Long-form name: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Amsterdam, but government resides at The Hague

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)

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 Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

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

Branches: executive (Queen and Cabinet of Ministers), which is responsible to bicameral parliament (States General) consisting of a First Chamber (75 indirectly elected members) and a Second Chamber (150 directly elected members); independent judiciary; coalition governments are usual

Leaders: @m5Chief 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) @m5Head of Government--Prime Minister Ruud (Rudolph) F. M. LUBBERS (since 4 November 1982); Vice Prime Minister Rudolf de KORTE (since 14 July 1986)

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Elections: must be held at least every four years for lower house (last held 21 May 1986); following an amendment to the Constitution that took effect in 1983, elections are held for the upper house every four years (most recent 9 June 1987)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Willem van Velzen; Labor (PvdA), Wim Kok; Liberal (VVD), Leendert Ginjaar and Joris Voorhoeve; Democrats '66 (D'66), Saskia van der Loo; Communist (CPN), Henk Hoekstra; Pacifist Socialist (PSP), Marko Mazeland; Political Reformed (SGP), H. Slagboom; Reformed Political Union (GPV), J. Blokland; Radical Party (PPR), Janneke van der Plaat; Democratic Socialist '70 (DS'70), Z. Hartog; Rightist Peoples Party (RVP), Hendrik Koekoek; Reformed Political Federation (RPF), P. Lamgeler; Center Party (CP), H. Janmatt; Evangelical People's Party (EVP), J. Renes; Party for Better Housing (PVA), J. H. Borsboom; Roman Catholic Party of the Netherlands (RKPN), Klaas Beuker; Netherlands Christian Democrats (NCD), J. A. Tacx

Voting strength: (May 1986 election) CDA 54 seats, PvdA 52 seats, VVD 27 seats, D'66 9 seats, SGP 3 seats, PPR 2 seats, PSP 1 seat, GPV 1 seat, RPF 1 seat; two members of the CDA were expelled from the party in 1984 and are now serving as independents

Communists: about 6,000

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 IKV--Interchurch Peace Council

Member of: ADB, Benelux, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECE, EIB, EMS, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INRO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council (with respect to interests of the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname), NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO,

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Richard H. FEIN; Chancery at 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244-5300; there are Dutch Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador John S. SHAD; Embassy at Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ The Hague (mailing address APO New York 09159); telephone �31� (70) 62-49-11; there is a US Consulate General in 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 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Netherlands Government 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Netherlands Government 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.