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, Prince of Orange, son of Queen Beatrix (born 27 April 1967)
head of government: Prime Minister RUDOLPHUS (Ruud) F. M. LUBBERS (since 4 November 1982); Vice Prime Minister Willem (Wim) KOK (since 2 November 1989) - resigned after 3 May 1994 parliamentary elections; no new government has been formed to date
cabinet: Ministry of General Affairs; appointed by the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral legislature (Staten Generaal)
First Chamber (Eerste Kamer): elections last held on 9 June l991 (next to be held 9 June 1995); results - elected by the country's 12 provincial councils; seats - (75 total) percent of seats by party NA
Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer): elections last held on 3 May 1994 (next to be held in May 1999); results - PvdA 24.3%, CDA 22.3%, VVD 20.4%, D'66 16.5%, other 16.5%; seats - (150 total) PvdA 37, CDA 34, VVD 31, D'66 24, other 24

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (De Hoge Raad)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Elco BRINKMAN; Labor (PvdA), Wim KOK; Liberal (VVD), Frits BOLKESTEIN; Democrats '66 (D'66), Hans van MIERLO; a host of minor parties
Other political or pressure groups: 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 (IKV)
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMUR, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in 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, Manila (Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands), New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Kirk Terry DORNBUSH
embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ The Hague
mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, the Hague; APO AE 09715
telephone: [31] (70) 310-9209
FAX: [31] (70) 361-4688
consulate(s) general: Amsterdam

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

NOTE: The information regarding Netherlands on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands Government 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands Government 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.