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For
travellers, the integration of the clog and the microchip
works well. The Netherlands is easy to travel in and the locals
are friendly and speak excellent English, but towns are still
surrounded by canals and castle walls, the endlessly flat
landscape which inspired the nation's early artists still
stretches unbroken to the horizons, and the dykes still occasionally
threaten to give way. In a country where you can get a sex
change on the national health scheme, and where Hilde and
her two dads can share a joint to celebrate that she likes
boys too, why does the washing up always get done straight
after dinner? The Netherlands has managed to combine liberal
attitudes with one of the most orderly societies on earth,
in a community that manages to be radical and sensible without
being silly or staid. The Dutch aren't bogged in their clichés,
even though bikes, dykes, windmills and blazing flower fields
are pretty much the norm outside the major cities.
GDP:
US$350 billion
GDP per head: US$22,000
Annual growth: 3.7%
Inflation: 2%
Major industries: service industries, banking, electronics,
digital media, horticulture, agriculture, shipping
Major trading partners: EU (esp Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg,
France, UK), USA
Member of EU: yes
Euro zone participant: yes
Full
country name: Kingdom of the Netherlands
Area: 41,526 sq km
Population: 16,105,000
Capital city: Amsterdam (population 735,500)
People: Over 95% of the population are Dutch (Germanic and
Gallo-Celtic stock), most of the rest are Indonesian, Surinamese
or Moroccan
Languages: Netherlandic (Dutch & Flemish), Friesian
Religion: 60% Christian (Roman Catholic and Protestant), 3%
Muslim
Government: Constitutional monarchy
Head of state: Queen Beatrix van Oranje Nassau
Prime Minister: Jan Peter Balkenende
Netherlands
Antilles Flight from UK
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