The Netherlands
Also known as Holland, this Dutch republic has Amsterdam as its capital city.
Starting in the late 16th century, for at least a hundred years, the development of Europe’s Capitalist Institutions and center of European economy were in the Dutch Republic in
Amsterdam. The country became a prominent sea and commercial power in the 17th century, and remained the dominant commercial and trading center of Europe through the
17th century. The United East India Company (VOC) was founded in 1602. The VOC was a model for economic success, and it became the foundation of Dutch empire, culturally and commercially. For some two hundred years after the 17th century the Dutch Republic remained an important part of the European economy.
In January 1999, the Netherlands along with ten other European Union countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro, which is the only currency
of sixteen European Union member states today.
Today the Netherlands has the sixteenth largest economy and the tenth highest nominal GDP per capita in the world. The country is a large exporter of agricultural products and
was one of the founding members of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) and NATO. With its financial and business center in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands boasts the world’s oldest stock exchange (the Amsterdam Stock exchange). According to Eurostat, as of 2007, the Netherlands had the lowest unemployment rate in all of the EU (2.9%), while other sources state 4%. Over half of the national income comes from service sectors, primarily in transportation, distribution, logistics, and
finance. The country is the second largest natural gas producer in the EU and the ninth largest in the world, with most of gas production coming from on-shore wells. Through
prosperous and open, the economy depends heavily on foreign trade.
Due to current credit crises, in 2009 the banking sector was partly nationalized and bailed out by the government. Its unemployment rate is expected to double to 8% and a large deficit in government accounts of 5% is expected to occur in 2009.
Franconomic Data (2007 est.):
Population: 16.38 million
GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $645.5 billion
GDP Official Exchange Rate: $768.7 billion
GDP Growth Rate: 3.5%
GDP per Capita: $39,000
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