(idea) by fnordian Sun Aug 05 2001 at 3:06:48
  • 36% of the population define themselves as unaffiliated with regard to religion, according to the CIA's World Factbook.
  • According to Newsweek, the average Dutch teenager speaks English better than their American counterparts
  • Prime Minister is Wim Kok (since 1994), vice PMs are Annemarie Jorritsma and Els Borst-Eilers (both since 1998.)
  • Major political parties: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) - Jaap de Hoop Scheffer; Democrats '66 (D'66) - Tom Kok; Labour Party (PvdA) - Wim Kok; People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (WD) - Hans F. Dijkstal.
  • Has decriminalised sex work.
  • Is the first of the EU countries to legalise voluntary euthanasia.
  • Has legalized same-sex marriage and allows same-sex couples to adopt children.
  • Has a flag resembling that of Luxembourg, three equal horizontal bands of red, white and blue (from top to bottom), but with a darker blue and shorter length.
  • Is divided into 12 provinces (provincien): Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland (hence the pseudonym for the country in general-Amsterdam is in Noord-Holland,) Drenthe, Flevoland, Utrecht, Zeeland (from where New Zealand gets its name,) Friesland, Gelderland ("money/goldland",) Groningen, Limburg (where the cheese comes from,) Noord-Brabant and Overijssel. The southern-most province (which, I believe, is Limburg) actually does lie between Belgium and Germany, though most of the country does not.
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