tch

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 5,300,000; 50.1% services, 28.2% manufacturing and
construction, 15.9% government, 5.8% agriculture (1986)

Organized labor: 29% of labor force

- Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Amsterdam, but government resides at The Hague

Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincien,
singular--provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen,
Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland,
Zuid-Holland

Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Independence: 1579 (from Spain)

Constitution: 17 February 1983

Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory;
judicial review in the Supreme Court of legislation of lower order rather
than Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)

Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet,
Cabinet of Ministers

Legislative branch: bicameral States General (Staten Generaal) consists of
an upper chamber or First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) and a lower chamber or Second
Chamber (Tweede Kamer)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (De Hoge Raad)

Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980);
Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER, Prince of Orange, son of Queen Beatrix (born
27 April 1967);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Ruud (Rudolph) F. M. LUBBERS (since
4 November 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 2 November 1989)

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Willem
van Velzen; Labor (PvdA), Wim Kok; Liberal (VVD), Joris Voorhoeve; Democrats '66
(D'66), Hans van Mierio; Communist (CPN), Henk Hoekstra; a host of minor parties

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
First Chamber--last held on 9 June l987 (next to be held 9 June 1991);
results--elected by the country's 12 provincial councils;
seats--(75 total) percent of seats by party NA;

Second Chamber--last held on 6 September 1989 (next to be held by
September 1993);
results--CDA 35.3%, PvdA 31.9%, VVD 14.6%, D'66 7.9%, others 10.3%;
seats--(150 total) CDA 54, PvdA 49, VVD 22, D'66 12, others 13

Communists: about 6,000

Other political or pressure groups: large multinational firms; Federation
of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade
unions) and a Protestant trade