Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
_#_Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
_#_Natural resources: natural gas, crude oil, fertile soil
_#_Land use: arable land 25%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 34%; forest and woodland 9%; other 31%; includes irrigated 15%
_#_Environment: 27% of the land area is below sea level and protected from the North Sea by dikes
_#_Note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, Schelde)
_*People #_Population: 15,022,393 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)