Front: Queen Juliana (1909-2004), Queen of the Netherlands 1948-1980

Queen Juliana was born Juliana Emma Louise Wilhelmina van Oranje-Nassau, daughter of Prince Hendrik and Queen Wilhelmina. The princess received her secondary education from private tutors. She enrolled at the University of Leiden where she attended lectures in sociology, jurisprudence, economics and history of religion.

The princess married Prince Bernhard of Germany on January 7, 1937. They have 4 daughters. The princess and her daughters made their home in Ottawa, Canada while Prince Bernhard, Queen Wilhelmina and members of the exiled Dutch government remained in London during WWII.

Princess Juliana became Queen in 1948 upon the abdication of her mother Queen Wilhelmina. She too abdicated her throne on her 71st birthday in 1980.

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Front: Frans Hals (1580-1666), Dutch painter

Hals lived most of his life in Haarlem in the Northern Low Countries. He took painting lessons from Flemish painter Karel van Mander. Hals is best known for his portraits of wealthy citizens and large group of civil guards.

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Front: Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679), Dutch playwright and poet

Vondel was the national poet during the emergence of the Dutch nation. His writing often celebrated the triumphs of the United Provinces. Around 1641 he converted from Calvinism to Roman Catholic. Many of his poems were inspired by his conversion and also by his grief at the death of his wife in 1635 and of three of his five children.

His plays generally have a recurring theme, the conflict between man's will to rebel and his desire to give himself to God. His most famous plays are Gysbrecht van Aemstil (1637), which is based on a medieval Dutch theme, and the magnificent Lucifer (1654), which may have later influenced Milton. Vondel's immense production includes numerous translations from French, Latin, Italian, and Greek, including works of Sophocles, Euripides, Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Seneca, and Tasso.

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The Kingdom of the Netherlands is situated in western Europe fronting the North Sea and bordered by Belgium and Germany. For a more detailed country profile, see CIA World Factbook on Netherlands.

Beginning on January 1, 2002 Euro becomes the official currency for the Netherlands.