Demographics of the Netherlands

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Demographics of the Netherlands
Historical demographics of the Netherlands, Data of FAO, year 2005; Number of inhabitants in thousands.
Population	16,491,461 (58th)
Population density	393/km² (23rd)
Growth
Growth Rate	0.49% (164th)
Birth rate	10.9 births/1,000 population (157th)
Death rate	8.68 deaths/1,000 population (91st)
Net migration rate	2.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Fertility rate	1.66 children born/woman (147th)
Life expectancy at birth
Total	78.96 years (20th)
Male	76.39 years
Female	81.67 years
All are 2006 estimates of the CIA

The population of the Netherlands is concentrated on a limited territory. Furthermore the demographic development is characterized by three trends: increasing longevity, decreasing birth rates and an increasing percentage of population from foreign extraction.

Contents 1 Population density 2 Birth & Death 3 Migration 4 Religion 5 Language 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Population density

The Netherlands is the twenty-third most densely populated country in the world. The 16,491,461 Dutchmen and women are concentrated on an area of 41,526 km²; this means that the country has a population density of 393/km² per km², or 482/km² if only the land area, 33,883 km², is counted.

Only Bangladesh and South Korea are larger and more densely populated (hence have a larger population), and only Taiwan is smaller and has a larger population (hence a larger population density). There are 21 more countries (12 independent ones and 9 dependent territories) with a larger population density, but they all have a smaller population (hence a smaller area). If the water area is not counted then Taiwan is larger, and there are 16 more countries (9 independent ones and 7 dependent territories) with a larger population density.

Not counting dependent territories, 50 countries are smaller and less densely populated (hence have a smaller population), 73 countries are larger and have a smaller population (hence a smaller population density), and 55 countries with a smaller population density, but a larger population (hence a larger area).

As a result of these demographic characteristics the Netherlands has had to plan its land use stricty. Since 1946 the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment has been occupied with the national coordination of land use. Because of its high population density the Netherlands has also reclaimed land from the sea by poldering. Between 1927 and 1968 an entire province, Flevoland was created. It currently houses 365,301 people. Because of these policies, the Dutch have been able to combine high levels of population density with extremely high levels of agricultural production.

Even though the Netherlands is so densely populated; there are no cities with a population over 1 million in the Netherlands. Instead 'four big cities' as they are called (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) can in many ways be regarded as a single metropolitan area, the Randstad ('rim or edge city') with about 7 million inhabitants around an agricultural 'green heart' (het Groene Hart). The unity of this conurbation can be illustrated by the current idea effort to create a circular train system connecting the four cities.

Notable is the fact that the population of the Netherlands is physically the tallest in the world, with an average height of 1.83 m (6 ft ) for adult males and 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) for adult females.

[edit] Birth & Death

Dutch population pyramid
(in % of total population)

%	Male	Age	Female	%
0.36		85+		1.05
0.60		80-84		1.18
1.14		75-79		1.74
1.55		70-74		1.95
1.93		65-69		2.13
2.30		60-64		2.33
2.77		55-59		2.69
3.73		50-54		3.60
3.65		45-49		3.54
3.93		40-44		3.81
4.27		35-39		4.08
4.25		30-34		4.05
3.63		25-29		3.54
3.04		20-24		2.93
2.96		15-19		2.83
3.11		10-14		2.97
3.20		05-09		3.06
3.11		00-04		2.98
Data: International Data Base (2000)

The Dutch population is slowly ageing. Because of birth control-measures the Dutch birth rate is declining. Furthermore, the life expectancy has increased because of developments in medicine, and in addition to this, the Netherlands has seen increasing immigration. These developments combined with the population boom after the Second World War has created extremely low population growth: in 2005 saw the lowest absolute population growth since 1900.

This has created a demographic problem with consequences for health care and social security policy. As the Dutch population ages, the number of people able to work, as a percentage of the entire population decreases. Important policy advisors like the CBS and the CPB have predicted that this makes the current system of old age pensions problematic: there will less people who will work to pay the old age pensions, while there will be more people receiving those pensions. Furthermore the costs of health care are also projected to increase. These developments have caused several cabinets, most notably the recent Second cabinet Balkenende to reform the system of health care and social security: increasing participation in the labour market and making people more conscious of the money they spend on health care.

In international comparison, this problem is only relative: the Netherlands has the youngest population in Europe after Ireland. It is expected that the effects of the aging population will be felt later and less severe than in neighbouring countries.

In 2003, the birth rate was highest in the province of Flevoland (15.9). TFR was highest in the province of Flevoland (2.0) and lowest in the province of Limburg (1.6). The muncipality with the highest TFR was Urk (3.23) followed by Valkenburg (2.83), Graafstroom(2.79) and Staphorst (2.76). The lowest TFR were recorded in Vaals (1.11)and Thorn (1.21). [1]

For the year 2006, there were 185,124 births, 135,809 deaths, 101,489 immmigrants and 132,682 emigrants. The net population growth was 22,704. The total population at December 31th 2006 was 16,356,914. The population loss due to net emigration was 35,502 (an estimated 40-50% of emigrants were ethnic non-Dutch).

The death rate were lowest in the municipalities of Valkenburg (2.9 per 1000), Zeewolde (3.2), Renswoude (3.4), Westervoort and Zeevang (both 3.9). The highest death rates were recorded in Warmond (22.3), Laren (19.9) and Doom (18.8). [2]

16.4% of the total births in 2003 were to parents of non-European origin, although they constitute only 12.4% of the population in the 25-34 age group. For example, 3.8% of the births were ethnic Moroccan, although they were only 2.26% of the 25-34 age group. Respective figures were 3.27% and 3.0% for Turks. The TFR for Moroccans in 2003 was 3.3 while the general TFR was 1.73. TFR was 2.3 for Turks, 1.7 for Surinamese, 1.8 for Arubans, 3.0 for Africans and 1.8 for Latinos. [3]

[edit] Migration

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As the result of immigration the Netherlands is a multicultural society. There is also considerable emigration. In 2005 some 121,000 left the country, while 94,000 entered it.

A large group comes from countries in the western European Union, mostly from the bordering countries of Germany and Belgium. There were four waves of migration from non-Western countries.

1. In the 1940s people from the newly independent Indonesian republic migrated to the Netherlands - mainly those who had supported the Dutch regime and people from the Maluku Islands, which had been incorporated into Indonesia.
2. In the 1960s and 1970s migrants from Turkey and Morrocco came to work in the Netherlands as guest workers. They were expected to return their own country and many did, but others remained and in the 1980s and 1990s ere joined by their families. In the 2000s their children usually marry people from their home country.
3. In the 1970s and 1980s people migrated from the newly independent Surinam and from the Netherlands Antilles, which remained part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. These people migrated because these people still held a Dutch passport and saw a better future in the Netherlands.
4. In the 1990s the Netherlands saw increasing migration from asylum seekers.

In the 1990s and 2000s the problem of migration for working class neighbourhoods became apparent. There was an increasing segregation between allochtoon and autochtoon. Although the term technically refers to all migrants it was mainly used to describe migrants from non-Western countries. Populist Pim Fortuyn brought this issue to the attention of the political elite. In the 2000s, the Second cabinet Balkenende has implemented measures to limit migration, especially from marriage migration, the Netherlands Antilles and asylum seekers. The government has opened the borders of the Netherlands to people from the ten new European Union member countries as a result the number of Polish immigrants has risen from 2,000 in 2004 to 7,000 in 2005, and is expected to grow further the coming years.

The Netherlands has also seen considerably emigration. In the 1950s 560,000 Dutch people migrated to the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand: leaving their war-torn and overpopulated home country behind. In 2005 some 121,000 people migrated from the Netherlands. There is considerable migration towards neighbouring states, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom and to the Netherlands Antilles. Furthermore almost half of the current emigration consists out of people returning to their country of birth, including rejected asylum seekers, after the more stringent migration laws were implemented.

Ethnic Group	Number	Percentage
Dutch	13,179,900	80,9%
Indonesian	395,800	2,4%
German	386,200	2,4%
Turkish	357,900	2,2%
Surinamese	328,300	2,0%
Moroccans	314,700	1,9%
Netherlands Antilles / Aruba	129,700	0,8%
Belgians	112,600	0,7%
United Kingdom	76,200	0,5%
Former Yugoslavia	76,100	0,5%
Chinese	43,900	0,3%
Former Soviet Union	43,900	0,3%
Iraqi	43,500	0,3%
Poles	39,500	0,2%
Afghani	36,700	0,2%
Irani	28,500	0,2%
Somali	21,700	0,1%
Other non-Western	387,100	2,4%
Other Western	291,000	1,8%

[edit] Religion

Main article: Religion in the Netherlands

According to the CIA World Factbook,^[1] as of 2002 the religious makeup of the Netherlands was 31% Roman Catholic, 13% Dutch Reformed, 7% Calvinist, 5.5% Muslim, 2.5% other and 41% none. However, according to a survey^[2] done in 2006, 25% of the Dutch people are Christian, 3% adhere to an other organised religion (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism etc) , 26% are 'unbounded spiritual' (individual spiritual beliefs, agnosts, etc), 26% are non-religious (moderate) humanist and the remaining 18% are non-religious non-humanist.

[edit] Language

Main article: Languages of the Netherlands

The main language is Dutch, while Frisian is also a recognized language and it is used by the government in the province of Friesland. Several dialects of Low Saxon (Nedersaksisch in Dutch) are spoken in much of the north and east and are recognized by the Netherlands as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Another Dutch dialect granted the status of regional language is Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg.

[edit] See also

• Dutch people

[edit] External links

• CIA World Factbook data
• CBS Dutch Bureau of Statistics