The Netherlands

A

Population Characteristics

According to a 2007 estimate, The Netherlands has a population of 16,570,613. The overall population density is 489 persons per sq km (1,267 per sq mi), making The Netherlands one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The nation is heavily urbanized, with about 67 percent of the population living in urban areas.

The largest cities are Amsterdam (population, 2004 estimate, 739,300), the country’s capital and principal economic and cultural center; Rotterdam (596,100), the leading seaport; The Hague (468,400), the seat of government; and Utrecht (275,800), a transport and services hub. Seventeen other cities had more than 100,000 inhabitants in the early 2000s. Many of these cities are concentrated in the western provinces of Noord-Holland (North Holland), Zuid-Holland (South Holland), and Utrecht, comprising the large urban region called Randstad.

B

Language

The official language of The Netherlands is Dutch, which is spoken throughout the country. In the province of Friesland, however, a large percentage of the population speaks another Germanic language, Frisian, as its first language. Many immigrants still use their native language along with Dutch. The importance of English is growing, especially in education. See Dutch Language; Frisian Language.

C

Religion

The Roman Catholics in The Netherlands are concentrated in the southern part of the country. The largest Protestant denomination is the Protestant Church of The Netherlands. Islam, the country’s third-largest religion, is growing because of immigration and high birth rates among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. Small numbers of Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists also live in The Netherlands.

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The Protestant Church of The Netherlands formed in 2004 from the merger of the Dutch Reformed Church, which had been the largest Protestant denomination, with the Calvinist Reformist Church and the small Lutheran Church of The Netherlands. Although The Netherlands has no official religion, the Reformed Church has had a close association with the Dutch state since the founding of the Dutch Republic. All the country’s monarchs have been members of the Reformed Church.

IV

Education and Cultural Activity

A

Education

From the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, The Netherlands has enjoyed a high level of basic education and comparatively high literacy rates. In the 19th century efforts were made to systematize education and to secure adequate financing for schools. As the state became more deeply involved in education, a dispute arose concerning the fate of nonpublic, mainly church-related, schools. The so-called school struggle became a major political issue and was not fully settled until 1917, when a constitutional amendment guaranteed equal, tax-paid financial support for both public and nonpublic schools.

Today, about one-third of the elementary and secondary schools in The Netherlands are public, and about two-thirds are nonpublic, mainly Roman Catholic or Protestant. School attendance is compulsory for children until the age of 16. Pupils attend a primary school for eight years and then enter one of several types of secondary schools, which offer training for entering a university or other advanced institution or for pursuing a vocation. Instruction is in Dutch, except in Friesland, where classes are also taught in Frisian.

The Netherlands has 13 university-level institutions, including three technical universities and one agricultural university. Major institutions of higher education in The Netherlands include the University of Amsterdam, which was founded in 1632, and the state universities of Groningen (1614), Leiden (1575), and Utrecht (1636). Several schools of fine arts offer bachelor’s degrees.

B

Cultural Life

Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus had wide influence in the 16th century, and the country’s cultural life as a whole achieved an international reputation in the 17th century, which is often called its Golden Age. Among the influential Dutch figures of that time were jurist Hugo Grotius, scientists Christiaan Huygens and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, cartographers Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Jodocus Hondius, writers Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft and Joost van den Vondel, philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and numerous theologians. In addition, foreigners lived in Holland to enjoy its tolerant atmosphere, the most famous being French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes and English philosopher John Locke. Well-known figures of the Golden Age include the great 17th-century Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen. See Baroque Art and Architecture; Dutch Literature; Frisian Literature; Renaissance Art and Architecture.

The Dutch artistic tradition continued to be vigorous in more recent centuries—producing noted and influential painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, and Karel Appel—and lives on today, particularly in Amsterdam, where artists from many countries work. During the 20th century a number of Dutch architects and town planners, including H.P. Berlage, Gerrit Rietveld, and more recently Rem Koolhaas, gained international reputations.