Netherlands (terminology)
Encyclopedia
More than one name is used to refer to the Netherlands
, both in English
and in other languages. Some of these names refer to different, but overlapping geographical, linguistic and political areas of the country. This is a common source of confusion for outsiders. In English the country is called 'the Netherlands' (or frequently - but inaccurately - 'Holland'), while the people and the language are called 'Dutch'. In Dutch
the official (and predominant) terms for these are 'Nederland' for the country, 'Nederlanders' for the people and 'Nederlands' for the language, although they are occasionally (colloquially) called 'Holland', 'Hollanders' and 'Hollands' respectively.
Occasionally the the is incorrectly capitalised: 'the Netherlands' is similar to names such as 'the United States' and 'the Federal Republic of Germany', so the 't' should not be capitalised except at the beginning of a sentence.
Historically the English did not distinguish inhabitants of the Low Countries
by 'nationality'. In the 15th and the first half of the 16th century, all persons from Germanic lands were called Flemings, Theotonici, Doch, or sometimes Germani. In the second half of the 16th century, all Germanic speakers or inhabitants of the Holy Roman Empire
were called Dutch or Douch.
nether both mean 'down(ward), below'. The English word is now uncommon, as is the Dutch, mostly replaced by lower in English or laag in Dutch. Neder or nether may simply have denoted the geographical characteristics of the land, both flat and down river.
In the 15th century, the name Nederlanden came in use. It was a geographical description of low regions in the Germanic lands. Thus it was also used to refer specifically to the estuaries
of the Scheldt
, Meuse and Rhine, including the Lower Rhineland. The term later became restricted to those districts. About 1490, it came into use to refer to inhabitants of the Habsburg Netherlands
.
existed from 1815 to 1830. When Belgium
became independent, the Northern Provinces continued using 'the Netherlands'.
Today the Kingdom of the Netherlands
encompasses the Netherlands
, one constituent country
of the Kingdom, Aruba
, Curaçao
and Sint Maarten. In Dutch common practice, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is shortened to 'Kingdom' and not to 'Netherlands', as the latter may confuse the Kingdom with the constituent country. The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
also shortens the Kingdom of the Netherlands to 'Kingdom' rather than 'Netherlands'. Outside the Kingdom, however, 'Netherlands' is a common name for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (e.g. as a short name in international organizations and during bilateral meetings).
(in Dutch Vlaamse primitieven, Flemish primitives—also common in English before the mid 20th century). Later art and artists from the southern Catholic provinces are usually called Flemish
and those from the northern Protestant provinces called Dutch, but art historians sometimes use 'Netherlandish art' for art produced in both areas between 1400 and 1830.
In many languages including English, 'Holland' (Hollande, Holanda etc.) is a common name for the Netherlands as a whole. Even the Dutch use this sometimes. Strictly speaking, Holland is only the central-western region of the country comprising two of the twelve provinces, North Holland
and South Holland
(see figure) and thus linguistically a pars pro toto
related to use of Russia
for the (former) Soviet Union
, and England
for the United Kingdom
. The use is sometimes discouraged. For example, the 'Holland' entry in the style guide
of The Guardian
and The Observer
newspapers states: "Do not use when you mean the Netherlands (of which it is a region), with the exception of the Dutch football team
, which is conventionally known as Holland". The Times
style guide states "use the Netherlands...for all contexts except sports teams, historical uses, or when referring to the provinces of North and South Holland".
Historically Holland was the most powerful region in the current Netherlands. The counts of Holland
were also counts of Hainaut
, Friesland
and Zeeland
from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Holland remained most powerful during the period of the Dutch Republic
and the cities in Holland were important trading cities. Since Holland was the most economically developed region of the Netherlands, it was historically the region that dominated foreign trade, and hence most of the Dutch traders encountered by foreigners were from Holland, which explains why the Netherlands is often called Holland overseas. After the demise of the Dutch Republic under Napoleon, that country became the Kingdom of Holland
(1806–1810). Today the two provinces making up Holland, including the cities of Amsterdam
, The Hague
and Rotterdam
, remain politically, economically and demographically dominant – 37% of the Dutch population
live there.
The name 'Holland' for the Netherlands is used colloquially by the Dutch themselves, especially in relation to football, where the national team is sometimes cheered on with the cry 'Holland!' The name is used in international promotion, too, because 'Holland' is the best known worldwide.
In the provinces furthest from Holland, notably Friesland
, Groningen
and Limburg
, the word Hollander is frequently used in a pejorative
sense, to refer to the perceived superiority or supposed arrogance of people from the Randstad
– the main conurbation of Holland and of the Netherlands. Therefore, people from these provinces do not always appreciate being called Hollander.
In Belgian Flanders
as well, the word Hollander is sometimes used in this pejorative sense.
and their language
, and is used as an adjective meaning 'coming from or belonging to the Netherlands'. Dutch is spoken not only in the Netherlands but also by the Flemish
community in Belgium (in the Flemish Region
and the Brussels-Capital Region), in parts of northern France (around Dunkirk), and in Suriname, Aruba
, Curaçao
and Sint Maarten. Its southern dialects are sometimes called Flemish. Afrikaans
, spoken in South Africa
and the southern part of Namibia
, is derived from the Dutch language and closely related to it.
The English Dutch, the Dutch dietsch, and the German deutsch are cognate
words. They have the same etymological origin, deriving from the Common West Germanic
theodisca
, which meant '(language) of the (common) people'. During the early Middle Ages
, the elite mostly used Latin
and the common people used their local languages.
In the 1930s, Nazi Germany
sought to 're-unite' the Dutch language area by referring to it as Dietsland
.
In the United States, the term 'Dutch' has sometimes been used instead of Deutsch to mean German or to indicate a German origin: Dutch Schultz
, the Pennsylvania Dutch
, 'the Flying Dutchman' for Honus Wagner
, etc.
' may refer to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but it also refers to the historical region de Nederlanden: those principalities located on and near the mostly low-lying land around the delta
of the Rhine, Scheldt
, and Meuse
rivers. Very roughly that region corresponds to all of the Netherlands, Belgium
and Luxembourg
. It was called Greater Netherlands by irredentists
who sought to unite it. This historical region also was referred to as 'the Netherlands' in English.
Between 1579 and 1794 a region comprising present Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of northern France was called the Southern Netherlands
(or the 'Spanish Netherlands' between 1579 and 1713, the 'Austrian Netherlands' after 1713, after the main possession of their Habsburg lord).
The region was united three times, in the Seventeen Provinces
as a personal union
during the 16th century, in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
between 1815 and 1830 under King William I
, and as the Benelux
customs union founded in 1948.
to refer to it is another. The use of Dutch as the general adjective for the Netherlands is an international exception, but the use of one word to refer to the country and another to refer to the language is not exceptional. Read more about this difference in the article Names for the Dutch language
.
gave the name New Holland
to the continent now known as Australia
, a name it retained for 150 years until the United Kingdom
renamed it in 1824. There was also a colony called New Holland
in South America.
Part of Lincolnshire
is also known as Holland
.
The Dutch colony centred on New Amsterdam
(the modern New York City
) was called New Netherland
.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, both in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and in other languages. Some of these names refer to different, but overlapping geographical, linguistic and political areas of the country. This is a common source of confusion for outsiders. In English the country is called 'the Netherlands' (or frequently - but inaccurately - 'Holland'), while the people and the language are called 'Dutch'. In Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
the official (and predominant) terms for these are 'Nederland' for the country, 'Nederlanders' for the people and 'Nederlands' for the language, although they are occasionally (colloquially) called 'Holland', 'Hollanders' and 'Hollands' respectively.
Occasionally the the is incorrectly capitalised: 'the Netherlands' is similar to names such as 'the United States' and 'the Federal Republic of Germany', so the 't' should not be capitalised except at the beginning of a sentence.
Historically the English did not distinguish inhabitants of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
by 'nationality'. In the 15th and the first half of the 16th century, all persons from Germanic lands were called Flemings, Theotonici, Doch, or sometimes Germani. In the second half of the 16th century, all Germanic speakers or inhabitants of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
were called Dutch or Douch.
The Netherlands
'Netherlands' literally means 'Low countries' or 'Lowlands'. Dutch neder and its English cognateCognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
nether both mean 'down(ward), below'. The English word is now uncommon, as is the Dutch, mostly replaced by lower in English or laag in Dutch. Neder or nether may simply have denoted the geographical characteristics of the land, both flat and down river.
In the 15th century, the name Nederlanden came in use. It was a geographical description of low regions in the Germanic lands. Thus it was also used to refer specifically to the estuaries
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
, Meuse and Rhine, including the Lower Rhineland. The term later became restricted to those districts. About 1490, it came into use to refer to inhabitants of the Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands
The Habsburg Netherlands was a geo-political entity covering the whole of the Low Countries from 1482 to 1556/1581 and solely the Southern Netherlands from 1581 to 1794...
.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The United Kingdom of the NetherlandsUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
existed from 1815 to 1830. When Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
became independent, the Northern Provinces continued using 'the Netherlands'.
Today the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
encompasses the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, one constituent country
Constituent country
Constituent country is a phrase sometimes used in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity. The term constituent country does not have any defined legal meaning, and is used simply to refer to a country which is a part Constituent country is a phrase sometimes used in contexts...
of the Kingdom, Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and Sint Maarten. In Dutch common practice, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is shortened to 'Kingdom' and not to 'Netherlands', as the latter may confuse the Kingdom with the constituent country. The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands describes the political relationship between the four different countries which form the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten in the Caribbean and the Netherlands in Europe...
also shortens the Kingdom of the Netherlands to 'Kingdom' rather than 'Netherlands'. Outside the Kingdom, however, 'Netherlands' is a common name for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (e.g. as a short name in international organizations and during bilateral meetings).
Netherlandish
The English adjective 'Netherlandish' means 'from the Netherlands'. It is normally used in reference to paintings produced anywhere in the Low Countries during the 15th and early 16th century, which are collectively called Early Netherlandish paintingEarly Netherlandish painting
Early Netherlandish painting refers to the work of artists active in the Low Countries during the 15th- and early 16th-century Northern renaissance, especially in the flourishing Burgundian cities of Bruges and Ghent...
(in Dutch Vlaamse primitieven, Flemish primitives—also common in English before the mid 20th century). Later art and artists from the southern Catholic provinces are usually called Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
and those from the northern Protestant provinces called Dutch, but art historians sometimes use 'Netherlandish art' for art produced in both areas between 1400 and 1830.
Holland
North Holland
North Holland |West Frisian]]: Noard-Holland) is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
and South Holland
South Holland
South Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.South Holland is one of the most densely populated and industrialised areas in the world...
(see figure) and thus linguistically a pars pro toto
Pars pro toto
Pars pro toto is Latin for "a part for the whole" where the name of a portion of an object or concept represents the entire object or context....
related to use of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for the (former) Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The use is sometimes discouraged. For example, the 'Holland' entry in the style guide
Style guide
A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field...
of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspapers states: "Do not use when you mean the Netherlands (of which it is a region), with the exception of the Dutch football team
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...
, which is conventionally known as Holland". The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
style guide states "use the Netherlands...for all contexts except sports teams, historical uses, or when referring to the provinces of North and South Holland".
Historically Holland was the most powerful region in the current Netherlands. The counts of Holland
Count of Holland
The Counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.-House of Holland:The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia...
were also counts of Hainaut
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....
, Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
and Zeeland
Zeeland
Zeeland , also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about...
from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Holland remained most powerful during the period of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
and the cities in Holland were important trading cities. Since Holland was the most economically developed region of the Netherlands, it was historically the region that dominated foreign trade, and hence most of the Dutch traders encountered by foreigners were from Holland, which explains why the Netherlands is often called Holland overseas. After the demise of the Dutch Republic under Napoleon, that country became the Kingdom of Holland
Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...
(1806–1810). Today the two provinces making up Holland, including the cities of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, remain politically, economically and demographically dominant – 37% of the Dutch population
Ranked list of Dutch provinces
thumb|300px|Map of the Netherlands, with provinces and capital cities-Population, area and density, sortable on each field:-By population:-By area:...
live there.
The name 'Holland' for the Netherlands is used colloquially by the Dutch themselves, especially in relation to football, where the national team is sometimes cheered on with the cry 'Holland!' The name is used in international promotion, too, because 'Holland' is the best known worldwide.
In the provinces furthest from Holland, notably Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
, Groningen
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
and Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, the word Hollander is frequently used in a pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
sense, to refer to the perceived superiority or supposed arrogance of people from the Randstad
Randstad
Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
– the main conurbation of Holland and of the Netherlands. Therefore, people from these provinces do not always appreciate being called Hollander.
In Belgian Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
as well, the word Hollander is sometimes used in this pejorative sense.
Dutch
'Dutch' refers to the inhabitants of the NetherlandsDutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
and their language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, and is used as an adjective meaning 'coming from or belonging to the Netherlands'. Dutch is spoken not only in the Netherlands but also by the Flemish
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
community in Belgium (in the Flemish Region
Flemish Region
The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...
and the Brussels-Capital Region), in parts of northern France (around Dunkirk), and in Suriname, Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and Sint Maarten. Its southern dialects are sometimes called Flemish. Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, spoken in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the southern part of Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, is derived from the Dutch language and closely related to it.
The English Dutch, the Dutch dietsch, and the German deutsch are cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
words. They have the same etymological origin, deriving from the Common West Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
theodisca
Theodisca
, the Latinised form of a Germanic word meaning "vernacular" or "of the people", is a Middle Latin adjective referring to the Germanic vernaculars of the Early Middle Ages. The Old High German language in Latin sources of the time is referred to as . It also appears as theudiscus, theotiscus,...
, which meant '(language) of the (common) people'. During the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the elite mostly used Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and the common people used their local languages.
In the 1930s, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
sought to 're-unite' the Dutch language area by referring to it as Dietsland
Dietsland
Greater Netherlands is the political movement to unite all Dutch-speaking people into a single state. Also known as Dietsland , which uses the word "Diets," an archaic term for Dutch...
.
In the United States, the term 'Dutch' has sometimes been used instead of Deutsch to mean German or to indicate a German origin: Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
, the Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, 'the Flying Dutchman' for Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
, etc.
Low Countries
The name 'Low CountriesLow Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
' may refer to the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but it also refers to the historical region de Nederlanden: those principalities located on and near the mostly low-lying land around the delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
of the Rhine, Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
, and Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
rivers. Very roughly that region corresponds to all of the Netherlands, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. It was called Greater Netherlands by irredentists
Irredentism
Irredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
who sought to unite it. This historical region also was referred to as 'the Netherlands' in English.
Between 1579 and 1794 a region comprising present Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of northern France was called the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
(or the 'Spanish Netherlands' between 1579 and 1713, the 'Austrian Netherlands' after 1713, after the main possession of their Habsburg lord).
The region was united three times, in the Seventeen Provinces
Seventeen Provinces
The Seventeen Provinces were a personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 15th century and 16th century, roughly covering the current Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France , and a small part of Western Germany.The Seventeen Provinces were originally held by...
as a personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
during the 16th century, in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...
between 1815 and 1830 under King William I
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
, and as the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
customs union founded in 1948.
In other languages
In most languages, the name for the country literally means Low Countries or is derived from Nederland or Holland. There is great variety between the forms used. Sometimes the name for the country is one form and the adjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
to refer to it is another. The use of Dutch as the general adjective for the Netherlands is an international exception, but the use of one word to refer to the country and another to refer to the language is not exceptional. Read more about this difference in the article Names for the Dutch language
Names for the Dutch language
Because of the turbulent history of both the Netherlands and Belgium , the names that other peoples have chosen to use to refer to the Dutch language vary more than for most other languages...
.
Other Netherlands-related geographical names
Abel TasmanAbel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
gave the name New Holland
New Holland (Australia)
New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years....
to the continent now known as Australia
Australia (continent)
Australia is the world's smallest continent, comprising the mainland of Australia and proximate islands including Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Raja Ampat Islands...
, a name it retained for 150 years until the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
renamed it in 1824. There was also a colony called New Holland
Dutch Brazil
Dutch Brazil, also known as New Holland, was the northern portion of Brazil, ruled by the Dutch during the Dutch colonization of the Americas between 1630 and 1654...
in South America.
Part of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
is also known as Holland
Holland, Lincolnshire
Holland is an area of south-east Lincolnshire, England. The name is still recognised locally and survives in the district of South Holland.-Administration:...
.
The Dutch colony centred on New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
(the modern New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) was called New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
.
See also
- Names for the Dutch languageNames for the Dutch languageBecause of the turbulent history of both the Netherlands and Belgium , the names that other peoples have chosen to use to refer to the Dutch language vary more than for most other languages...
- Netherlands (disambiguation)Netherlands (disambiguation)The Netherlands is a European country with territories in the Caribbean.Netherlands may also mean:*Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of the countries Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands;...