Most people I talk too refer to Holland in the same way as they would to The Netherlands. They think Holland is the same as The Netherlands.Just to let you in on a little secret: this is wrong!

So what is the difference, you may ask?

Well, the difference is that The Netherlands (the kingdom as we know it nowadays) came into existence after Napoleon (1830). Between 1815 and 1830 The Kingdom of The Netherlands also included Belgium, but that is another story for another time Nowadays The Netherlands consists out of twelve provinces: Groningen, Friesland, Drente, Overijssel, Flevoland, Gelderland, Utrecht, North-Holland, South-Holland, Zealand, North Brabant and Limburg.

So what is Holland then?

I am glad you asked … Two of the twelve provinces in The Netherlands have the name Holland, specifically North Holland and South Holland (see also a map of The Netherlands here). The major cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) are located in these two provinces. So if you have ever been to The Netherlands, the chance is big that you have also been to Holland.

Why does everyone refer to The Netherlands as Holland then?

To answer that question we need to give you a little bit of a history lesson: When the Dutch went out into the world during the Dutch Golden Age (starting in the 17th century) to establish our trading routes, most ships came from the two provinces now called North Holland and South Holland. As you might have figured out, The Netherlands did not exist at that time yet, so when you would ask the sailor where they were from they would respond with the name of their city-state (province). Most of the time the sailor response would be that he was from Holland. Ever since Holland has been an synonym for the area that would later be called The Netherlands. Of course the supporters of some of the major Dutch soccer teams (also mostly from Holland) did not help making this clearer for foreigners

So now that I all know this, can I still refer to The Netherlands as Holland?

Now since there are ten other provinces with each having their own proud history, I would not recommend saying Holland when you are actually trying to refer to The Netherlands. It is just not correct and can even be seen as offensive or insulting, unless of course the person you are talking too is from one of those two provinces

If you have any question or comments about the difference between Holland and The Netherlands, make sure you leave a comment below

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A couple of international students were asked five or six years ago to write something about their interpretation of Dutch Culture. I managed to get a hold of these. Below you can find small excepts of what they wrote:

Excerpt 1

Maybe the biggest difference in cultures is the fact that the Dutch don’t appreciate it if people visit them unexpectedly. As it says in the Holland Handbook: ‘The Dutch do not like company to stop by informally, if they just happen to be “in the neighbourhood”. If you know someone very well, you can call in the morning to ask if you can come by that evening, but normally you should call further ‘in advance’.

The worst thing you can do is stop by, uninvited, at dinnertime. If you get invited to enter the house while the family is eating, most likely they offer you a chair to sit with them at the table but they won’t offer you anything to eat. If you get lucky you may be offered some dessert, because there is always enough yoghurt, thanks to a special kind of scratch instrument that the Dutch invented to get all the yoghurt out of the carton’.

In Spain everybody loves company.The Spanish like to go and visit friends and relatives at every time of the day. And when dinner is served, it is considered a bad manner if you leave, you would insult the hostess.

Excerpt 2

What I think is really typically Dutch is the tolerance towards one another. In one of the books I read: ‘Tolerance is not only a virtue, it is a civic duty.’ With 370 inhabitants at every square kilometer, Holland has got the highest population density of Europe. If the Dutch didn’t forgive each others shortcomings and peculiarities, or at least ignore, life would be unbearable. Tolerance is really veiled pragmatism. The Dutch think that everyone should do the things he wants to do within the limits of decency. I think that is a very good quality. The Dutch tolerance is famous all over the world and we have showed the world that in most of these cases our approach proved to be a good one.

Excerpt 3

I found one thing that the Dutch and Spanish have in common. They both treat their children as if they are royalty. In Spain the children can stay up as long as they want and when they celebrate the feast of the Epiphany they get so many presents that they need a whole year to discover what they got. About Dutch children I read the following line:

The golden rule is: “Let them go their own way. Free to discover and undergo whatever they want. Free to be creative (destructive), without reckoning with others as long as they aren’t in peril of death.”

Of course it is important to let your children grow up with some form of freedom, but maybe the Spanish and the Dutch exaggerate it a little bit. I think that, if I ever have children, I would raise them with a little bit more of discipline. But then again, you never know! Some habits and customs can be very persistent when you are not aware of them.

Excerpt 4

Last summer I spent my holiday in Turkey. After a long journey we finally arrived at our destination, we thought. The people of the hotel didn’t know we were coming, so there weren’t any rooms left. If this had happened to you in Holland, the people from the hotel would have simply sent you away. Sorry, but not our fault, they would say. But the Turkish have another attitude. You are a guest of the hotel, so we don’t send you away. So they didn’t. They asked the cleaning ladies to look for another room, so they could offer their room to us. Very friendly of them, but we were also a bit surprised.

All well and done, we had dinner at the hotel a few times. One day we wanted to have dinner somewhere else. So as we were walking out of the hotel, the people were very surprised and asked us where we were going. When we said we were going to have dinner somewhere else, you could see the disappointment in their faces. We really felt like we were very rude to go away, and maybe we were. We felt very uncomfortable and at the same time we felt very Dutch.

Excerpt 5

When I first came to Holland, I thought that I had to learn Dutch to manage in an everyday situation, but to my big surprise I was terribly wrong. Almost everyone speaks English, and quite good English as well. This must be part of the Dutchman’s international attitude, they are always curious to know about other countries and cultures. They also like to show that they are able to talk English, even when I try to practice my Dutch.

The international attitude must be a part of their ability as great organizers, but also because they are very tolerant with racial and ethnical issues. They will not say a thing even though they find some customs of other cultures strange and unfamiliar. This also reflects their polite side. People are very polite, and say hello and goodbye when you enter and leave a shop.

They are also polite to their elderly. They will more often use the polite form U than the more informal jij. Some Dutch friends even told me examples of children calling their parents with the U-form. This would be unthinkable in Norway, and in English you luckily don’t have the problem.

Excerpt 6

What is written “between the rules” is the fact that Dutch people are so bored. They are not enthusiastic, everything is planned and even arranged appointments with friends and family. Even their parties are quiet and it look likes the conversations are planned too.

In De Volkskrant a reporter wrote about the boring Dutch. He writes about August 1763 when an Englishman comes to Utrecht to study there. This student says: “Dutchmen are proud of their planning, parties are sins and the only things they spend their time on is watching their clocks and barometers”.

The writer of this article says that this is still right. We are busier about getting to know if it will rain instead of it rains. Our whole life is based on the Calvinism and we are proud of it! Still in this century, although it is changing. But it is changing in a way of Calvinism; slowly, planned and well organized.

Excerpt 7

Deadlines, keeping work and home separate, non-hierarchic and non-personal are words that describe Dutch organizations. An economist from Suriname sees this as absolute smeerolie for a healthy organization. He likes the fact that problems in business never get personal. But this also has another side. Organizations are bureaucratic and non-flexible. Everything is formal, have to discuss over and over and need a paper formality.

Excerpt 8

“Doe maar gewoon, dan doe je al gek genoeg”. This is the title of the book that I read after living in The Netherlands for one year. I tried to have everything under control by reading different books at different times and getting tips and guidelines to get through cultural problems smoother. But I still had a very difficult time at school when I had to work with Europeans, especially Dutch.

The problems started from the time I had my first group work and I did not know where to start. I asked my classmates too many questions, which is quite normal in my country, but then everybody got sick-and-tired of me and they told me that I had to find my way myself (differences between ” we culture” and “I culture”- In “we culture” you are supposed to help people around you and in “I culture” you have to be more independent). Besides that they looked down at me by mentioning strange things that were not true about my country, especially the Germans.

Then I decided to study extremely hard to show that I can do well. Again things went wrong. I became completely confused especially when my grades were better than almost everybody’s. I expected that finally I could be really part of them. I also thought that teachers were going to appreciate it. But it did not happen.??

I got depressed and quit school for one semester. During my rest I re-read the books that give foreigners tips to adjust themselves to new countries easier. This time I noticed that I had not read the books properly: “Dutch people do not like to show that they are richer than others. From clothing you often cannot see who is rich or poor. Dutch try not to be different than others. If somebody in The Netherlands for example wants to be the best, reaching the top in society, they never say it in public. It is something they feel ashamed of!”.

Finally I reached the conclusion that you have to be in the middle. Less, or more, than average is not good. That is the policy for all different aspects of life in The Netherlands.

I hope you enjoyed these small excerpts, please feel free to share them with others (see below here).

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At times I will post a guest entry on this website. This one is from Romana, an international student who studied in Groningen in the college year 2004-2005. If you are interested in also posting story here, please feel free to contact me.

Contrary to popular belief not everyone in the Netherlands wears clogs, lives in a windmill or grows tulips, but everyone does own a bicycle. In fact, this small country with a population of about 16 million people has more bikes than people. So the bike is not so much a stereotypical symbol of the NL but rather a necessity of Dutch life steeped in tradition and national identity.

Every minute, almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you can see cyclists pedaling leisurely through the streets and along the canal banks, alongside one another, and enjoying a gossip or even singing. All roads have cycle lanes and I do not mean the narrow two-foot excuse of a cycle lane that have recently been painted along some of the roads in my country. I am talking about king-size paths with plenty of room for any manoeuvre. Perhaps what is most satisfying to a Dutch cyclist is that sense of priority that is always given to him or her. And if they do not have it they take it anyway because the Dutch cyclist knows that the law is nearly always on their side when it comes to accidents with cars. I watch them with constant anxiety as they glide nonchalantly through the traffic, often managing to talk on their mobile at the same time, career around comers and shoot blindly through traffic lights. Without a doubt, they are the kings and queens of the roads. In fact, the Dutch Queen, Beatrix, is often rumored to have been seen pedaling through the Hague on her sit-up-and-beg style bicycle.

The bicycle in the NL is not just a means of transport, it often functions as a great shopping carrier, too. I am constantly amazed by how much can be carried on one small bicycle and am convinced that the Dutch are born with a greater sense of balance than the rest of us. I will never forget the time I saw a mum skilfully balancing her three children (one on the front, two at the back), her weekly shopping and a huge bunch of flowers all on her trusty bike.

However, there is also a rather dark side to cycling in the NL. With over one million bikes being stolen every year, bike theft has become a lucrative profession. That is why most Dutch people do not own a bike that is worth more than about 70 EUR. Although the Dutch do value their bikes enormously, they also favor an ´easy come easy go´ type of attitude that helps when it is stolen. Which at some point it inevitably will be.

That is why there is a very unique anti-theft invention developed by the Dutch themselves – they make their bikes look individual and distinctive by painting them. Thus the many brightly colored, graffiti-decorated bikes are not just an artistic expression of individuality but also a deterrent to a bike thief and works on the premise that a bike with a leopard skin or silver and orange snake design is perhaps easier to trace than a standard black bike. Resourceful people, the Dutch.

Whatever the problems, be it congestion and stress on the city cycle lane or the risk of having one´s bike snatched by a thief, bicycles will always be at the core of Dutch culture. And without a doubt cycling through the Dutch countryside is still a real joy and a cheap day out for everyone. Also the environmentally-friendly aspect of the bicycle surely makes this a vehicle that will be encouraged to use however technically advanced Dutch society becomes.

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