Government & politics — Netherlands

the country name literally means "the lowlands" and refers to the geographic features of the land being both flat and down river from higher areas (i.e., at the estuaries of the Scheldt, Meuse, and Rhine Rivers; only about half of the Netherlands is more than 1 meter above sea level)

26 July 1581 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries formally declared their independence with an Act of Abjuration; however, it was not until 30 January 1648 and the Peace of Westphalia that Spain recognized this independence)

• King's Day (birthday of King WILLEM-ALEXANDER), 27 April (1967)
• note - King's or Queen's Day is observed on the ruling monarch's birthday
• currently celebrated on 26 April if 27 April is a Sunday

• history: many previous to adoption of the "Basic Law of the Kingdom of the Netherlands" on 24 August 1815; revised 8 times,
• the latest in 1983 amendments: proposed as an Act of Parliament by or on behalf of the king or by the Second Chamber of the States General; the Second Chamber is dissolved after its first reading of the Act; passage requires a second reading by both the First Chamber and the newly elected Second Chamber, followed by at least two-thirds majority vote of both chambers, and ratification by the king; amended many times, last in 2018

• chief of state: K
• ing WILLEM-ALEXANDER (since 30 April 2013) head of government: Car
• etaker Prime Minister Dick SCHOOF (since 3 June 2025) cabinet: Council of Mi
• nisters appointed by the monarch election/appointment process: the monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the monarch usually appoints the leader of the majority party or majority coalition as prime minister;
• deputy prime ministers are also appointed by the monarch note: Prime Minister Dick SCHOOF resigned on 3 June 2025 after a party withdrew from his governing coalition, but he will continue in a caretaker capacity until new elections are held, probably in the fall of 2025

Description

bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of: Senate or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial council members by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms) House of Representatives or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by open-list proportional representation vote to serve up to 4-year terms)

Elections

• Senate - last held on 30 May 2023 (next to be held in May 2027) House of Representatives - last held on 22 November 2023 (next to be held on 30 November 2027)

Election Results

• - Senate - percent of vote by party - BBB 21.3%, VVD 13.3%, GL 9.3%, PvdA 9.3%, CDA 8.0%, D66 6.7%, PVV 5.3%, SP 4.0%, CU 4.0%, PvdD 4.0%, JA21 4.0%, Volt 2.7%, SGP 2.7%, FvD 2.7%, other 2.6%
• seats by party - BBB 16, VVD 10, GL 7, PvdA 7, CDA 6, D66 5, PVV 4, SP 3, CU 3, PvdD 3, JA21 3, Volt 2, SGP 2, FvD 2 other 2
• composition (as of May 2023) - men 45, women 30, percent of women 40% House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PVV 23.6%, GL/PvdA 15.5%, VVD 15.2%, NSC 12.8%, D66 6.2%, BBB 4.7%, CDA 3.3%, SP 3.1%, Denk 2.4%, FvD 2.2%, PvdD 2.3%, CU 2.1%, SGP 2.2%, other 6.4%
• seats by party - PVV 37, GL/PvdA 25, VVD 24, NSC 20, D66 9, BBB 7, CDA 5, SP 5, Denk 3, PvdD 3, CU 3, FvD 3, SGP 3, other 6
• composition (as of December 2023) - men 89, women 60, percent of women 40.3%;

Note

total States General percent of women 40.2%

• Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (consists of 41 judges: the president, 6 vice presidents, 31 justices or raadsheren, and 3 justices in exceptional service, referred to as buitengewone dienst); the court is divided into criminal, civil, tax,
• and ombuds chambers judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the monarch from a list provided by the House of Representatives of the States General; justices appointed for li
• fe or until mandatory retirement at age 70 subordinate courts: courts of appeal; district courts, each with up to 5 subdistrict courts; Netherlands Commercial Court

12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie), 3 public entities* (openbare lichamen, singular - openbaar lichaam (Dutch); entidatnan publiko, singular - entidat publiko (Papiamento)); Bonaire*, Drenthe, Flevoland, Fryslan (Friesland), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant (North Brabant), Noord-Holland (North Holland), Overijssel, Saba*, Sint Eustatius*, Utrecht, Zeeland (Zealand), Zuid-Holland (South Holland) note 1: the Netherlands is one of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the other three, Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, are all islands in the Caribbean; while all four parts are considered equal partners, in practice, most of the Kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands, which makes up about 98% of the Kingdom's total land area and population note 2: although Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are officially incorporated into the country of the Netherlands under the broad designation of "public entities," Dutch Government sources regularly apply to them the more descriptive term of "special municipalities"; Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are collectively referred to as the Caribbean Netherlands

• Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Henri BONTENBAI]
• Christian Union or CU [Mirjam BIKKER]
• Correct Answer 2021 or JA21 [Joost EEDERMANS]
• Democrats 66 or D66 [Rob JETTEN]
• Denk [Stephan van BAARLE]
• Farmer-Citizen Movement or BBB [Caroline van der PLAS] 50Plus [Martin van ROOIJEN]
• Forum for Democracy or FvD [Thierry BAUDET]
• Green Left (GroenLinks) or GL [Jesse KLAVER]
• Labor Party or PvdA [Attje KUIKEN]
• New Social Contract or NSC [Pieter OMTZIGT]
• Party for Freedom or PVV [Geert WILDERS]
• Party for the Animals or PvdD [Esther OUWENHAND]
• People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Dilan YESILGOZ]
• Reformed Political Party or SGP [Chris STOFFER]
• Socialist Party or SP [Lilian MARIJNISSEN]
• Together or BIJ1 [Edson OLF]
• Volt Netherlands or Volt [Laurens DASSEN]

• no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent mus
• no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: time descriptions apply to the continental Netherlands only, for the constituent countries in the Caribbean, the time difference is UTC-4

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UN Security Council (temporary), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission

Ambassador Shefali RAZDAN DUGGAL (since 19 October 2022) embassy: John Adams Park 1, 2244 BZ Wassenaar mailing address: 5780 Amsterdam Place, Washington DC 20521-5780

telephone

[31] (70) 310-2209

FAX

[31] (70) 310-2207

Email address and website

• AmsterdamUSC@state.gov
• https://nl.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general

Amsterdam

chief of mission

Ambassador Birgitta TAZELAAR (since 15 September 2023)

chancery

4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

[1] (202) 244-5300

FAX

[1] (202) 362-3430

Email address and website

• was@minbuza.nl
• https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/countries/united-states/about-us/embassy-in-washington-dc

consulate(s) general

Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco