SOCIAL STUDIES

COUNTRY PORTAFOLIO

DANIEL CAMILO MOLINA GRILLO

COLEGIO LA COLINA
SOCIAL STUDIES UN MODEL
UN MODEL
BOGOTA D.C
2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Geography--------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Governmental Aspects ------------------------------------------------ 3-5
Economy ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5-6
Social Aspects ---------------------------------------------------------- 6-7
International Affairs --------------------------------------------------- 7-8
History ------------------------------------------------------------------- 8-9
References --------------------------------------------------------------- 9

Geography
Netherlands is located in Europe, more specifically Western Europe, bordering the North
Sea, between Belgium and Germany. Its capital is Amsterdam. The area of this country is:
total: 41,543 sq km
land: 33,893 sq km
water: 7,650 sq km
Its border countries:
total: 1,053 km
border countries (2): Belgium 478 km, Germany 575 km
Its neighbors are Germany and Belgium
The relations between Netherlands and Germany these two countries enjoy excellent political
relations. The two countries enjoy close political, economic, social, cultural, administrative
and personal ties.
The Netherlands and Belgium maintain close relations. As well as meeting at EU and UN
conferences.
The following map is the map of Netherlands

Natural Resources: natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land
Governmental Aspects
The complete name of this country is: Kingdom of the Netherlands, is shortened just to
Netherlands. Locally the complete name is Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
Netherlands type of government is constitutional monarchy, this government means when the
king or queen acts like the head of state but the ability to make and pass legislation resides
with an elected Parliament, not with the Monarch.
Administrative division
Netherlands is divided into twelve administrative regions, called provinces each under a
Governor, who is called Commissaris van de Koningin
All provinces are divided in to municipalities (430 in total). Netherlands is also subdivided in
water districts, they are governed by a water board each of them have the authority in matters
concerning water management.
Structure
Netherlands has a parliament, whics consists of 2 chambers. The Lower House or Second
Chamber is elected every four years in a direct national elections together with the provincial
parliaments. Consists of 150 members, only the political parties can take part in the elections.
The Second Chamber approves the budget and has the right of the legal initiative.

The members of the provincial parliament vote for the less important Senade, it consists of 75
members, who approve or reject all laws of the Netherlands without the right of amendment
Head of State
The current nominal head of state of Netherlands is King Willem-Alexander van OranjeNassau. The head of state has mostly representative functions. He is the one who nominates
all the mayors in Netherlands , as well as the politician who forms the government after the
general elections.
Prime Minister
The prime minister is Mark Rutte since 14 October 2010
Constitution
In the Netherlands constitution the following topics are dealt with
Fundamental rights;
Government (Head of State and Ministers);
Parliament (The States General);
Council of State, Court of Auditors, National Ombudsman and permanent advisory bodies;
Legislation and administration;
The administration of justice;
Provinces, municipalities, dike boards and other public bodies;
Revision of the Constitution;
Additional articles.
The most important political parties are
1.Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Sybrand VAN HAERSMA BUMA]
2.Christian Union or CU [Arie SLOB]
3.Democrats 66 or D66 [Jesse KLAVER]
4.50 Plus [Jan NAGEL]
5.Green Left or GL [Bram VAN OJIK]
6.Labor Party or PvdA [Diederik SAMSOM]
7.Party for Freedom or PVV [Geert WILDERS]
8.Party for the Animals or PvdD [Marianne THIEME]
9.People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Mark RUTTE]
10.Reformed Political Party or SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ]

11.Socialist Party or SP [Emile ROEMER]

The most important Pressure groups are:
1.Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Maurice LIMMEN]
2.Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Hans DE BOER]
3.Federation for Small and Medium-sized Businesses or MKB [Michael VAN STRAALAN]
4.Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Ton HEERTS]
5.Social Economic Council or SER [Mariette HAMER]
6.Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel or CMHP [Reginald VISSER]
Economy
GDP: $831.4 billion (2015 est.)
GDP Growth rate: 1.8% (2015 est.)
GDP Per capita: $49,300 (2015 est.)
GDP Composition, by end use:
Household consumption: 45%
government consumption: 25.3%
investment in fixed capital: 19%
investment in inventories: -0.1%
exports of goods and services: 83.6%
imports of goods and services: -72.8%
GDP Composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 1.6%
industry: 18.8%
services: 79.6% (2015 est.)
Netherlands is one of the most developed countries of the world. It has many industries and
agriculture on a very high level of productivity, for it being a small country it is a big player
in the worlds trade and the global transfer of capital
Currency: Euro
Its trading industries are: electronics, chemical industry, automobile industries (trucks, cars,
parts), shipping, agriculture, horticulture, service industries, banking, media, agroindustries,
metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum,
construction, microelectronics, fishing

Industrial production growth rate 1% (2015 est.)

Major trading partners: EU (Germany being the biggest trading partner, Belgium,
Luxembourg, France, UK), USA.
Social and Cultural Aspects.
Ethnic groups:
Dutch 95%, EU 2.5%, Turkish 0.5%, Moroccan 0.3%, Chinese 0.2%, other 1.5%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 28%, Protestant 19% (includes Dutch Reformed 9%, Protestant Church of
The Netherlands, 7%, Calvinist 3%), other 11% (includes about 5% Muslim and lesser
numbers of Hindu, Buddhist, Jehovah's Witness, and Orthodox), none 42% (2009 est.)
Population: 16,947,904 (July 2015 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.73% (male 1,450,957/female 1,384,576)
15-24 years: 12.15% (male 1,049,802/female 1,009,250)
25-54 years: 40.12% (male 3,412,016/female 3,388,119)
55-64 years: 13.02% (male 1,099,594/female 1,107,401)
65 years and over: 17.97% (male 1,373,111/female 1,673,078) (2015 est.)
Population Pyramid:

Population growth rate:

0.41% (2015 est.)

Death Rate:
8.66 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)
Life expectancy:
total population: 81.23 years
male: 79.11 years
female: 83.47 years (2015 est.)
International Affairs
Netherlands joined the UN on the 10 of December of 1945. The Netherlands is the thirteenth
highest contributor to the United Nations, providing 1.86% of the gross annual budget.
Allies and Enemies
The Netherlands is a member of the UN, NATO and the Eu. That would make all the current
members of NATO allies in the military sense, and all the European member nations of the
EU even closer allies
Netherlands has no active enemies at the moment, or at least not declared enemies
The Netherlands, is member of the UN, NATO and the Eu
Netherlands Relations With the most important Countries:
Netherlands-USA Relations:
The relations between the Netherlands and the United States of America are close.
Netherlands is the third biggest investor in the US, in turn is the largest foreign investor in the
Netherlands
Political Relations Netherlands-USA
The Netherlands has one of the longest standing diplomatic relationships with the USA, The
Netherlands was the first country to recognize the US after it declared independence in 1776.
In 2009 400 years of the relations with the city of New York and Netherlands were celebrates,
originally founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam
The Netherlands and the US work together very close on international security , the
international legal order, counterterrorism, non-proliferation, international free trade,
sustainable development and protecting human rights. These 2 countries were co-founders of
the Freedom Online Coalition to promote Internet freedom.
The Netherlands maintains multilateral relations with the US though NATO, the UN, the Eu
and the Organization of American States, in which the Netherlands has permanent observer
status
Economic Relations Netherlands-USA

The Netherlands is the third biggest foreign investor in the US (USD 265 billion in 2014),
while the US is the largest foreign investor in the Netherlands (USD 645 billion in 2014).
Major Dutch exports to the US are office machinery, beverages and chemicals
Many major Dutch companies are active in the US insurance, banking, chemical and oil
industries.
Relations Netherlands-Germany
The relation between these two countries are excellent, they enjoy of close political,
economic, social, cultural, administrative and personal ties. Economically speaking Germany
is extremely important to economy in the Netherlands, being one of its main trading partners,
both in imports and exports. These two countries work together often, for instance on
economic stability and security
Relations Netherlands- UK
UK works with the Netherlands to implement policy on Europe and the single market,
building trade for mutual growth. They work in partnership with the netherlands to ensure
intenational stability and to beat threats to Britain's security
History the Netherlands
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579,during the 17th
century, later they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and
colonies around the world. After a 20 year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands
was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The
Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation
in World War II a modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of
agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the
EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former
Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius,
and Saba - became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The
larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent
countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Referencias
https://www.google.com.co/search?q=netherlands+map&tbm=isch&imgil=uXESVJ63yv_bM%253A%253BgUtTQ7Rk2e6-gM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F
%25252Fwww.nationsonline.org%25252Foneworld%25252Fmap
%25252Fnetherlands_map.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=uXESVJ63yv_-bM%253A
%252CgUtTQ7Rk2e6-gM%252C_&usg=__dApucuNm-WBtgSSgfEKKv0Bq-zE
%3D&biw=1600&bih=812&ved=0ahUKEwj_xaHI9pPLAhVMpx4KHX55CiIQyjcIKg&ei=
KXvPVr-NCMzOev7yqZAC#imgrc=uXESVJ63yv_-bM%3A
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nl.html
https://www.government.nl/topics/international-relations/contents/belgium
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/netherlands-economy.html
https://www.government.nl/topics/international-relations/contents/germany

http://www.royal.gov.uk/monarchuk/howthemonarchyworks/whatisconstitutionalmonarchy.as
px
http://www.visitholland.nl/index.php/general-info/the-country/geography-facts/238administrative-divisions-in-netherlands
http://www.amsterdam.info/netherlands/political-system/
https://www.government.nl/documents/regulations/2012/10/18/the-constitution-of-thekingdom-of-the-netherlands-2008
http://www.amsterdam.info/netherlands/economy/
http://www.indexmundi.com/netherlands/ethnic_groups.html
https://www.government.nl/topics/international-relations/contents/united-states
https://www.government.nl/topics/international-relations/contents/germany