Capital of the Netherlands

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The Hague has been the seat of government of the Netherlands since 1584. Binnenhof - the Dutch Parliament

The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, even though the States-General and the government have both been situated in The Hague since 1584. Amsterdam is the capital by constitution^[1] and is recognized as such by the Dutch.

Amsterdam was the seat of government for only a short period. From 1808 to 1810, during the Kingdom of Holland, Louis Bonaparte resided in Amsterdam and declared the city capital of his kingdom. The former town hall was made the Royal Palace.

In 1810 The Netherlands were annexed by the French Empire and King Louis was replaced by a French governor, who also resided in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. In 1813 (the fall of the French Empire and the restoration of the old regime) the government and the States-General moved back to The Hague.

The only other countries at present time which have a complete split between capital and seat of government are Benin and Bolivia.

[edit] Constitution

Amsterdam was first referred to as capital in the constitution of 1814. Article 30 mentioned that the Sovereign Ruler should be sworn in, in the city of Amsterdam, as capital.

In 1815 however, this remark disappeared. Article 52 now simply mentioned Amsterdam as one of the cities where the King might be sworn in (it might also take place in a city of the Southern Netherlands - present Belgium).

The status of Amsterdam as capital remained unclear, even in the constitution of 1848 and after the constitutional changes of 1917, until the fully new constitution of 1983. In 1983 the phrase the city of Amsterdam was changed into the capital city Amsterdam. The explicit intention of this change was to make it explicit that Amsterdam indeed is the capital.

[edit] Perception

Although there is only a small and very recent legal status for Amsterdam as capital of the Netherlands (1983), the city has been recognized as capital ever since 1814. Partly because it is a Royal City (used not only for the inauguration of kings, but also for royal weddings; note though that royal burials take place in Delft), and also because of its dominant position in Dutch history: since the end of the 16th century the city has grown to be the largest city in the Netherlands and the main centre of trade, economics, finance and culture. The Hague is never referred to as capital; Dutch school children are taught that "Amsterdam is the capital of the country".

The deeper cause of this situation is the fact that before the Batavian Republic of 1795 the Netherlands were not a unitary state but a confederation, the United Provinces, that simply had no official capital at all as each province was, at least in theory, a sovereign state. People were thus used to being ruled from The Hague in fact while publicly acknowledging it as a mere residence only.