Netherlands vs Holland
When someone says there is a difference between Netherlands and Holland that may be a problem to some. It becomes a problem because most of us believe that Holland is another name for Netherlands. This is just as if using United Kingdom to Great Britain. In fact, Great Britain and United Kingdom are two different entities. They do not refer to the same country. In the same manner, there is a difference between Netherlands and Holland when it comes to the area of the country you are referring to. Therefore, we will first get to know some information about the Netherlands and then delve into what is exactly meant when we are saying Holland. That will help you to understand the difference between the two.
More about Netherlands
Netherlands is one of the countries from the Kingdom of Netherlands. Netherlands is situated in the North Western parts of Europe while it also has some of its islands located in the Caribbean sea. Bonaire, Sint Eustatius,and Saba are the islands in the Caribbean that belong to Netherlands. These are called BES islands and also referred to as Caribbean Netherlands. The Caribbean part of Netherlands has been included to Netherlands after Netherlands Antilles was dissolved on October 10th, 2010. The main parts of Netherlands have North Sea towards their West and North. Belgium is at the south of Netherlands and on the east side is Germany. Amsterdam is the Capital of Netherlands. The government in Netherlands is Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. So, the monarch is Willem-Alexander (2015) and the Prime Minister is Mark Rutte (2015).
Most of the times, Holland is the name used for Netherlands; however, South and North Holland are two of its provinces out of a total of 12 provinces. For each province in Netherlands, there is a leader called a Commissioner of the King. In the Limburg province, the position is called Governor.
People of Netherlands and their language are referred to as Dutch. This word is also used for any other thing that is associated with the people of Netherlands or anything which is happening in Netherlands. Word Dutch is a derivate of the language ‘Diets’ (Middle Dutch now) spoken in Netherlands. Netherlands is an effective member of WTO, OECD, NATO and European Union (EU). It is also a member of the Benelux Economic Union made with Luxembourg and Belgium. Netherlands has the honor to act as host to a number of international courts. Association to such international organizations and serving as the host of these organizations has made Netherlands known as ‘Largest Capital of the World’ in different countries.
According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Netherlands is ranked 15 out of total 157 countries where capitalist format of economy is being followed. Netherlands has most of its areas lower than the sea level. One fourth of the total area of Netherlands is below the sea level and 21% of its entire population lives in such areas. Another half of Netherlands is lying a meter above the sea level. Land area was obtained by Netherlands through the process of reclamation of land. Most part of the land mass of Netherlands is flat. There are a few areas of the country where one can see few hills, but most of those too are low hills.
More about Holland
Some parts of the Western region of Netherlands are given the name of ‘Holland’. Sometimes, the entire Netherlands country is referred to as Holland. The usage of word ‘Holland’ for Netherlands is common and is accepted by most of the people but officially, there is no acceptance for Netherlands to be called Holland. Most of the Dutch people living in Netherlands, as well as other people of Netherlands, do not like their land to be called Holland. To be exact, Holland is the two provinces, North Holland and South Holland, in the Netherlands. These provinces contain the three most important cities of Netherlands: Amsterdam (capital city), The Hague (seat of the government), and Rotterdam (where Europe’s largest port is situated).
Holland was a political region from the tenth to the sixteenth century during which it came under the rule of Holland County. Holland had gained the status of a power with its economic developments and other progress in various fields allowing Holland to dominate various provinces of the Republic of Dutch near the 17th Century.
What is the difference between Netherlands and Holland?
• Holland is actually a part of Netherlands which is wrongly thought to be the name of Holland.
• Netherlands is a country whereas parts of it, North and South Holland, are two of the provinces out of the total of twelve provinces of Netherlands.
• Not only Holland is, officially, the wrong name of Netherlands, but also, the public of Netherlands does not like it to be called Holland.
Images Courtesy:
- Netherlands by Scipius (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Holland – Twee molens via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
