We're not Holland, we're The Netherlands

There's a difference between Holland and The Netherlands.

A friend kindly gave permission to use her text on my site to explain matters.
Thanks!



Imagine that people don't know the name of your country properly.

Well, it's my daily chore not to get irritated when I'm on internet.

Many people call my country: Holland.
Do you know that Holland isn't even a name for a village?

We do have two provinces with Holland in the name: North-Holland and South-Holland. They're 2 of the western provinces of our country, bordering part of the coast.

And what about: Netherlands?

Oh my dear. Netherlands is the name for a little village in America.

I've found it on internet only once and can't find it back anymore. It's a village of about three streets surrounded by bare hilly land.

I'm sure the CIA (yes, that one) doesn't mean that one when they're referring to Netherlands in their country descriptions.

Well, they're not very accurate anyway when they forget to mention our flowers and flowerbulbs in their overview.

I'm sure the search machines on internet are for a part responsible for the shortening of the name of our country.

It's THE NETHERLANDS.

Pointing to the fact that most part of the country lies below sea level.

We're called: The DUTCH, or the DUTCH people, and we speak DUTCH.

Our flag consists of 3 horizontal stripes: red, white and blue and is one of the oldest of the world.

The colour of our Royal House is orange, and it's now not only an added banner on the flag when our Royal House is involved, but it has become a frequently used national colour after the abuse of the red, white and blue during the last years.


By the way: I don't wear wooden shoes, no white bonnet. But I do love tulips and we have a couple of windmills in my town.