Lankapuvath

Beatrix of the Netherlands – The Head of State

Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard; born 31 January 1938) is the queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. She is the first daughter of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She studied law at Leiden University. In 1966, she married Claus von Amsberg, with whom she had three children: Prince Willem-Alexander (born 1967), Prince Friso (born 1968), and Prince Constantijn (born 1969). When her mother Juliana abdicated on 30 April 1980, Beatrix succeeded her as Queen of the Netherlands. She was widowed in 2002.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) 

Mark Rutte born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He has been the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with parts in the Caribbean. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. The capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague.

The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces. The word Dutch is used to refer to the people, the language, and anything pertaining to the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 25% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. Significant land area has been gained through land reclamation and preserved through an elaborate system of polders and dikes. Much of the Netherlands is formed by the estuary of three important European rivers, which together with their distributaries form the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta. Most of the country is very flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast and several low-hill ranges in the central parts. The BES islands, or Caribbean Netherlands, became part of the Netherlands proper after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010.

Capital and largest city                         Amsterdam
Official language                                    Dutch
Recognised regional languages          Frisian (in Friesland),
                                                                 Papiamento (in Bonaire),                                                                    English (in Saint Eustatius,Saba)

Ethnic groups                      Dutch80.7%,
                                              EU 5%,
                                              Indonesian 2.4%
                                              Turkish2.2%,
                                             Surinamese2%,    
                                             Moroccan 2%,
                                             Dutch Caribbean 0.8%,
                                             other 4.8%

Demonym Dutch
Government Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch  -  

Monarch – Queen Beatrix  

Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD)  


Deputy Prime Minister      Maxime Verhagen (CDA)
Legislature States-            General  -  
Upper House                      Senate  -  
Lower House                    House of Representatives
Independence                   As result of the Eighty Years' Warfrom the Spanish Empire  -  
Declared                            26 July 1581   -  
Recognized                       30 January 1648  
EU accession                   25 March 1957
Area  -                              Total 41,848 km2 (135th) 16,158 sq mi   -
                                           Water (%) 18.41
Population  -                  2011 estimate 16,665,000[3] (61st)  -  
Density                           401.3/km2 (28th)1,039.4/sq mi
Currency                         Euro (€)

Message from the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands HE Mrs Leoni Cuelenaere in Colombo

On the occasion of our Queen's Day, April 30, when Her Majesty Queen Beatrix officially celebrates her birthday, I am happy to pen these few lines to supplement this Royal celebration.  In the Netherlands festive events are organised throughout the country and Netherlands diplomatic missions throughout the world organise receptions and special events to honour Her Majesty the Queen on this day.

Here in Sri Lanka the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands also takes an active part to mark this as a very special and significant day.  Since four hundred years, the relations between the Netherlands and Sri Lanka have grown remarkably.  Trade has been the forte in the Dutch history and it is the very thing that brought our ancestors to explore Sri Lanka.  The Dutch traders were immensely attracted to trading spices from Sri Lanka.  Although more than four hundred years have since gone by, we greatly value the mutual heritage that we share with this beautiful island.  The two nations have remained friends since then and the Netherlands has happily extended its co-operation towards the development of Sri Lanka.  

With the assistance of the Netherlands Government we have completed the projects undertaken with the Southern Cultural Triangle Concept.  In Galle, the conservation of the Old Dutch warehouse and rehabilitation of the maritime museum and the conservation of the ancient ramparts of the Fort can be highlighted as the key projects that are now being concluded.  The Construction of the museum cum visitor’s centre in Kataragama foremost benefit the local population in the Southern region and as well as others from various parts of the country to promote mutual understanding among different cultures.  The restoration and conservation work of the ancient Dutch Naval Commissioner’s House in Trincomalee has been completed and it will be ceremonially opened to the public shortly. The Jaffna Fort is also being conserved with the assistance of the Netherlands Government.

Trade receives the top most priority as it is the defining factor in the Dutch history.  In the current context, although trading has changed its outfit since ancient times, the Netherlands markets many of its products and services throughout the world.  A number of Dutch companies are represented in Sri Lanka and I am happy to mention here that bilateral trade between our two countries is growing remarkably.  The Netherlands also contributes its assistance to the environment and water sectors, good governance and human rights as these are highlighted areas of the Dutch policy.

I am also happy to mention here that the political interests of the Sri Lankan Parliamentarians in the democratic parliamentary system in the Netherlands have pursued them to revive the Netherlands Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Association recently.  This will no doubt give more opportunities for political co-operation between the two nations.

Finally in conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Colombo is firmly committed to further strengthen the cordial and friendly bilateral relations that happily exist between our two nations.

Holland or the Netherlands?

The Netherlands is often called Holland, because of the role the two western provinces North and South Holland played in its history. This region encompasses Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and other well-known Dutch cities such as Delft, Leiden and Haarlem. However, officially, it is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of three parts: the Netherlands itself in Western Europe, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba in the Caribbean.

The country and its people

More than 16 million people call the Netherlands home. It is the most densely populated country in Europe and one of the most densely populated countries in the world. More than forty percent of the total population lives in the urban agglomeration area called the Randstad.

Rulers
50 BC - 400 AD The Romans
400-800 AD - The Franks
800-1200 AD - German Rule
1300-1600 - Various Rulers
1500-1700 - The Battle against the Spaniards
1600-1800 - The Golden Age
1790-1932 - The Independent Kingdom
1940-1945 - World War II

Queen's Day

Queen’s Day, 30 April, is a national holiday in the Netherlands. On this day, the entire country is coloured in orange. Events and celebrations are held throughout the country, including the popular ‘Queen’s Night’ celebration in The Hague on the eve before Queen’s Day and the public street market in Amsterdam on the holiday itself - regardless of the weather. The Royal family visits one to two towns each year. The current queen, Queen Beatrix, was actually born on 31 January, but the tradition of celebrating the birthday of her mother, the former Queen Juliana (1909-2004), has been upheld.