On October 9, Dutch politicians will become record-breakers.

It will have been 208 days since the March 15 parliamentary election with no government in place, despite extensive talks, breaking a record dating back to 1977.

The election resulted in a fragmented parliament with 13 parties winning seats. That means at least four parties are needed to form a coalition government with a majority in the 150-seat parliament.

The center-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte was the biggest party in the election, followed by the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders.

The conservative Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the liberal D66 were tied for third, and the remaining votes were divided among nine other parties.

The average time taken to form a governing coalition in modern Dutch history is 87.6 days, with the shortest gap being just 31 days in 1948. Still, negotiators are nowhere near the record held by neighboring Belgium, where parties needed 541 days to agree on a federal government after the 2010 election — a world record.

Discussions are ongoing between the VVD, CDA, D66 and the conservative Christian Union, with Dutch media reporting that a deal could be close. Even if they reach an agreement next week, it's likely to take another couple of weeks before they can be sworn in. Here's a look at what's happened during the past 208 days.