Conventional Long Form Name of Country -
Kingdom of the Netherlands Capital City(ies) - Amsterdam Type of Government - Constitutional Monarchy Date of Independence - January 23, 1579 National Holiday(s) - Queen's Day - April 30 Chief of State - Queen Beatrix Head of Government - Prime Minister Mark Rutte Description of Executive Branch/Powers - Cabinet - Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch Elections: the monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch. Deputy Prime Ministers appointed by the monarch. Description of Legislative Branch/Powers - Bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils to serve four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve at most four-year terms) elections Description of Judicial Branch/Powers - Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch). Suffrage - 18 years of age; universal Name of their Ambassador in the U.S. - Ambassador Rudolf Simon Bekink Location of their embassy in the U.S - 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 Location(s) of their consulate(s) in the U.S. - Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Boston Name of U.S. Ambassador to them - Ambassador (Vacant) Location of U.S. embassy there - Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague Location(s) of U.S. consulate(s) there - Amsterdam Name of their representative to U.N. - Description of the Symbolism of Flag - Three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer; the colors of the flag were those of William I, Prince of Orange, who led the Dutch Revolt against Spanish sovereignty in the latter half of the 16th century; originally the upper band was orange, but because it tended to fade to red over time, the red shade was eventually made the permanent color; the banner is perhaps the oldest tricolor in continuous use. National Symbol - Lion |