Netherlands Profile:

• The Netherlands, also known informally as Holland, is a country in Western Europe.
• The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the world’s largest outside East Asia.
• The Netherlands also has a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, good public education and infrastructure, and a wide range of social benefits.
• The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union.
• The Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2016 according to the International Monetary Fund. In 2017, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the sixth-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life.

Netherlands Economy:

• The Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, plays an important role as a European transportation hub, with a persistently high trade surplus, stable industrial relations, and low unemployment.
• A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for food-processing and underpins the country’s status as the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter.
• The economic success of this region is important for the international competitiveness of the Netherlands; Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven form together with the foundation of the Dutch economy.
• In 2016, the government budget returned to a surplus of 0.3% of GDP, with economic growth of 2.1%, and GDP per capita finally surpassed pre-crisis levels.
• The Dutch government projects steady but modest economic growth of 2.1% in 2017 and unemployment decreasing to 4.9%.

Netherlands Facts:

• Population: 17.1 million
• Capital: Amsterdam
• Largest city: The Hague
• Area: 41,543 sq km
• Major language: Dutch (official)
• Major religion: Roman Catholic 23.7%, Protestant 15.5%, Islam 4.9%, other 5.7%
• Life expectancy: 79.3 years (Male), 83.7 years (Female)
• Monetary unit: 1 Euro(EUR) = 100 Cents
• Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, mineral fuels; food and livestock, manufactured goods
• GNI per Capita: $50,710