Netherlands

[Coldicote]

I'm puzzled about Netherlands. What actually is or are the Netherlandsand why so-called? It's easy enough to look at a map and see the area, but that's what I always thought was Holland. Why the different name? Is Netherlands a region of more than one country, or simply another name for Holland? Glad of clarification please.

[Peter Pedant]

Holland merely means low countries as in low in altitude. There is an area of East Anglia called Holland somewhat confusingly.

Netherlands is also another way of say Low Country

sudduv equal really

PP

[dot.hawkes]

my great great grandmother was from Kirton-in-holland , i have been there and it is very flat and they have natural wetlands, her name was Mary Ann Willey by the way.

[Coldicote]

Many thanks for these interesting replies. The URL led me to read "The Netherlands is often called Holland. This is formally incorrect as North and South Holland .... are only two of the country's twelve provinces." It's amazing what one can find through Answerbank. Live and learn.

[jno]

here's the official tourist site - and they call it Holland... I guess they think it's better known abroad by that name.

http://www.holland.com/global/

[THECORBYLOON]

Calling The Netherlands "Holland," is similar to calling the UK or Great Britain, "England" (as many English folk do)

[Coldicote]

Thanks to all who replied. I understand the position better, but there still seems something odd about it, especially in the reply from Zeuhl. Many people don't think of The Netherlands as a country like they do Holland. It's interesting and I'll leave this open a while longer. Maybe someone in Netherlands or Holland might add a comment.

[heathfield]

I think jno's answer gives the reason for the use of 'Holland'. Also, since all schoolchildren are taught English in the Netherlands, I'm pretty sure they'll be told that their country is usually referred to as 'Holland' by the British.

[shaneystar2]

It depends what part of the Netherlands they live in as to what they call themselves .I lived there for several years ..some call themselves Hollanders others Nederlandse Holland is a rather ironic self-designation.
The official name is K�nigreich der Niederlande .A lot of them though don't like to be referred as Hollanders especially the older people .Holland conjures up pictures of windmills and clogs for the tourists and they themselves call it Holland . .
You never hear us talk about Netherlanders ..they are always the Dutch or the country is more often than not Holland . We don't say ..."oooh I met a Netherlander the other day ".
Yet...I used to have a neighbour who was very patriotic ..she never ceased to remind me that .."Ik ben trots om Nederlands te zijn " If you had called her a Hollander she would have put salt in your coffee !

[Coldicote]

This has been a very interesting discussion - thank you all. I'll now get down to a bit of 'homework' and find out more about the other provinces that make up The Netherlands.

[Narolines]

Shaneystar, I don't think my Dutch friends would be too impressed by the German form of the name of their country! In Dutch it's Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, and technically includes thier remaining overseas possessions.

[THECORBYLOON]

This is getting confused. In this Kingdom we have three countries making up Great Britain and with Ulster we have the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Many folk confuse England , GB and the UK and the same is true of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.

If you think on "The KIngdom of The Netherlands" being the UK, "The Netherlands" equates to Great Britain. The provinces in The Netherlands equate to Scotland, Wales and England. Two of them are North and South Holland.

So, as with England being confused wi Great Britain and GB being confused wi the UK, there is also confusion wi Holland, The Netherlands and the Kingdom of The Netherlands.

[shaneystar2]

Terribly sorry Narolines ....it's my German side of the family rearing it's ugly head ..it gets so confusing when you you pop from one language to another all the time .Neemt u mij niet kwalijk !

[Coldicote]

It seems I wasn't the only one without understanding of The Netherlands and I hope we have all benefitted from the answers - certainly I have. I think it's time to close the book, so I'll sign off now as my question has been well answered. Thank you all once again.