands was founded in May 15, 1648, when it gained independence from the Spanish Habsburgs. The Dutch Republic, also known as the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, was formed. It was really a de facto monarchy, and ended when the French Empire invaded it and established the puppet republic of Batavia. The revolutionary government of Batavia ended when Louis Bonaparte, the Younger brother of Napoleon became King of Holland, a puppet kingdom of France. France would annex the puppet state and integrate the nation into France until Napoleon's defeat.
After Napoleon was defeated, the Netherlands was reconstituted as the United Kingdoms of the Netherlands. The new nation encompassed all of the Low Country region and parts of Germany. However, in 1830, Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, de-factoending the union and de-jure in 1839. The Netherlands still had control over Luxembourg.
The Netherlands ended its personal union with Luxembourg in 1890 due to conflicting inheritance laws, as Luxembourg was bound by a family pact to have Salic law. The Dutch government started a policy of neutrality, similar to its neighbor Belgium. In the Great War, the Netherlands was a neutral nation that did not join the conflict. Belgium and Luxembourg were occupied, which frightened the Dutch government. The government then decided to mobilize, which proved unnecessary. Germany had already surrendered by 1918, which ended the war.
The Netherlands started an economic union by the name of BENELUX with Belgium and Luxembourg. The communist Danish threat was bad for Netherlands and Germany. However, the Danish never staged a communist insurrection and with the fall of the Danish communist regime in 1938, the Netherlands was saved from communist threat.
In 1941, the Polish-German War broke out, which risked the Dutch sovereignty. However, the United Kingdom and France guaranteed the independence of the BENELUX nations.
Today, the Netherlands is a prospering nation which is part of the Germanic League and the BENELUX Foundation. However, it has been sinking due to low land, which prompted the government to started various land reclamation projects.
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