States General of the Netherlands

States General Staten-Generaal
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate	Ankie Broekers-Knol, VVD Since 2 July 2013
Speaker of the House of Representatives	Khadija Arib, Labour Party Since 13 January 2016
Structure
Seats	225 75 senators 150 representatives
Senate political groups	12 Groups      VVD (13)      CDA (12)      D66 (10)      PVV (9)      SP (9)      PvdA (8)      GL (4)      CU (3)      PvdD (2)      SGP (2)      50+ (2)      OSF (1)
House of Representatives political groups	16 Groups      VVD (40)      PvdA (35)      SP (15)      CDA (13)      PVV (12)      D66 (12)      CU (5)      GL (4)      SGP (3)      PvdD (2)      50+ (1)      Others (8)
Elections
Senate voting system	Indirect election
House of Representatives voting system	Party-list proportional representation
Senate last election	26 May 2015
House of Representatives last election	12 September 2012
Meeting place
Binnenhof The Hague, Netherlands
Website
www.staten-generaal.nl

The States General (Dutch: Staten-Generaal) is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer). The parliament meets at the Binnenhof in The Hague.

The States General originated in the 15th century as an assembly of all the provincial states of the Burgundian Netherlands. In 1579, during the Dutch Revolt, the States General split as the northern provinces openly rebelled against Philip II, and the northern States General replaced Philip II as the supreme authority of the Dutch Republic in 1581. The States General were replaced by the National Assembly after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, only to be restored in 1814, when the country had regained its sovereignty. The States General was divided into a Senate and a House of Representatives in 1815, with the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. After the constitutional amendment of 1848, members of the House of Representatives were directly elected, and the rights of the States General were vastly extended, practically establishing parliamentary democracy in the Netherlands.

Since 1918, the members of the House of Representatives are elected for four years using party-list proportional representation, while the 75 members of the Senate are elected by the States-Provincial every four years. On exceptional occasions, the two houses form a joint session known as the United Assembly. The President of the Senate serves as President of the States General during a United Assembly. Ankie Broekers-Knol (VVD) has been President of the Senate since 2013.