In the Netherlands, according to andyeducation, there is a law on the compulsory education of children aged 5-16. Secondary education includes two levels: I – 4 years, II – 5 years. There are 12 universities and 59 technical schools in the country. In the 2001/2002 academic year, the educational system included: 861,000 secondary school students, 311,000 technical school students, and 168,000 university students. Expenditure on education 5% of GDP. Dutch science gave the world such names as the legal theorist Hugo Grotius, the naturalists K. Goygens and A. Levenbuk, the philosopher B. Spinoza. 910 thousand people are employed in the field of science. Expenditure on R&D, continuously increasing absolutely, in relative terms is approximately 2% of GDP (2002 – 1.96%). The public sector accounts for 16.5% of research, the entrepreneurial sector 56.4%, higher education 26.2% and private non-profit organizations 0.9%. Dutch art has played a huge role in the development of the world. Medieval Netherlands (together with the territory of modern Belgium) in the 15th century. turned into the brightest center of Renaissance art after Italy. In the Netherlands, many beautiful examples of architecture of those times, town halls, temples, city walls and towers, shopping arcades, and residential buildings have been preserved. The most famous monument is the Knights’ Hall in The Hague (where the meetings of the States General are now held). Miniature painting reached great heights (the most famous is the Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry, illustrated by the Limburg brothers). European painting of the 15th century was started by J. van Eyck and R. van der Weyden and continued by the remarkable masters D. Boats, Memling, G. van der Goes, and in the next century by I. Bosch and P. Brueghel. The truly Golden Age of Dutch painting was the period of the economic heyday of the Republic of the United Provinces, when the realistic school took shape and became famous. Dutch masters usually specialized in a particular genre: A. van Ostade painted scenes from peasant life, and G. Metsu, G. Terborch, J. Sten – from the city, P. Klas, V. Heda – still lifes, A. Cuyp, M. Hobbema, S. and J. van Ruysdael were landscape painters, F. Hals and J. Vermeer of Delft were portrait painters. The crown of this magnificent galaxy was the great Rembrandt. To con. 17th century Dutch painting has lost much of its brilliance; the most notable type of art was the production of the famous Delft faience (brought to Russia by Peter I and embodied in the original products of Gzhel masters). In the 2nd floor. 19th century famous painters reappeared in the Netherlands: Israelsa’s father and son, Marisa’s brothers. P. Mondrian became one of the founders of European neoclassicism. The achievements of the old masters of architecture inspired the work of the Dutch architects Ser. 20th century: J. and P. Aud, G. Rietveld, V. M. Dyudok are among the founders of the functional style in world urban planning. Of the other arts in the Netherlands, mainly ballet (Royal Netherlands Ballet, Amsterdam) and music (Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra Concertgebouw) have developed. Dutch literature is known by such names as the poet of the 16th century. J.van den Fondel, and from our contemporaries – T.de Vries, S.Westdijk. Rietveld, V. M. Dyudok are among the founders of the functional style in world urban planning. Of the other arts in the Netherlands, mainly ballet (Royal Netherlands Ballet, Amsterdam) and music (Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra Concertgebouw) have developed. Dutch literature is known by such names as the poet of the 16th century. J.van den Fondel, and from our contemporaries – T.de Vries, S.Westdijk. Rietveld, V. M. Dyudok are among the founders of the functional style in world urban planning. Of the other arts in the Netherlands, mainly ballet (Royal Netherlands Ballet, Amsterdam) and music (Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra Concertgebouw) have developed. Dutch literature is known by such names as the poet of the 16th century. J.van den Fondel, and from our contemporaries – T.de Vries, S.Westdijk.
General information about the Netherlands
The official name is the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, Kingdom of the Netherlands). Informal name for Holland. Located in northeastern Europe. The area is 41.5 thousand km2 (36.9 thousand km2 without internal waters). Population 16.1 million people. (2003). The official language is Dutch (Dutch). The capital is Amsterdam (760 thousand people); seat of government in The Hague (460 thousand people). The public holiday is the Queen’s Birthday on 30 April. The monetary unit is the euro (since 2002, before that the Dutch guilder). Possessions: Antilles, Aruba (the archipelago of the Leeward Islands). Member of the UN (since 1945), IMF and World Bank (since 1947), NATO (since 1949), EU (since 1957), Benelux (since 1958), OECD (since 1961), OSCE (since 1973), EBRD (since 1990) ), WTO (since 1995).
