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Main article: Politics of the Netherlands
The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815, before that it had been a republic from 1581 to 1806 (it was occupied by France between 1806 and 1815).
The head of state, since 1980, is Queen Beatrix of the House of Orange-Nassau. Dutch governments always consist of a coalition, as there is not (and has never been) a single political party large enough to get the majority vote. Formally, the queen appoints the members of the government. In practice, once the results of parliamentary elections are known, a coalition government is formed (in a process of negotiations that can take several months), after which the government formed in this way is officially appointed by the queen. The head of the government is the Prime Minister or Minister President who is usually also the leader of the largest party in the coalition. The degree of influence the queen has on actual government decision making is a topic of ongoing speculation.
The parliament consists of two houses. The 150 members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer, or Second Chamber) are elected every four years in direct elections. The provincial parliaments are directly elected every 4 years as well. The members of the provincial parliaments vote (indirectly) for the less important Senate (Eerste Kamer, or First Chamber). Together, the First and Second Chamber are known as the Staten Generaal, the States General.
Political scientists consider the Netherlands a classic example of a consociational state.
See also Prime Minister of the Netherlands, List of Prime Ministers of the Netherlands
Main articles: Provinces of the Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba
The Netherlands is divided into 12 administrative regions, called provincies ( provinces):
All provinces are divided into municipalities (gemeenten), together 483; see Municipalities in the Netherlands, and also Cities of the Netherlands.
The country is also subdivided in water districts, governed by a water body (waterschap or hoogheemraadschap), each having authority in matters concerning water management. As of 1 January 2004 there are 37. (These water bodies are actually older than the nation itself, the first appearing in 1196).
The Netherlands Antilles ("Nederlandse Antillen", consisting of Saba, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Bonaire and Curaçao, capital: Willemstad on Curaçao) and Aruba (Capital: Oranjestad), all in the Caribbean Sea, are self-governing parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
See also Ranked list of Dutch provinces.
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