Capital of the Netherlands of government. Between 1808 and 1810, during the Kingdom of Holland, King Louis Napoleon resided in Amsterdam and declared the city capital of his kingdom and seat of government. To accommodate the king, the grand seventeenth-century Town Hall of Amsterdam, prime example of the republican values that were prevalent for so long in the Netherlands, was converted into a Royal Palace. In 1810 the Netherlands were annexed by the French Empire and King Louis Napoleon was replaced by a French governor, who took up residence in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. From 1810 to 1813 Amsterdam kept its position of
Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2010, when (following referendums) Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries like Aruba and the other islands became special municipalities of the Netherlands. The four countries mentioned in the Charter today are the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. The Charter stipulates that the Netherlands is governed according to the provisions of the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and that Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are governed according to their respective Basic Laws. Until 1954 the Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands was the leading document of the Kingdom. It remains, however, the document in which, according