The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579. During the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands--Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba--became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Saint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, more than 90% of households are connected to cable or satellite TV systems which provide a wide range of domestic and foreign channels. The public service broadcast system includes multiple broadcasters. Three of these have national reach and the remainder operate in regional and local markets. There are two major commercial television companies, each with three or more stations. Additionally, there are a large number of commercial TV stations in regional and local markets. Also, there are nearly 600 radio stations in operation and a mix of public and private stations providing national or regional coverage.

More than half of the paid circulation in the Netherlands consists of national newspapers. National broadsheet newspaper De Telegraaf is market leader. Algemeen Dagblad, the only national newspaper with special local editions, is another leading publication, as are de Volkskrant and NRC Handelsblad.