The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is generally seen as directly derived from the one issued in 1815, constituting a constitutional monarchy; it is the third oldest constitution still in use worldwide. A revision in 1848 instituted a system of parliamentary democracy. In 1983, the most recent major revision of the Constitution of the Netherlands was undertaken, almost fully rewriting the text and adding new civil rights.

Dutch is a West Germanic language, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the third most spoken Germanic language. In Europe, Dutch is the native language of most of the population of the Netherlands and Flanders. In South America, it is the native language of the majority of the population of Suriname, and spoken as a second language in the polyglot Caribbean island countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. All these countries have recognised Dutch as one of their official languages, and are involved in one way or another in the Dutch Language Union. Dutch Caribbean municipalities have Dutch as one of the official languages too. Up to half a million native speakers reside in the United States, Canada and Australia combined, and historical linguistic minorities on the verge of extinction remain in parts of France and Germany.