The Hague

The Hague (in Dutch informally Den Haag and formally 's-Gravenhage) is the third largest city of The Netherlands with a population on June 1, 2007, of 474,245.

The Hague is located in the west of The Netherlands, close to the North Sea in the province of South Holland, of which it is also the provincial capital. The Hague is part of the urban area called Randstad (Border City).

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, but not the official capital of the Netherlands, which according to the Dutch constitution is Amsterdam. The Dutch parliament is bicameral and both the Eerste Kamer (First Chamber) and the Tweede Kamer (Second Chamber) are situated in the city. The Dutch queen, Beatrix, lives and works in The Hague. All foreign embassies and government departments are located in the city, as well as the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (The Supreme Court) and the Raad van State (Council of State).

The Hague is home to over 150 international organisations. A few of these are:

• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, (ICTY)
• Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, (OPCW)
• International Court of Justice, located in the Peace Palace
• International Criminal Court, (ICC)
• European Police Office, (Europol)
• Hague Academy of International Law
• Permanent Court of Arbitration
• Hague Conference on Private International Law, (HCCH)
• Iran-United States Claims Tribunal
• Eurojust
• European Patent Office