The People
Most of the people are Dutch. There is a small nonwhite population, mainly from Indonesia. There are also small minorities of Germans and Belgians.
The population of the Netherlands in 2005 was 16,292,353. With a population density of 1,016 persons per square mile (392 per km2), the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. Thousands of Dutch citizens have emigrated to other countries, mainly Canada and Australia.
The official languages of the nation are Frisian, a Germanic language with English influences, and Dutch, a Low German language.
There is complete religious freedom but the constitution requires the sovereign to be a member of the Netherland Reformed Church. Roman Catholics make up about 30 per cent of the population, Protestants about 20 per cent. By far the largest Protestant group is the Netherland Reformed Church, a Calvinist church akin to the Presbyterian. There are two other Reformed (Calvinist) bodies and many small sects. Persons without religious affiliation make up about 40 per cent of the population.
Many nonreligious activities are organized on a religious basis. Most of the youth attend denominational schools, which are financed by the government. There are Protestant and Catholic political parties and trade unions. Denominational division is carried over into universities, libraries, social welfare work, broadcasting stations, and sports clubs.
School attendance is compulsory from 5 to 16 years of age. All primary and secondary schools, public and private, are supported by the national government. Less than 1 per cent of the population is illiterate.
Preschool is available for children aged three to seven. Primary education lasts eight years and is followed by three basic kinds of secondary education. Pre-university schools have a six-year curriculum that prepares students for higher education. General secondary schools operate on two levels—middle, providing three or four years of instruction, and higher, providing five additional years. Vocational schools, which also have two levels, offer various vocational, technical, and agricultural courses.
The leading government-operated institutions of higher learning are the University of Amsterdam (founded 1877), State University at Groningen (1614), State University at Leiden (1575), State University at Limburg (1975), and State University at Utrecht (1636). State institutions of technology are at Delft, Eindhoven, and Enschede. A state-operated agricultural university is at Wageningen. Leading private institutions of higher learning are Free University (Protestant affiliated), which is in Amsterdam; Catholic University Nijmegen; Erasmus University of Rotterdam; and Tilburg University.
Adult education is offered in several dozen state-subsidized high school and educational centers, as well as numerous local and regional institutions.
The 17th century was the golden age of intellectual and artistic achievement for the newly formed Dutch republic. The jurist and writer Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) was one of Holland's greatest scholars and is considered the founder of international law. Scholars and philosophers from all Europe came to Holland to work at the universities and to visit the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza.
Preeminence in painting, held by the Flemish of the Spanish Netherlands in the early part of the century, shifted to Holland with the rise of Frans Hals and Rembrandt. Dutch was given stature as a literary language by such writers as the poet Joost van den Vondel.
Dutch scientists were stimulated by the two-decades residence of René Descartes in their country. Pioneer biologists Anton van Leeuwenhoek and Jan Swammerdam and astronomer-physicist Christian Huygens made major discoveries.
With the decline of commerce and prosperity at the end of the century, Dutch culture became dormant. A revival of arts and sciences in the mid-19th century produced the painter Vincent van Gogh and the author Nikolaas Beets. In the 20th century several Nobel Prize winners, including Johannes van der Waals and Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, were Dutch.
The Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra gained a worldwide reputation under conductors Willem Mengelberg and Eduard van Beinum. It is one of a number of orchestras that receive subsidies from the national government as well as from municipal authorities. Chamber music ensembles, choral societies, operas, ballet, and the theater also receive government financial aid. The Holland Festival is a nationwide event, held annually from mid-June to mid-July, featuring music, dance, and drama. Main centers for performances are Scheveningen, The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Delft.
Soccer is by far the most popular organized sport in the Netherlands, with gymnastics second. Ice skating, the traditional Dutch winter pastime, remains a national favorite in which nearly everyone participates. Canals and lakes are swept of snow, booths are set up to serve hot drinks (cocoa and saffron-milk) and baked goods, and straw is put down (to protect skate blades) where a road must be crossed from one canal to another. In warm weather swimming, sailing, and fishing take the place of skating. Bicycling is a popular recreation as well as a standard means of transportation.
