The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organisations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba (AruMil) and Curaçao (CurMil). These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are organisationally part of the Ministry of Defence.
Utrecht is the fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the province of Utrecht. The municipality of Utrecht is located in the eastern part of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Netherlands, and includes Haarzuilens, Vleuten en De Meern. It has a population of 361,699 as of December 2021.
Carice Anouk van Houten is a Dutch actress and singer. Her first leading role in the television film Suzy Q (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she won the Golden Calf for Best Actress for Miss Minoes (2001).
Halina Reijn is a Dutch actress, writer and film director.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in the Netherlands rank among the most advanced in the world. Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1811 after France invaded the country and installed the Napoleonic Code, erasing any remaining sodomy laws. No more sodomy laws were enacted after the country received independence. An age of consent equal with that of heterosexual activity was put in place in 1971. During the late 20th century, awareness surrounding homosexuality grew and society became more tolerant of gay and bisexual people. The changes eventually led to homosexuality's declassification as a mental illness in 1973 and a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in the military. The Equal Treatment Act 1994 bans discrimination on account of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas. This was extended in 2019 to include discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. After the country began granting same-sex couples registered partnerships benefits in 1998, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. Same-sex joint and stepchild adoption are also permitted, and lesbian couples can access IVF as well.
The Caribbean Netherlands are the three public bodies of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. They consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, although the term "Caribbean Netherlands" is sometimes used to refer to all of the islands in the Dutch Caribbean. In legislation, the three islands are also known as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba or the BES islands. The islands are currently classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas countries and territories of the European Union; thus, European Union law does not automatically apply.
Jackie Noëlle Groenen is a Dutch professional footballer and former judoka who plays as a midfielder for Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain and the Netherlands national team.
Sari van Veenendaal is a Dutch former professional footballer. She was part of the Netherlands squad that won UEFA Women's Euro 2017.
Sofyan Amrabat is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United, on loan from Serie A club Fiorentina. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Morocco national team.
Talpa TV is a Dutch commercial broadcasting company owned by John de Mol's Talpa Network.
Sarina Petronella Wiegman OON CBE, also known as Sarina Wiegman-Glotzbach, is a Dutch football manager and former player who has been the manager of the England women's national team since September 2021.
Forum for Democracy is a far-right political party in the Netherlands, founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections in the 2017 general election, winning two seats in the House of Representatives.
Renée Fokker is a Dutch television and film actress. She is known for her roles in the television series Vrouwenvleugel and De zomer van '45. Fokker also won the Golden Calf for Best Actress award for her role in the 1996 film Blind Date.
The Promise of Pisa is a 2019 Dutch drama film directed by Norbert ter Hall. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Mano Bouzamour.
Art Rooijakkers is a Dutch television presenter. He is best known as the presenter of the popular television show Wie is de Mol? from 2012 to 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in 8,617,412 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22,986 deaths.
I Can See Your Voice is a Dutch television mystery music game show series based on the South Korean programme of the same name. Since its premiere on 29 October 2020, it has aired four seasons on RTL 4.
The Marriage Escape is a 2020 Dutch comedy-drama film directed by Johan Nijenhuis. The film is an adaptation of the 2016 Czech film Tiger Theory, and it is the first cinema film predominantly spoken in the Tweants variety of Low Saxon, although the title is in Dutch.
Life as It Should Be is a 2020 Dutch film directed by Ruud Schuurman. The film is based on the book of the same name by Dutch model, writer and host Daphne Deckers.
De Grote Sinterklaasfilm is a 2020 Dutch film directed by Lucio Messercola. The film won the Golden Film award after having sold 100,000 tickets. It was the tenth highest-grossing Dutch film of 2020.
