Land use: arable land: 27% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 31% forests and woodland: 10% other: 31% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 5,600 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: the extensive system of dikes and dams, protects nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded
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
Environment-international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity
Geography-note: located at mouths of three major European rivers
(Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
@Netherlands:People
Population: 15,731,112 (July 1998 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 18% (male 1,472,236; female 1,406,919) 15-64 years: 68% (male 5,457,225; female 5,268,376) 65 years and over: 14% (male 862,574; female 1,263,782) (July 1998 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.5% (1998 est.)