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-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile
Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine
Living Resources, 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: Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: located at mouths of three major European rivers
(Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
People Netherlands
Population: 16,067,754 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.3% (male 1,502,687; female 1,437,141) 15-64 years: 67.9% (male 5,548,188; female 5,362,412) 65 years and over: 13.8% (male 913,020; female 1,304,306) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.53% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 11.58 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 8.67 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)