Embassy of the United States The Hague, Netherlands

The United States’ partnership with the Netherlands is its oldest continuous relationship and dates back to the American Revolution.

The Netherlands is a geographically small (approximately the size of the State of Maryland), densely populated (16.5 million people) country occupying a highly strategic commercial location, with Europe’s largest Port, that makes it the “Gateway to Europe”.

• Over 160 million consumers (roughly one third of the population of the expanded European Union of 27 Member States) reside within a 300-mile radius of Rotterdam.
• More than sixty percent of the Netherlands’ GDP is generated by foreign trade in goods and services.
• The Netherlands is a key center within the global business network with an advanced infrastructure geared towards the transportation of goods, people, and electronic data.
• Its core distribution points include Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the fourth largest in Europe.
• The Netherlands has capitalized on its location and advanced economy to become one of the top dozen trading countries in the world.
• It is currently ranked 16th in GDP in the world, eighth in imports of goods and services from the United States, and third in direct investment in the United States.
• The United States is the largest foreign investor in the Netherlands and has its largest bilateral trade surplus in the world with this country ($16 billion in 2010).

Source: 2011 Country Commercial Guide for the Netherlands.