ched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to
bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire
between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003.
In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family,
including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October
2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for
"incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were
subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing
insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the
king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime
minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing
dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing
the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005
dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned
party leaders, and assumed power. The king's government subsequently
released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency
in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April
2006. After nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the
seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament
to reconvene on 28 April 2006. In November 2006, the government and
Maoists signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord to end the ten-year
insurgency.

Netherlands
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 invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A
modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large
exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member
of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the
introduction of the euro in 1999.

Netherlands Antilles
Once the center of the Caribbean slave trade,
the island of Curacao was hard hit by the abolition of slavery in
1863. Its prosperity (and that of neighboring Aruba) was restored in
the early 20th century with the construction of oil refineries to
service the newly discovered Venezuelan oil