1.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
2.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
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The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known as the Netherlands, is a country and constitutional monarchy with territory in western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the kingdom—the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, in practice, however, most of the Kingdom affairs are administered by the Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the Kingdoms land area and population—on behalf of the entire Kingdom. The constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are located in the Caribbean as well, the Kingdom of the Netherlands originated in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat in 1815. In that year, the Netherlands regained its independence from France, in March 1815, amidst the turmoil of the Hundred Days, the Sovereign Prince adopted the style of King of the Netherlands. Following Napoleons second defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the Vienna Congress supplied international recognition of Williams unilateral move. The new King of the Netherlands was also made Grand Duke of Luxembourg, a part of the Kingdom that was, at the same time, in 1830, Belgium seceded from the Kingdom, a step that was recognised by the Netherlands only in 1839. At that point, Luxembourg became an independent country in a personal union with the Netherlands. Luxembourg also lost more than half of its territory to Belgium and that status was reversed when the German Confederation ceased to exist in 1867, and, at that point, Limburg reverted to its status as an ordinary Dutch province. The origin of the reform of 1954 was the 1931 Westminster Statute and the 1941 Atlantic Charter. Changes were proposed in the 7 December 1942 radio speech by Queen Wilhelmina, in this speech, the Queen, on behalf of the Dutch government in exile in London, expressed a desire to review the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies after the end of the war. After liberation, the government would call a conference to agree on a settlement in which the territories could participate in the administration of the Kingdom on the basis of equality. After Indonesia became independent, a construction was considered too heavy, as the economies of Suriname. Delegates of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles could participate in sessions of the First, an overseas member could be added to the Council of State when appropriate. According to the Charter, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were also allowed to alter their Basic Laws, the right of the two autonomous countries to leave the Kingdom, unilaterally, was not recognised, yet it also stipulated that the Charter could be dissolved by mutual consultation. Suriname was a constituent country within the Kingdom from 1954 to 1975, Netherlands New Guinea was a dependent territory of the Kingdom until 1962, but was not an autonomous country, and was not mentioned in the Charter. In 1955, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, the visit was a great success. The royal couple were welcomed enthusiastically by the population. Several other royal visits were to follow, in 1969, an unorganised strike on the Antillean island of Curaçao resulted in serious disturbances and looting, during which a part of the historic city centre of Willemstad was destroyed by fire
3.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
4.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
5.
Economic policy
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Economic policy refers to the actions that governments take in the economic field. Such policies are often influenced by international institutions like the International Monetary Fund or World Bank as well as political beliefs, almost every aspect of government has an important economic component. Trade policy, which refers to tariffs, trade agreements and the institutions that govern them. Fiscal policy, often tied to Keynesian economics, uses government spending, fiscal stance, The size of the deficit or surplus Tax policy, The taxes used to collect government income. It is concerned with the amount of money in circulation and, consequently, interest rates, sometimes other objectives, like military spending or nationalization are important. These are referred to as the goals, the outcomes which the economic policy aims to achieve. To achieve these goals, governments use policy tools which are under the control of the government and these generally include the interest rate and money supply, tax and government spending, tariffs, exchange rates, labor market regulations, and many other aspects of government. Government and central banks are limited in the number of goals they can achieve in the short term, for instance, there may be pressure on the government to reduce inflation, reduce unemployment, and reduce interest rates while maintaining currency stability. This dilemma can in part be resolved by using microeconomics, supply-side policy to help adjust markets, for instance, unemployment could potentially be reduced by altering laws relating to trade unions or unemployment insurance, as well as by macroeconomic factors like interest rates. For much of the 20th century, governments adopted discretionary policies like demand management designed to correct the business cycle and these typically used fiscal and monetary policy to adjust inflation, output and unemployment. However, following the stagflation of the 1970s, policymakers began to be attracted to policy rules, a discretionary policy is supported because it allows policymakers to respond quickly to events. This makes policy non-credible and ultimately ineffective, a rule-based policy can be more credible, because it is more transparent and easier to anticipate. Examples of rule-based policies are fixed exchange rates, interest rate rules, the stability and growth pact, some policy rules can be imposed by external bodies, for instance the Exchange Rate Mechanism for currency. A compromise between strict discretionary and strict rule-based policy is to grant discretionary power to an independent body. For instance, the Federal Reserve Bank, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Reserve Bank of Australia all set interest rates without government interference, another type of non-discretionary policy is a set of policies which are imposed by an international body. This can occur as a result of intervention by the International Monetary Fund, the first economic problem was how to gain the resources it needed to be able to perform the functions of an early government, the military, roads and other projects like building the Pyramids. Early governments generally relied on tax in kind and forced labor for their economic resources, however, with the development of money came the first policy choice. A government could raise money through taxing its citizens, however, it could now also debase the coinage and so increase the money supply
6.
Fiscal policy
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In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection and expenditure to influence the economy. According to Keynesian economics, when the government changes the levels of taxation and government spending, it influences aggregate demand, Fiscal policy often attempts to stabilize the economy over the course of the business cycle. Government spending is fully funded by tax revenue and overall the budget outcome has an effect on the level of economic activity. Expansionary fiscal policy involves government spending exceeding tax revenue, and is undertaken during recessions. It is also known as fiscal policy. Contractionary fiscal policy occurs when government spending is lower than tax revenue, therefore, for purposes of the above definitions, government spending and tax revenue are normally replaced by cyclically adjusted government spending and cyclically adjusted tax revenue. Thus, for example, a government budget that is balanced over the course of the cycle is considered to represent a neutral fiscal policy stance. Governments spend money on a variety of things, from the military and police to services like education and healthcare. These pay interest, either for a period or indefinitely. If the interest and capital requirements are too large, a nation may default on its debts, public debt or borrowing refers to the government borrowing from the public. For this to happen, the propensity to save needs to be strictly positive. Another possibility is that the government might decide to increase its own spending – say, the idea is that the additional government spending creates jobs and lowers the unemployment rate. Governments use fiscal policy to influence the level of demand in the economy, in an effort to achieve economic objectives of price stability, full employment. Keynesians argue this method be used in times of recession or low economic activity as an tool for building the framework for strong economic growth. In theory, the deficits would be paid for by an expanded economy during the boom that would follow. Governments can use a surplus to do two things, to slow the pace of strong economic growth, and to stabilize prices when inflation is too high. Keynesian theory posits that removing spending from the economy will reduce levels of demand and contract the economy. But economists still debate the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus, the argument mostly centers on crowding out, whether government borrowing leads to higher interest rates that may offset the stimulative impact of spending
![Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)](/wiki/File:State_coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.svg)
