This Is Why People in the Netherlands Are Called Dutch

Written by Ross Jones in Uncategorized

Most English speakers associate the word Dutch with people and things from Holland, leading many to wonder why people in the Netherlands are called Dutch as well. The Netherlands, officially named Kingdom of the Netherlands as a sovereign nation, is located in northwestern Europe. Holland is not a nation in itself but rather a region within the Netherlands, and Dutch is the term used to describe both people and things from Holland and the Netherlands as a whole.

So, why are people in the Netherlands called Dutch? People in the Netherlands are called Dutch primarily by English speakers because the term Dutch is used to describe the people, culture, language, and things derived from this nation. The word Dutch is often associated with Holland, a region within the country of the Netherlands, and the people who live there. However, people in the Netherlands as a whole, in addition to Holland, are called Dutch as well.

Tourists from all over the world visit the Netherlands to see its beautiful landscapes, canals, tulip fields, art museums, windmills, and more. However, many visitors believe Holland to be the actual name of the country of the Netherlands instead of the name of a region within that country. These names, along with the use of Dutch as a word for describing the people in the Netherlands, can cause a bit of confusion for those unfamiliar with these terms and the Netherlands as a nation.

Difference Between Holland and the Netherlands

Many people use the words Holland and the Netherlands interchangeably, though there is a difference. The Netherlands, as a nation, consists of 12 provinces. Two of these provinces, Noord-Holland (North Holland) and Zuid-Holland (South Holland) together, make up the collective area of Holland. Therefore, though some people use the term Holland to mean the Netherlands as a whole, Holland is just part of the country of the Netherlands.

North and South Holland, the region of Holland as a whole, are two of the most populated provinces of the Netherlands. In addition, Holland features most of the country’s major cities. As a result of the concentration of people and cities in this area, many people use Holland as a shorthand term to refer to the country itself, rather than its formal name of the Netherlands.

Holland Explained

The Dutch word hollands means “of or from Holland,” signifying the two provinces of North and South Holland. These provinces are located on the coast of the North Sea, and they reflect what most people consider to be the epitome of Dutch culture, including:

  • seaside towns
  • fishing villages
  • water canals
  • windmills
  • wooden homes
  • historic cities
  • tulip fields
  • the Hague
  • picturesque scenery that inspired art by both Vermeer and Rembrandt

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and located in the North Holland province. Amsterdam is known for the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the house where Anne Frank hid during World War II, among many other interesting sites, making it one of the most visited cities in the world.

In addition, approximately 40% of the entire population of the Netherlands lives within the two provinces of North and South Holland, according to Holland.com. This population density combined with heavy tourism makes the region of Holland a busy and often crowded area.

The Netherlands Explained

The Dutch word Nederland comes from an expression meaning “lower land,” referring to the country’s low altitude. The Netherlands is also considered part of the “low countries” in Europe, which is a descriptor for the territory made up primarily of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Almost one-third of the Netherlands sits below sea level, and over 15% of the mainland’s total surface consists of water. As a result, canals and rivers have played a large part in much of the country’s city planning. This has included pumping water out of certain areas in the country and building a network of canals for transportation, irrigation, and water removal.

Within the Netherlands are twelve provinces, each with their own capital city. These provinces include:

  • Drenthe
  • Flevoland
  • Friesland
  • Gelderland
  • Groningen
  • Limburg
  • North Brabant
  • North Holland
  • Overijssel
  • South Holland
  • Utrecht
  • Zeeland

Though most visitors to this country wish to see the Holland region, and often Amsterdam in particular, there are many beautiful sights and interesting experiences to be had in the remaining ten provinces of the Netherlands. Fortunately, the country overall is quite small in area. Therefore, visitors would have the opportunity to see much of the entire nation, including the Holland provinces, in a fairly short period of time.

How the Difference Between Holland and the Netherlands May Have Become Confused

The confusion regarding the difference between Holland and the Netherlands may have begun as a result of Dutch sailing explorations during the Golden Age of the 17th century. Searching for new land, trade routes, spices, and other riches, European explorers and settlers often just reported the name of the city or state when asked where they came from.

Many Dutch sailors would have reported coming from the province of Holland when asked, which may be part of the reason that people outside of the Netherlands thought, and continue to think, that Holland was a country of its own. In addition, the Netherlands was not united in the form of a nation until the early 19th century, so up until that time, Holland was a somewhat autonomous province.

This may have added to the confusion between the terms Holland and the Netherlands as names of the region. Since the nation’s unification would have been established over a century after much of the Dutch sailing explorations and colonial settling took place, more people would have referred to their place of origin as Holland, and the Netherlands would not have been used to name the region from which they came.

Logically, those outside of northwestern Europe would have either mistaken Holland and the Netherlands for two separate countries or possibly two interchangeable names signifying the same country.

Ultimately, the difference between Holland and the Netherlands is similar to the way in which North and South Dakota are different from the United States. The Dakotas are states within the United States nation. Holland is a region made up of two provinces, North and South Holland, within the country of the Netherlands.

Meaning of “Dutch”

One use of the word Dutch is as a demonym. A demonym is a descriptor derived from a place, country, or region that describes and denotes the people who live there. For example, those who live in Germany are typically called Germans; Canada residents are Canadians. When it comes to people who live in the Netherlands, including Holland, the demonym used is Dutch.

The term Dutch is used to signify someone or something of or from the Netherlands. However, this is more of a descriptive term used among English speakers. Among the Dutch themselves, they use the terms Nederlands as the adjective for Dutch and Nederlanders to specifically refer to the people of the Netherlands.

In Old English, Dutch meant “people or nation.” Across time, English speakers used the word Dutch to describe people from both the Netherlands and Germany when both areas were part of the Holy Roman Empire. The phrase “High Dutch” referred to people from the mountainous areas of southern Germany, and “Low Dutch” referred to people from the flatlands of the Netherlands.

When people of the Low Dutch region formed their own country in 1815, it became the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In Old English, the word Holland meant “woodland” and was used as a demonym for people from the northern region of the Netherlands. Across time, Holland for some reason, became the default name applied to the entire country among English speakers—even though the word technically only refers to the two coastal provinces of North and South Holland in the country of the Netherlands.

Overall, the term Dutch is appropriately used to describe one or all of the following:

  • People of the Netherlands
  • Holland (the provinces of North Holland, South Holland, or the collective region)
  • The Netherlands when speaking of the country as a whole

Corresponding examples of the use of Dutch to describe the above are as follows:

  • The Dutch are known as friendly people.
  • The Dutch city of Amsterdam is a fascinating destination for tourists.
  • The Dutch population has grown to over 17 million.

Though residents of the Netherlands themselves, including those residing in North and South Holland, don’t use Dutch as a demonym, most understand that English speaking visitors use the term Dutch to refer to the people and things from their country—including their language.

The Dutch Language

Dutch is also the official language of the Netherlands. This West Germanic language is spoken by nearly the entire population of the country as a first language. The other official language of the Netherlands is Frisian, or Fries, which is spoken primarily in the Northern province of Friesland.

In the Middle Ages, the Dutch language was called Dietsc or Duutsc, historically equivalent to German Deutsch. These terms meant “language of the people,” and was meant to contrast with Latin as the language of religion and higher learning. The form Duutsc was borrowed by the English, indicating the reason that English speakers use Dutch as the name of the language and a demonym.

However, the official name of the language is Nederlands or Netherlandic. In the country of the Netherlands, the language is also called Hollands or Hollandish. This further reflects the fact that the current standard language is based, for the most part, on the dialect and speaking patterns of the initial province of Holland, now divided into North and South Holland.

Dutch is also spoken as a first or second language by many other people living in countries such as Belgium, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and others. The primary reason for the pervasiveness of the Dutch language in certain areas is due to colonial practices from the 16th and 17th centuries.

During this time of colonialism, Dutch settlers, among other European groups, colonized areas of Africa, North America, and islands in the Atlantic regions. As settlements took hold, so did the languages of the settlers—and Dutch was no exception.

In South Africa, for example, the Afrikaans language evolved from the Dutch settlers. It’s estimated that 90 to 95% of Afrikaans vocabulary originates from the Dutch language according to Learn Dutch.

The fact that Dutch is the language of the Netherlands also plays a role as to why people in that nation are called Dutch, particularly by those who speak English. The Dutch language isn’t the primary factor, but it does have some influence.

Dutch Culture

When considering the provinces of Holland and the Netherlands as a whole, it’s important to understand the characteristics of this Dutch culture.These characteristics would include shared history and learned values that are integrated within a particular society, and the people that live within it demonstrated through social structure and cultural demeanor.

Dutch Social Structure

Small, close families are valued and considered the foundation of the Dutch social structure. Dutch families tend to have just one or two children, and there is a strong presence of full-time mothers among Dutch women, compared to other cultures.

In addition, the Dutch are known to be egalitarian and very tolerant of individual differences. As a rule, Dutch citizens value and respect others for their opinions, leading many Dutch organizations and workplaces to hold an egalitarian outlook and work towards a consensus.

Social programs are prevalent in Dutch culture as a means of avoiding abject poverty for Dutch citizens. These programs do incur a tax burden when it comes to Dutch workers. However, they align strongly with the egalitarian views and approach of the Dutch people to all individuals.

Dutch Cultural Demeanor

The people of the Netherlands, better known to many as the Dutch, are considered very straightforward. As a rule, Dutch people prefer to speak their minds openly rather than being too subtle and polite as to cause misunderstandings. This honesty is intended and presented in a kind and friendly manner, though it can seem a bit surprising to those from less direct cultures.

The Dutch are also known for being hardworking, practical, detail-oriented, and disciplined. They value appearance in terms of cleanliness and neatness, and in general, feel that attention or displays of personal wealth and material possessions are counter to their egalitarian belief system.

Dutch people can appear reserved and formal to outsiders; however, this is primarily due to the value of privacy in Dutch culture. When it comes to privacy, the traditional cultural demeanor of the Dutch would include the following principles:

  • Possessions and/or emotions are not for display
  • Self-control is a virtue
  • Personal questions, given and received, are viewed as intrusions on individual privacy
  • Personal lives are kept separate from business
  • Personal friendships are kept separate from business
  • Personal matters are generally not discussed with friends

Like any culture, Dutch people have their complexities. They highly value the importance of the individual and work collectively to ensure as close to an egalitarian society as possible. In general, they are direct and private in their cultural demeanor. Yet the Dutch are also known for being kind, tolerant, and friendly as well.

Conclusion of Why The Netherlands Are Called Dutch

Overall, there can be confusion as to why people in the Netherlands are called Dutch. This often stems from English speaking people not understanding the difference between Holland and the Netherlands, and the association among English speakers between Holland and the term Dutch as a descriptor. The roots of this confusion may be partly from the evolution of the Dutch language or, more likely, the impact of the Dutch explorers and settlers during the colonial period.

However, there is little need for such confusion if the following elements regarding the Netherlands, Holland, and Dutch are understood:

  1. The Netherlands is the name of the nation bordered by Belgium, Germany, and the North Sea, including 12 provinces altogether.
  2. Two of these provinces within the Netherlands are North Holland and South Holland. Together, they make up the area of Holland, which is not an autonomous nation but rather part of the Netherlands.
  3. Dutch is the demonym used to describe the people, things, culture, and language of the Netherlands as a country. This term applies to Holland as well, since it is a part of the Netherlands as a whole.
  4. Therefore, residents of North and South Holland, as well as their fellow residents of the Netherlands, are called Dutch as a people. Anyone who is from the Netherlands, no matter the province, is considered Dutch by those who use that term.

It’s important to note that the residents of the Netherlands, and the Holland provinces, don’t refer to themselves as Dutch—making the situation potentially more confusing. It is primarily English-speaking people that use Dutch as a descriptor for the country and its people.

Thankfully, the Dutch are aware that English speakers use this term to describe them and everything associated with them—including their language. For those who choose to visit the Netherlands, whether in the area of Holland or not, it’s important to have some insight as to the people there and their Dutch culture as well.

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