The Netherlands
Updated: Sep 21, 2022
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Country Name
The Netherlands, informally Holland.
Location
The Netherlands is located in Northwestern Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the south, Germany to the east, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in The North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba—it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Capital
Amsterdam.
Reason for Naming the country
The Netherlands means low-lying country; the name Holland (from Houtland, or wooded Land). It said the name have been used by the Austrians (who ruled much of the southern part of the Low Countries from 1713 to 1795), by way of contrast to the mountains they knew.
Flag
The flag was officially adopted on 19 February 1937.*
The flag was commonly referred to as the prince flag and now It is officially referred to as the Royal Standard of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands' flag consists of horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue.
The flag of the Netherlands is one of the oldest flags in the world.
The colors used in the flag of the Netherlands are based on the coat of arms of Prince William of Orange, who was a leading fighter for the freedom of the Dutch. The main difference is that the red band was originally orange in color. However, the orange dye originally used was quite unstable and would eventually turn red, leading the nation to change the official color to red.
The Blue color represents the people of the nation and their hard work, The Red color represents power and politics, and the White color represents neutrality and acceptance.
The Dutch flag is almost identical to that of the Luxembourg flag, except
that it is shorter and its red and blue stripes are a darker shade.
The similarity of the two flags has given rise to a national debate to change the flag of Luxembourg, initiated by Michel Wolter in 2006.
*Flag Facts:
- The flag of the Netherlands is similar to the flag of Luxembourg, the flag of Croatia, and the flag of Paraguay the only distinguishable bit between the flags is that the flag of Paraguay has the coat of arms featured in the flag.
-Although the four flags use similar colors, the flag of Luxembourg has lighter shades of red and blue.
*The first flag was designed by the Dutch people; a horizontal tricolor of orange, white, and blue. The flag design was created to show respect to Prince William. It was referred to as the Prinsevlag which meant the prince flag. The flag colors were later changed to red, blue, and white following a Royal decree by Queen Wilhelmina on February 19, 1937.
Language
The official language of the Netherlands is Dutch, which is spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants.
Besides Dutch, Frisian is recognized as a second official language in the northern province of Friesland, Some regional languages of the Netherlands are officially recognized such as Frisian, English, Papiamento, Dutch Low Saxon, Limburgish, varieties of Arabic, Turkish, and Berber languages are the most common immigrant languages spoken in the country.
Religion
Roman Catholicism is the single largest religion in the Netherlands. Some other minorities are there, there are Protestant, Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and non-religion (50%). The Dutch are one of the least religious people in the world. Although religious diversity remains, there has been a decline in religious adherence.
Currency
Euro €.
