Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, fertile soil
Land use: arable land: 26% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 32% forest and woodland: 9% other: 32%
Irrigated land: 5,500 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic
compounds, and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates; air
pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain
natural hazards: the extensive system of dikes and dams, protects
nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not
ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Desertification,
Law of the Sea
Note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or
Meuse, and Schelde)
@Netherlands:People
Population: 15,452,903 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (female 1,382,057; male 1,445,451)
15-64 years: 68% (female 5,184,224; male 5,369,018)
65 years and over: 14% (female 1,238,336; male 833,817) (July 1995
est.)