The Netherlands is one of the most secular countries in Western Europe, with only 39% being religiously affiliated (31% for those aged under 35). Fewer than 20% visit church regularly.

Currently Roman Catholicism is the single largest religion of the Netherlands, forming the religious home of some 26.3% of the Dutch people, down from 40% in the 1970s. The Protestant Church of the Netherlands is followed by 11.4% of the population. It was formed in 2004 as a merger of the two major strands of Calvinism: the Dutch Reformed Church (which represented roughly 8.5% of the population) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (3.7% of the population) and a smaller Lutheran Church. Other Protestant churches, mostly orthodox Calvinist splits, represent 6% of the population. In 2006 there were 850,000 Muslims, 5% of the total Dutch population. The Netherlands has an estimated 250,000 Buddhists or people who feel strongly attracted by this religion, largely white Dutch. In 1998, there were only 16,000 including just 4,000 Dutch natives and 12,000 Buddhist immigrants from Asia. There are approximately 95,000 Hindus, of whom 85% originally came from Suriname. Netherland Sikhs are a religious minority in Netherland. They number around 12,000 and most of them live in or around Amsterdam. There are 5 gurudwaras in Netherland.

Although The Holocaust deeply affected the Jewish community, killing some 75% of the some 140,000 Jews at the time present in Netherlands, since then the community has managed to rebuild a vibrant and lively Jewish life for its approximately 45,000 present members. Before World War II, 10% of the Amsterdam population was Jewish.

According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005, 34% of Dutch citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 37% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 27% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".

In 1950, before the secularisation of Europe and the large settlement of non-Europeans in the Netherlands, most Dutch citizens identified themselves as Christians. In 1950, out of a total population of almost 13 million, a total of 7,261,000 belonged to Protestant denominations, 3,703,000 belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, and 1,641,000 had no acknowledged religion. Since then, the general collapse in religiosity has struck Protestants somewhat harder than Catholics, which partly explains why the Catholic Church has a larger percentage now. However, Christian schools are still funded by the government, but the same applies for schools founded on other religions, Islam in particular. While all schools must meet strict quality criteria, from 1917 the freedom of schools is a basic principle in the Netherlands. Three political parties in the Dutch parliament (CDA, ChristianUnion and SGP) base their policy on the Christian belief system. Although The Netherlands is a secular state, in some municipalities where the Christian parties have the majority the council practices religion by praying before a meeting. Also in a few remaining (rural) spots, roads are closed for car traffic on Sundays and religious holidays. Municipalities in general also give civil servants a day off on Christian religious holidays, such as Easter and the Ascension of Jesus [63]. On 4 September 2008, a discussion was started by Tineke Huizinga whether Islam should receive a holiday, like Christianity. In 2005, 20% of the Dutch thought it should be a national holiday (which means the entire country receives a day off work or school) and 45% thought that Eid ul-Fitr should at least be recognized as a holiday.

History

Geography

Climate

Economy

Infrastructure, agriculture and natural resources

Government

Administrative divisions

Demographics

Religion

Language

Culture

Education

Military