Kingdom of the Netherlands instance of kingdom
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; pronounced [ˈkoːnɪŋkrɛiɡ dɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)] (listen)), commonly known as simply the Netherlands, is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with 98% of its territory and population in Western Europe and with several small West Indian island territories in the Caribbean (in the Leeward Islands and Leeward Antilles groups).
The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands and Sint Maarten—are constituent countries (landen in Dutch; singular: land) and participate on a basis of equality as partners in the Kingdom. In practice, however, most of the Kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the Kingdom's land area and population—on behalf of the entire Kingdom. Consequently, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are dependent on the Netherlands for matters like foreign policy and defence, but are autonomous to a certain degree, with their own parliaments.
The vast majority of land area of the constituent country of the Netherlands is in Europe, while its three special municipalities (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) are located in the Caribbean, as are the other three constituent countries. The kingdom has a population in the Netherlands of 17,821,419 (as of January 2023), and of 9,543 (as of January 2022) in Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius.Relationship with the European Union
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a founding member state of the European Union. Although originally both Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were explicitly excluded from association with the European Economic Community by means of a special protocol attached to the Treaty of Rome, the status of Suriname as an overseas country (OCT) of the Community was established by a Supplementary Act completing the instrument of ratification of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 1 September 1962. The Convention on the association of the Netherlands Antilles with the European Economic Community entered into force on 1 October 1964, signalling the attainment of OCT status by the Netherlands Antilles. Suriname is now an independent republic and a sovereign country, outside the EU. The Antilles have been dissolved.
The Caribbean islands, including the BES islands that are part of the Netherlands proper, are OCTs. Since citizenship is a Kingdom affair, and is thus not distinguished for the four countries, citizens from all four countries are also citizens of the European Union. However, these territories are not part of the European Union.
type of example of manifestation of representation of