Most people I talk to 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, Drenthe, 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 😉
Still confused, maybe the following video can explain it better:
If you have any question or comments about the difference between Holland and The Netherlands, make sure you leave a comment below 🙂
I am from the province of Fryslan!! It is in the Netherlands NOT in Holland
Bullshit. Nobody gets mad if you say Holland instead of the Netherlands.
Greetings, a Dutch girl
I was in Amsterdam in the mid seventies while in the US navy. Either way Holland or Netherlands ya’ll have a pretty cool country at least back then. Anymore I have a hard time just keeping up with map changes & countries splitting and changing names all across the globe.
And just a tip for the rest of the global population, We didn’t vote trump in to be a great president, We voted him in because we got sick & tired of professional politicians always stacking the deck in their favor. Hell all we want trump to do is throw the deck up in the air in a high wind & see who is left in the game after everybody gets a random hand — you can see that already 31 of these guys have decided to not run again in 2018– And we’re just a year in to this!
I want to write on banking system in Holland but now I know I don’t really know what to write may on south Holland or north Holland because I think is a country before
So why are the inhabitants of both Holland and The Netherlands known as “Dutch”?
Generally the UK or GB is referred to as England by most Foreigners, a slap in the face for the Welsh, the Scots and the Northern Irish Catholics. Everyone of the above compete independently in the World and European championships in a veriety of sports except in the Olympics. Double standards I say but typical for the English.
If you want to be a lazy person who doesn’t know about the world around them, you can call it Holland.
If you want to be a better person with knowledge of the world and geography, call it the Netherlands, and don’t England a country.
Be the second one. It’s easy and simple.
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In the greek language “The Netherlands” translates directly into “Holland”. This seems to be the common factor in a lot of other, non-english languages too. Check translate to verify.
Its irrelevant if people from “The Netherlands” take offense on that or not, as right or wrong the perception is that, commonly the very famous Holland is synonymous to less known the Netherlands.
Still we’ve learned something new today!
Well I must admit I had to search this one… I’m from south America and in Spanish the name of the country is “Holanda”. Probably just dragging the mistake mentioned above. So I would make the literal translation from Holanda to Holland and that’s why I used that name. But I also didn’t understand why when searching in English the correct way was the Netherlands.
Luckily I found this answer and my confusion dissipated. Thanks!
Thanks for the info. Very interesting and I am glad I now know the difference ?
THE NETHERLANDS IS A COUNTRY AND HOLLAND IS A PROVINCE OF NETHERLANDS AS SIMPLE AS THAT
Amstel says it is brewed in Holland, not the Netherlands
All dutch people consider Holland to be the same as the netherlands these days. I am from holland, finished a university. Everyone thinks it is the same. I never even heard about this explanation, guess it was lost during the years.
I feel incredibly dense! did the ancestry thing, and have been delving into olden times. found that my Grandpa’s maternal side came to Virginia from Holland many, many moons ago. I was appalled that I knew so little about the location!
Hallo to all Nederlanders posting comments.
There is only one country and that is called The Netherlands. It is NOT the same as Holland. If you dutchman are unsure. Check your passport it states The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
I am from old Zeeland and am offended if someone refers to my country as “Holland”. It is like saying to Scottish people that are from England.
The two Holland provinces represent less than 50% of the population and less than 50% of Netherlands economy. Even these days the BBC refers to our country as The Netherlands.
Referring to Dutch football fans is hardly a recommendation.
In business and official language only the Netherlands is used. So let’s stop using the very out dated usage of Holland with it’s tulips, wind mills and wooden shoes and grow up
netherlands + holland = AWESOME
usa + america (divide sign) TRUMP = SHIT!
Just listen to what the Dutch football fans sing when “oranje” plays, they sing, really loud, HOLLAND! HOLLAND
For the people calling this article bullshit, it actually is not. The official name of the country, according to the UN, is the Netherlands. Holland is not the official name. Period. You can call it Holland between friends, or whatever, but that doesnt take away the fact that the official country name is the Netherlands.
A similar confusion is held by the French who refer to the United Kingdom as “Angleterre” rather than Britain because the French for Britain is “Bretagne” which is the name of a province of France that the British call “Brittany”! They have no word for Wales which they refer to as “Le pays de Galles” (the Land of the Gallics) even though the Gauls of France were themselves Gallic!
i need to know how holland got its name
dit is lulkoek!
holland is the netherlands en the netherlands is holland.
this is balony
holland is the netherlands and the netherlands is holland.
Well done this is really useful and the people who don’t believe this are probably just from another country. i live in the netherlands and give history and this is 100% true well done!!!
Just I am a new staff for MSF-Holland and then I need to know more about the Hollanders this it ………….
Ask your President Trump.
This is all nonsense. Holland = The Netherlands. Holland has become a synonym for The Netherlands in last couple of centuries. When a dutchman talks about Holland, he means all of The Netherlands, not just north and south Holland. This is accepted in the whole country. Als Dutch are ‘Hollanders’.
Many thanks, this site is extremely useful
Want to learn more. Be part of the history
Although the historical side of this article is true, one could argue that these days Holland and the Netherlands could both be used correctly to identify ‘Nederland’. Look at what the oxford dictionary says: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/holland. Also, I don’t think any Dutchman( from any part of teh country) would be offended If you would call their country Holland.
I am Holland
i need to learn masters program by engineering in Netherland so what shall i do?