This is a kind of discussion that always freaks me out. I am NOT from Holland, and everyone stating otherwise is either lying or deluded by popular beliefs. Did you know that Holland borders to neither Germany nor Belgium? The Netherlands on the other hands does.

Now there are even a lot of Dutch who foolishly say “Holland” when they mean the Netherlands as a whole and even say “Hollands” (Hollandic) whenthey mean “Nederlands” (Dutch). Therefore I can also say that the English name of “De vliegende Hollander” (The Flying Dutch Man) is therefore a miss-translation.

Now this is a map of the Netherlands

In case you wonder where Amsterdam lies, well, see that big “bay” of water in the middle? Amsterdam lies somewhere West of that.
The country was founded by William of Orange, also known as William the Silent, basically to get rid of the oppression of King Philips II, who ruled (read: ruined) the land and its people with iron fist. In the original setup back then, the country was bigger, as the lands that now form Belgium were originally also part of the Netherlands until Belgium separated itself and became an independent country, and since then the land has looked like this… well almost as the Flevopolder (the big island in the big “water bay” (which used to be “Zuiderzee” but is now “IJsselmeer”) in the middle) was artifically added to the land later. Belgium lies to the South and Germany to the East.

Now what is the difference between Holland and the Netherlands you wonder. Well this map shows it:

The amber part (or dark yellow if you please) of this map marks Holland. Yes, that’s only a part of it. And it’s not even half of the country.

The Netherlands got its name due to it being lower than the sea level. “Neder” means “low” in ancient Dutch (nobody speaks that, anymore). So “Nederlanden”, as the country used to be called, means “Low Lands”. The English name “Netherlands” comes from that. In Dutch the name was been simplified to “Nederland”.

Now contrary to popular believe the name Holland does not come from it being “The Hollow Land” or “Het Holle Land” as that would be in Dutch. Holland became great thanks to its wood and “Holt” means “wood” in ancient Dutch, but since not a single soul uses that word anymore (as in modern Dutch it’s “hout”), not many people know this. So basically “Holland” means “Wood land”.

What is true is that Holland might be the most crowded part of the Netherlands, both in locals as tourists. Most tourists hardly see any other part of the country than Holland. And Amsterdam is located in Holland, and that doesn’t really help. Nice to note is that Amsterdam is NOT the capital of Holland. It’s the capital of the Netherlands as a whole. Holland has two capitals. The Hague for South-Holland and Haarlem of North-Holland.

The Netherlands is now divided in 12 provinces, and they do have some political power. It’s not like the United States where every state is basically a country on its own, but still they do have some power. These are:

1. Noord-Holland (cap. Haarlem) (North-Holland)

2. Zuid-Holland (cap. The Hague) (Zuid-Holland)

3. Zeeland (cap. Middelburg) (Yes, the country New-Zealand was named after this province).

4. Friesland (cap. Leeuwarden)

5. Flevoland (cap: Lelystad)

6. Utrecht (cap: Utrecht)

7. Noord-Brabant (cap. ‘s-Hertogenbosch)

8. Groningen (cap. Groningen)

9. Drenthe (cap. Assen)

10. Overijssel (cap. Zwolle)

11. Gelderland (cap. Arnhem)

12. Limburg (cap. Maastricht)

Noord- and Zuid-Holland were two different provinces because they were afraid that because Holland was the biggest area that would become a province that they would have too much power, and thus split in two.

Now in which part do you think I live. I made a hint about that in Star Story. If you play that game and take a look above Wendicka’s bed, you will see a flag, to which Wendicka feels some binding, although she doesn’t know what flag it is. It’s the flag of Noord-Brabant, and that’s where I am from.

The popularity of the name “Holland” over “The Netherlands” is most likely due to when the VOC was at the peak of its success much of the trade the VOC took part in was done from Holland. The “Randstad” which is a collectional name of the big cities of the Netherlands are most of all located in Holland, and most tourists only visit Amsterdam which is also in Holland (Noord-Holland to be exact). The rest of the country is therefore also feeling a bit “less-important”. We can notice that in how the national politics treat us sometimes, to be honest.

Now in Noord-Brabant, people are divided about the name “Holland” being acceptable or not. But that’s not the case in the entire country. Friesland is most of all known for considering being part of the Netherlands rather a political thing only, and would rather be treated as an independent country, and they even have their own language. The phrase “Fryslan, boppe en Hollan in de groppe”, is very well-known, and it means “Friesland, hurray and Holland into the ditch”. And the ditches in Friesland are rather wide and deep. Their local tradition Fierljeppen shows just how big. When Friesland became part of the Netherlands, some people from Holland are said to be literally thrown into the ditches to make clear they were not welcome. I could never confirm that story to be true, but if it is, it tells something about they much value they put into this.

Now some languages deem the name “Holland” official. Truth is those languages are in error, or that nearly all of its native speakers are just lazy.

I don’t have anything against Holland. My ex-wife is from Holland, and yes I know she’s my ex, but if I had something against Holland I wouldn’t have married her in the first place. :P But I also have nothing against Germans, but that doesn’t make me German either. And let’s be frank, a lot of people in the UK are not happy to be called “English” or when people say “England” when they mean the UK as a whole. Scotland is not England and neither is Wales. But they are part of the UK, just like England. Holland is no different from that perspective (although the political powers of Wales and Scotland are greater than the Dutch provinces have, but still!).

It’s actually a laugh that a guy from the U.S. once told me that people in Europe have no sense of identity and yet he tried to make me accept that I am from Holland, so he was oppressing me a false identity and went berserk when I told him that Holland is the same as the Netherlands. So he scolded me for having no sense of identity and went berserk when I proved him wrong. Sheesh, whatever you do, you never do it right, eh?

And so far my geography lesson for today!