The Netherlands has a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The parliament consists of two chambers - the Lower House which is directly elected, and the Senate which is indirectly elected. The King is the nominal head of state but has no real political power. The country is usually governed by a coalition of political parties, with the Prime Minister as head of government. Dutch society has traditionally been predominantly Christian but secularization has increased, with over half the population now having no religious affiliation. The Netherlands has a very prosperous and open economy heavily dependent on foreign trade, especially in agriculture, food processing, chemicals and transport.

2. Very renowned Products

3. National Flower and Costume

4. Netherland’s Monitary

5. The Language used…
• Dutch is the Netherlands official Language

6. The Government
Constitutional Monarchy
Since 1815 The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy. Historically for centuries before, it had been the proud
republic, a union of provinces. Since 1848, the Netherlands is also a parliamentary democracy. Dutch monarch has no real
political power, but serves as representative head of state and a symbolic person uniting the divided parliamentary politics.
The parliament
The parliament consists of two chambers. The Lower House (Dutch: Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber) is elected every
four years in a direct national elections together with the provincial parliaments. It consists of 150 members. Only the
political parties can take part in the elections. The lower chamber approves the budget and has the right of the legal
initiative, the right of submitting amendments, the right to start its own inquires and the right of interpellation. The
members of the provincial parliaments vote for the less importantSenate (Dutch: Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber)
consisting of 75 members who approve or reject all laws of the Netherlands without the right of amendment. Together,
the First and Second Chamber constitute The Estates-General (Dutch: Staten Generaal, established 1593). In fact, Dutch
political system gives a lot of freedom to the government, as long as it has support of the parliament.
Head of state – The King
King Willem-Alexander van Oranje-Nassau is the nominal head of state of the Netherlands. The King has several mostly
representative functions. He nominates all the mayors in the Netherlands as well as the politician who forms the
government after the general elections. The monarch also signs all the laws approved by the parliament.
Government
The Netherlands is usually governed by a coalition of different political parties. Prime minister is usually coming from the
party, which won the most seats in the elections. Usually the King gives the leader of the party, which won the elections,
or an important politician coming from this party, the task of forming the new government. The constitution does not
permit to a member of the parliament to serve in the government.
The council of ministers leads the country’s policy, the minister together with junior ministers govern. The council of
ministers with the King form together the Crown, an organ which nominates the members of the State Council (Dutch:
Raad van State), an institution with influence on certain decisions and more important nominations.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister is the head of the government. Mark Rutte from the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy – VVD
(liberals) is at present the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

7. Customs and Traditions
• Putting up Christmas
trees
• Queen’s Day Market
• Eating Oilliebollen on
New Year’s eve
• Painting Easter eggs
• Carnaval
• Beschuit met muisjes
• Blowing out birthday
cake candles
• Singing Sint Maarten
songs on November 11
• Eating herring

8. Religions and Beliefs
was predominantly Christianity until late into the 20th century. Although religious diversity
remains, there has been a decline of religious adherence. From a December 2014 survey by
the VU University Amsterdam it was concluded that for the first time there are more atheists
(25%) than theists (17%) in the Netherlands. The majority of the population being agnostic
(31%) or ietsistic (27%).[1] In 2013, Statistics Netherlands found that 26% of the population
identified as Roman Catholic, 16% as Protestant, 5% as Muslim, and 6% as "other" (the last
includes other Christian denominations, Hindus 0.6%, Jews 0.1%, and Buddhists
0.4%).[2] Approximately 56.1% (51.3-61%) of the population has no religious
affiliation.[3] Religion is in the Netherlands generally considered a personal matter which is
not supposed to be propagated in public.[4]
Atheism, ietsism, agnosticism, and "Christian atheism" are on the rise; the first three being
widely accepted and the last being more or less considered to be non-controversial. Among
those who adhere to Christianity there are high percentages of atheists, agnostics
and ietsists, since affiliation with a Christian denomination is also used in a way of cultural
identification in the different parts of the Netherlands.[5] The Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau
(Social and Cultural Planning Agency, SCP) expects the number of non-affiliated Dutch to be
at 72% in 2020.[6]

9. Economy
According to the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund, the Netherlands was the 18th largest
economy of the world in 2012 (see: List of countries by
GDP (nominal)). GDP per capita is roughly $43,404 which
makes it one of richest nations in the world (see: List of
countries by GDP (PPP) per capita). Between 1996 and
2000 annual economic growth (GDP) averaged over 4%,
well above the European average. Growth slowed
considerably in 2001-05 as part of the global economic
slowdown. 2006 and 2007 however showed economic
growth of 3.4% and 3.9%. The Dutch economy was hit
considerably by the on going global financial crisis
and the ensuing European debt crisis. Several banks
went bankrupt, and a number of others had to receive
governmental aid. In 2009 the economy declined 3.5%,
followed by two years of mild growth. The Dutch
economy is in a recession again, with an economic
decline of 0.5% in 2012. Inflation is at 2.9% in June 2013.
Unemployment has been relatively low compared to
other EU nations for decades but after mid-2012 it has
seen a fast increase and in May 2013 it has hit 8.3%. The
Netherlands managed to maintain its AAA rating at least
until July 2013 according to the three major credit rating
agencies.[1
The Netherlands have a prosperous and open economy,
which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is
noted for stable industrial relations, fairly
low unemployment and inflation, a sizable current
account surplus, and an important role as a European
transportation hub. Industrial activity is predominantly in
food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and
electrical machinery. A highly mechanised agricultural
sector employs no more than 2% of the labour force but
provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry
and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU
partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January
2002. The country is one of the leading European nations
for attracting foreign direct investment.[

10. Education
• Educational policy is coordinated by the Dutch Ministry
of Education, Culture and Science with municipal
governments.
• Compulsory education (leerplicht) in the Netherlands starts
at the age of five, although in practice, most schools accept
children from the age of four. From the age of sixteen there
is a partial compulsory education (partiële leerplicht),
meaning a pupil must attend some form of education for at
least two days a week.[3] Compulsory education ends for
pupils aged eighteen and up or when they get a degree.
• Public, special (religious), and general-special (neutral)
schools[1] are government-financed, receiving equal financial
support from the government if certain criteria are met.
Although they are officially free of charge, these schools
may ask for a parental contribution (ouderbijdrage). Private
schools rely on their own funds, but they are highly
uncommon in the Netherlands, to the extent that even the
Dutch monarchs have traditionally attended special or
public schools. Public schools are controlled by local
governments. Special schools are controlled by a school
board and are typically based on a particular religion; those
that assume equality between religions are known as
general-special schools. These differences are present in all
levels of education.
• As a result, there can
be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim elementary
schools, high schools, and universities. A special school can
reject applications of pupils whose parents or guardians
disagree with the school's educational philosophy, but this is
uncommon. In practice, there is little difference between
special schools and public schools, except in traditionally
religious areas of the Dutch Bible Belt. All school types
(public, special and private) are under the jurisdiction of a
government body called Inspectie van het
Onderwijs (Inspection of Education, also known
as Onderwijsinspectie)

11. The Dutch government wants to
promote sustainable economic growth
in developing countries. And it wants
to work towards global stability and
security and to foster human rights. It
can best do so by focusing on the fields
in which the Netherlands itself excels,
for example water management and
food security.