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Netherlands (continued) 

Communications

Railroads: 3,037 km track (includes 1,871 km electrified and 1,800 km double track; 2,871 km 1.435-meter standard gauge operated by Netherlands Railways (NS); 166 km privately owned

Highways: 108,360 km total; 92,525 km paved (including 2,185 km of limited access, divided highways); 15,835 km gravel, crushed stone

Inland waterways: 6,340 km, of which 35% is usable by craft of 1,000 metric ton capacity or larger

Pipelines: 418 km crude oil; 965 km refined products; 10,230 km natural gas

Ports: maritime—Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Den Helder, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Terneuzen, Vlissingen; inland—29 ports

Merchant marine: 345 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,661,822 GRT/3,732,282 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 187 cargo, 42 refrigerated cargo, 23 container, 9 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 livestock carrier, 12 multifunction large-load carrier, 15 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 27 chemical tanker, 11 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 1 combination ore/oil, 9 bulk, 2 combination bulk; note—many Dutch-owned ships are also registered in the captive Netherlands Antilles register

Civil air: 98 major transport aircraft Airports: 28 total, 28 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: highly developed, well maintained, and integrated; extensive system of multiconductor cables, supplemented by radio relay links; 9,418,000 telephones; stations—6 AM, 20 (32 repeaters) FM, 21 (8 repeaters) TV; 5 submarine cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems

Defense Forces

Branches: Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy/Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 4,134,006; 3,660,048 fit for military service; 111,948 reach military age (20) annually

Defense expenditures: 2.9% of GDP, or $6.0 billion (1989 est.)  Netherlands Antilles (part of the Dutch realm)



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Geography

Total area: 960 km²; land area: 960 km²; includes Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)

Comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 14 km with Guadeloupe

Maritime claims:
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; modified by northeast trade winds

Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors

Natural resources: phosphates (Curaçao only), salt (Bonaire only)

Land use: 8% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 92% other

Environment: Curaçao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt, so rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October

Note: consists of two island groups—Curaçao and Bonaire are located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie 800 km to the north

People

Population: 183,503 (July 1990), growth rate 0.2% (1990)

Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 5 deaths/1 ,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: -11 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 9 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 79 years female (1990)  222