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338 NETHERLANDS.

A general census, taken on the 31st December, 1869, but the results of which are under revision, gave the total population of the kingdom, exclusive of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, at 3,652,070, comprising 1,812,550 male, and 1,839,520 female in- habitants.

The Netherlands possess a comparatively larger town population than any other country in Europe. At the end of December 1865, there were fifteen towns in the kingdom with a population of above 20,000 inhabitants. They were— Zwolle, with 20,438 ; Delft, with 21,877; Nymegen, with 22,551 ; Dort, with 24,117 ; Hertogenbosh, with 24,201 ; Leeuwarden, with 25,273 ; Maestricht, with 28,495 ; Arnhem, with 30,021 ; Harlem, with 30,006 ; Groningen. with 36,852 ; Leyden, with 38,160; Utrecht, with 58,607 ; The Hague (s' Gravenhage), with 87,801; Eotterdam, with 115,277; and Amsterdam, with 264,498 inhabitants. In the provinces of North and South Holland the population of the eleven principal towns is considerably larger than that of the country districts.

Trade and Industry.

The commerce of the Netherlands is chiefly carried on with two countries, Germany and Great Britain, the former standing first in the list as export, and the latter first as import market. The value of the trade of the kingdom in the year 1868 was as follows: —

Total imports ..... Imports for home consumption .

Total exports

Duty-free exports . ...

In transit ... ...

Guilders

578,265,475 469.927,381 474,424,904 368,911,341 105,513,563

£

48,188,790 39,160,615 39,535,409 30,742.612 8,792,796

To the total imports of 1868, Great Britain contributed 30, and Germany 25 per cent. From Java came 18, from Belgium 10, from Russia 6, and from France 4 per cent, of the imports of the same year. Of the total exports of IS OS, there went 37 per cent, to Germany, and 26 per cent. to. Great Britain, while Java had 12, Belgium 9, and France 3 per cent.- The trade with both Germany and Great Britain has largely increased in recent years.

The total value of the exports from the Netherlands to Great Britain, and of the imports of British and Irish produce into the Netherlands, in each of the ten years 18G0-69, is shown in the subjoined table : —