Head of state: Queen Beatrix Prime minister: Mark Rutte
Population
313,847,465
16,730,632
Life Expectancy
78.490 years
80.910 years
Capital City
Washington, DC
Amsterdam
Largest city
New York City (population: 8,008,280)
Amsterdam (population: 741,636)
Human Development Index
0.95
0.958
GDP per capita
$49,000 US
$42,700 US
Literacy Rate
99%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
8.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.6%
37.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
William Gates III ($40.0bn US)
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken ($4.6bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
4.400%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
constitutional monarchy
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
23 January 1579 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries conclude the Union of Utrecht breaking with Spain; on 26 July 1581 they formally declared their independence with an Act of Abjuration; however, it was not until 30 January 1648 and the Peace of Westphalia that Spain recognized this independence)
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Roman Catholic 30%, Dutch Reformed 11%, Calvinist 6%, other Protestant 3%, Muslim 5.8%, other 2.2%, none 42% (2006)
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs
External Debt
$14,710,000,000,000 $
$2,655,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.060%
1.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
110
16
Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
Area
9,826,675 km sq
41,543 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
451 km
Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
