The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, 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.

The Netherlands is in Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany. It is slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey.

The country boasts a population of just over 17 million divided into Dutch 77.4 percent, EU 6.2 percent, Turkish 2.3 percent, Moroccan 2.3 percent, Indonesian 2.1 percent,, Surinamese 2 percent, and other, 7.7 percent.

The Netherlands form of government is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is one of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the other three, Aruba, Curacao, and Saint Maarten, are all islands in the Caribbean; while all four parts are considered equal partners, in practice, most of the Kingdom’s affairs are administered by the Netherlands, which makes up about 98 percent of the Kingdom’s total land area and population. Three other Caribbean islands, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius, and Saba, are considered to be special municipalities of the Netherlands proper.

While the official language is Dutch, Frisian is an official language in Fryslan province; Frisian, Low Saxon, Limburgish, Romani, and Yiddish have protected status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; Dutch is the official language of the three special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands; English is a recognized regional language on Saint Eustatius and Saba; Papiamento is a recognized regional language on Bonaire.

The Netherlands is part of the euro zone, and as such, its monetary policy is controlled by the European Central Bank. The Dutch financial sector is highly concentrated, with four commercial banks possessing over 80 percent of banking assets, and is four times the size of Dutch GDP.

The Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, plays an important role as a European transportation hub, with a consistently high trade surplus.

— CIA World Factbook