The country

The Kingdom of The Netherlands are located in the North-West of Europe. The country is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The spoken language is Dutch.

The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

The Netherlands have 12 provinces. The country is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level. 50% of its land is lying less than one metre above sea level. The low-lying parts are preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes.

The Netherlands are often referred to as Holland. But Holland only refers to two provinces: North  and South Holland. The Netherlands were one of the first parliamentary democracies. The country is host to five international courts: the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Court of Justice,  the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, the  International Criminal Court, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.