I had heard of the debate. I had even been warned about it by other bloggers. But only recently did it rear it's head.The other day, a reader left a comment saying that, while they enjoyed the blog, they had issue with the blog title. "My country is called The Netherlands," they said. "Holland doesn't exist."
This certainly peaked my curiosity as I have heard many a Dutchperson refer to this country as 'Holland.' So I decided to do some digging around.
Why Holland?
The Netherlands is the official name for this tiny European country. But, as it was explained to me by a few of the Dutch I questioned, although they use the name Nederland to refer to their country in their native language, they more often than not chose to refer to it as 'Holland' as soon as they switch to English.
Why? To avoid merry-go-round conversations like this:
"So, where are you from?"
"The Netherlands."
"The Netherlands? Never heard of it. Where's that?"
"Holland?"
"Oh! Ok, I know Holland!"
The sad truth is that, outside of the Netherlands, the country is best known as Holland.
Even the official tourism site known as Lekkerweg.nl uses the domain Holland.com for the global version of the site.
"Discover traditional Holland," the site reads. "This is the official website of Holland, where you can find all the information so you can get to know our country a little better."
If you peruse other tongues, you'll notice that their names for the official language of the Netherlands all have some form of the word 'Holland' as their stems: hollandais in French, holländisch in German, olandese in Italian, holandês in Portuguese, and holandés in Spanish.
Each of these languages also has two names for the country: one being a translation of Low Country or Low Lands and the other being a translation of Holland.
And what about the chant "Hup, Holland, Hup" ("Go, Holland, Go") used so frequently by the Dutch at sporting events?
Or the snazzy new "Holland editie" ("Holland edition") M&M bags in honor of the upcoming World Cup games?
Of course I can't forget the television show "Ik Hou van Holland" ("I Love Holland"), where famous Dutch take part in a trivia game including questions on Dutch culture and Dutch language.
Does Holland exist?
Technically, yes. It refers to the region divided between the provinces of North and South Holland right here in the Netherlands. Here's an interesting blurb from Wikipedia:
"Holland is a name in common usage given to a region in the western part of the Netherlands. Moreover, the term Holland is frequently used to refer to the whole of the Netherlands. This usage is unofficial and ambiguous but generally accepted.[1] From the 10th century to the 16th century Holland proper was a unified political region, a county ruled by the Count of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the Dutch Republic. Today, the former County of Holland consists of the two Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland, which together include the Netherlands' three largest cities: country capital Amsterdam, seat of government, The Hague, and Rotterdam, home of Europe's largest port."Whew, what a confusing debate! Then it hit me. Perhaps it's a bit far fetched, but here goes...
It's not just a Dutch issue.
People call me American and say that I come from America. But, in fact, I come from the United States of America.
Just like Holland is only a part of the Netherlands, the United States are only a part of America. As is Canada and Argentina, and Brazil and all the other countries in South America. (North) America is the continent that I come from, not the country.
Now, that's if you want to get picky.
(Update: Just found this article on Expat Daily News' Central America blog. Talk about relevant!)
So which is it?
In short, I have no answers. This topic will always remain an enigma, feel about it as you may. Certainly people have their opinions and preferences.
As for me, I prefer to call it The Netherlands.
So why have I titled my blog Clogs and Tulips: An American in Holland, you ask? For no other reason than it's catchier and easier to write than Clogs and Tulips: An American in The Netherlands. That's me alright, just another lazy United Statesian.
Which name do you use to refer to the Lowlands? How do you feel about the debate? Do you have any insights to add? If you are Dutch, does it upset you to hear people refer to the Netherlands as Holland or the Lowlands? What name do you use for your country outside of the Netherlands?
photo: UggBoy♥UggGirl [ PHOTO // WORLD // TRAVEL ], Flickr; Indos82, Dreamstime.com
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17 comments:
I must admit, i find that a bit frustrating-the inaccuracy, i mean. At least in English you can say 'Netherlands'. In Hebrew, it's just Holland. Or הולנד
LoL I was wondering about this debate! I know of the distinction between The Netherlands and Holland. In fact, during some quiz I was part of they asked what country a particular cheese was from. I said The Netherlands (as that is the country's name and all) and their response was Holland, but, they would accept The Netherlands as another response.
I think your theory is probably the closest to a reasonable answer. I try to make sure I refer to the country when speaking about it, but, yeah people sometimes don't know where until I say Holland. C'est la vie?
That's true, in wikipedia is written that call Holland is wrong because there are two states called as Zuid- Holland and Nord-Holland besides the other states as Nord-Brabant and so on. In Portugal for example if we said "Paises Baixos" (the same as The Netherlands) nobody knows what and where is the country but if we said "Holanda" (the same as Holland) everybody knows. Holland or not Holland, that is the question :D
I liked very much your blog.
I tend to use "Holland" instead of "the Netherlands" when it fits the sentence or phrase better, which is what I think most Dutch people do. Because there's not even a province just called "Holland", there's no chance for confusion -- obviously if someone says "Holland", they mean "the Netherlands".
Getting upset about it is as futile as getting upset about the weather. How's that for Dutch pragmatism? :)
I've had so many conversations with people that did not realize Holland and The Netherlands are one and the same (more or less).
But it's not as funny as the time I recived a wedding invite from an old college friend in England and she had addressed it to me in The Neverlands.
As a Briton living in the Netherlands I've had similar issues with my home country: Wales.
Here, many of the Dutch say that my home country is Engeland -- quite an insult for a patriotic Welshman (luckily, I'm not that patriotic and am lenient with them :) ).
If I try and explain that Wales is--like Scotland, England and Northern Ireland--a part of Groot-Brittannië I'll be confronted with blank looks.
Now I just say that 'Yes, I am from Cardiff, Wales, Engeland'. It makes life a lot easier.
It's better than Japan, at least: when I was in Tokyo everyone I met said that I was from London!
Naomi - Very confusing indeed. I think at this point, Holland is so ingrained in the brains of the rest of the world. Must be frustrating for the Dutch as well. Curiouser and curiouser...
Habebi - You know more than I did before I met my husband then! I had no idea they both referred to the same place. You're anecdote about the quiz is hilarious! Perfect example. C'est la vie, indeed!
Amy - agreed! (and I love your display of Dutch pragmatism - :-))
Stu - That's hilarious! My second cousin also calls it Neverland... but she's 5 :) (Do you know Tinkerbell, by chance??)
Lloyd - Thanks for stopping by! That's a good one too! And another one I think few outside the UK or without close ties to the UK know. Isn't it funny how other countries perceive each other? Rest assured that this United-Statesian won't make the Wales/England mistake ;)
I usually say I have family in Holland but when I'm over visiting and we go fir day trips to Germany I say we're visiting from The Netherlands.
Hadnt really thought about that before!
x
Thanks for your comment, MissSearles and welcome to Clogs and Tulips. In Germany, I imagine they know about The Netherlands things because of their close proximity. So interesting that you've always called the country by different names depending on who you're talking to. Is that natural or did you make a conscious decision to do it? Fascinating topic, this!
I think people from one of the two provinces that are Holland will not mind about using Holland for the whole country. But the people from the rest of the Netherlands generally do mind. They feel like the Welshman who is not from England. And it is just plain wrong: the country has but one name and that is the Netherlands. I will always correct people and tell them: "Sorry I don't come from the part of the Netherlands that is called Holland".
Anonymous - So glad to hear that you correct people. I think this should be done more often by more people. I personally know hardly anyone from the region of Holland and got the general impression that many, like our Welsh friend Lloyd, just sort of took the live and let live strategy and figured there were more important things to get upset about. Like I said, calling The Netherlands Holland is like calling me American because I come from the United States. It's not correct and, yes, some people do take issue with it. Like I said earlier, I think the issue is that those outside of the Netherlands just don't know any better and it is not their intention to offend. I'm curious to know how those Dutch that take offense to it feel about "Hup Holland Hup", "Holland Editie" paraphernalia, and "Ik Hou van Holland". Any ideas?
I got a very interesting email from my mother who is doing an immersion study in Argentina as part of her doctorate degree in second language acquisition. Given its relevance to this conversation, I wanted to share it with you. Here's what she had to say:
"Very interesting your blog on Holland vs. The Netherlands. Yesterday at our cultural session, the instructor said that Argentinians and other people from other South American countries have a real problem with U.S. citizens referring to themselves as Americans. They think it's pretty egotistical since everyone from Canada, Mexico, all the Central American countries and all of the South American countries are also "American." I had never really thought of it that way but she and you are absolutely right--we're United States-ers."
Updates on her course and other things can be found on her blog http://momsponderings.blogspot.com
As long as we're on the topic and if we're going to be really picky, then it's actually "the Netherlands", with a lower case t (at least according to all the journalistic style guides). Great blog!
Doggone-it, your kidding! I always wrote the Netherlands and than thought I was wrong as I was seeing so many people writing The Netherlands. Here I thought I was finally getting it right lol! Always trust your instincts! Thanks for the compliment :)
Lowlands is a festival not a country. Visit www.lowlands.nl and you'll see it!
Thanks for the comment! Looks like a cool festival. See that's the tricky thing... "Nether" means low. So Netherlands translates to Lowlands. Plus the names for Netherlands in Spanish, French, and Portugese are all translations of "Lowlands". Veeerryy tricky!
The map shows the Province between Noord Holland and Zeeland as the province of Drente. Should be Zuid Holland. Drente is below Groningen.
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