Dutch people

For information on the population of the Netherlands, see Demographics of the Netherlands.

The Dutch

• Dutch girls in traditional Dutch costumes (1920s)•
Regions with significant populations
Netherlands	13,186,600 (Ethnic Dutch) 472,600 (Dutch Eurasians)
Belgium	121,489, of which 59,000 in the border region (Not including Flemings)
United States	5,087,191 (110,000)
South Africa	est. 5,000,000 (45,000)
Canada	923,310 (120,000)
Australia	est. 270,000 (85,000)
Germany	est. 164,000, of which 41,000 in the border region
New Zealand	est. 100,000 (25,000)
France	est. 83,000 (30,000)
Sri Lanka	40,000 (Burgher people)
United Kingdom	40,000
Switzerland	16,143
Languages
Dutch Main languages of Dutch emigrants: English and Afrikaans.
Religion
(In alphabetical order) Agnosticism, Atheism, Protestant (mostly Calvinist), Roman Catholic, other.
Related ethnic groups
(In alphabetical order) Afrikaners, Flemings, Frisians.

The Dutch people (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group forming the majority of the population in the Netherlands. Historically the Dutch chiefly lived in the Low Countries and Northern France but since the 12th century have migrated all over the world.

They predominantly descend from various Germanic tribes, and speak a Germanic language: Dutch.

The region now known as the Netherlands has been permanently inhabited since Neolithic times. Nevertheless the Dutch mainly descend from 7th-century immigrants, the Franks who arrived and settled in the Low Countries during the migration period. They arose from relative obscurity when the former Burgundian Netherlands, for political, religious, and cultural reasons, revolted against Europe's most powerful nation, Habsburg Spain, in what became a struggle for independence lasting eighty years (1568-1648).

The Dutch emerged victorious and established the first independent Dutch state in history: the Dutch Republic, which would soon manifest itself as one of Europe's Great Powers and have complete naval dominance for nearly a century.

During the age of Imperialism the Dutch Empire controlled 3.7 million km² of the earth's surface and had a total of 80,000,000 inhabitants in 1940.

Today, Dutchmen and their descendants can be found all over the world, most notably in Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa and Oceania. Ranging from (near) completely assimilated to isolated communities.

Etymology

Dutch (Diets)

Further information: Dietsch

The origins of the word "Dutch" go back to Proto-Germanic, the ancestor of all Germanic languages, "*theudo" (meaning national/popular); akin to Old Dutch "dietsc", Old High German "diutsch", Old English "þeodisc" and Gothic "þiuda" all meaning "(of) the common (Germanic) people". As the tribes among the Germanic peoples began to differentiate its meaning began to change. The Anglo-Saxons of England for example gradually stopped referring to themselves as "þeodisc" and instead started to use "Englisc", after their tribe. On the continent the situation was different, and "*theudo" evolved into two main forms: "Diets" (Dutch meaning "Dutch (people)", alongside "Nederlanders") and "Deutsch" (German meaning "German (people)".) At first the English language used (the contemporary form of) "Dutch" to refer to any or all of the Germanic speakers on the European mainland. Gradually its meaning shifted to the closest Germanic people near them: the Dutch.

Nederlanders

"Nederlanders" is the endonym the Dutch use to refer to themselves. Until the Second World War it was used alongside "Diets", when the latter was dropped due to extensive use of the word by the German Nazi occupiers and Dutch fascists. The geographical term Nederland (and its plural "Nederlanden") originated in the early Middle Ages and was used to denote the low-lying lands situated in the delta of the river Rhine and its tributaries. In addition, "Low Countries" ("Lage Landen" in Dutch) is a commonly used name for the historical region of the Netherlands and Belgium taken together. Although not as old as "Diets", the term "Nederlands" has been in continuous use since 1250.

Although in English, the gentilic or demonym of "the Netherlands" is Dutch, not "Netherlander", when concerning adjectives (of "the Netherlands") "Netherlandic" and "Netherlandish" (for example as in Early Netherlandish art) are correct, but far surpased by "Dutch" in both daily and official use.

Dutch ethnicity

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. Ethnic groups are also often united by common cultural, behavioural, linguistic, ritualistic, or religious traits. The defining characteristics of the Dutch as an ethnic group (although no longer as obvious as before) are:

• Religion: Although a single religion no longer plays a dominant role in the Netherlands, Dutch society is nevertheless influenced by Christian tradition which is imminent in the landscape dominated by Church towers, Christian holidays (Christmas, Easter, Ascension), several biblical proverbs and sayings. A recent revival of Christian ideology is also apparent in Dutch politics where Christian parties form the majority of the current cabinet.
• Language: The Dutch share a common language, Dutch.
• Culture: The Dutch culture is a north-western European culture, be it with quite a few unique elements. Dutch customs are also different from other European countries.
• Ancestry: The main specific ancestry of the Dutch are the Franks, a migratory Germanic people (themselves an alliance of a number of smaller tribes) who arrived, and settled, in the Low Countries during the collapse of the Roman Empire, and the migration period.

Terminology

The Term"Dutch" can reflect different definitions, which are listed below.
In this article only the latter 2 definition will be used, as this article only concerns the Dutch as an ethnic group and Dutch ethnicity.

1. It can refer to the entire population of the (country) the Netherlands. Note that the Kingdom of the Netherlands includes certain Caribbean islands with an ethnically distinct population, and they may or may not be included in the population of the country and hence in the term "Nederlanders".
2. It can refer to those with Dutch nationality and citizenship (which is essentially the same under Dutch law). Thus in nationality law, the term Nederlander denotes a citizen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and can hence also include persons with clearly non-Dutch ethnicity.
3. It can refer to the Dutch nation.
4. It can refer to the Dutch ethnic group.
5. It can refer to descendants of Dutch emigrants. (for example Dutch-American")

^{(Note that the Pennsylvania Dutch do not fall into this category, the term is a misnomer for a minority of German ancestry)}

Total number of Dutch

The Dutch are a relatively small ethnic group, making up about 0,4% of the world, and 1,9% of the European population. (2,8% of the European Union is ethnically Dutch)

In the narrowest sense the total number of ethnic Dutch is about 14 to 15 million people. In this sense only people with full Dutch ancestry are counted. The number of people outside the Netherlands, mostly post 1950 emigrants and their children, with full Dutch ancestry is roughly 1,600,000 to 2,000,000.

First-generation emigrants with Dutch nationality are officially treated as Dutch, resident overseas. The children of two Dutch-born emigrant parents are defined by Statistics Netherlands as "autochtoon". This means that the children of the Dutch immigrants to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, who left the Netherlands after the Second World War (often while still in their twenties) are considered autochthone, even if they do not have Dutch nationality (they may qualify for it).

In a broader sense the number of Dutch people is much higher. This is when for example people with partial Dutch ancestry are included. This way the number of Dutch totals at around 25 million people.

Ethnogenesis

See also: Germanic peoples

The Dutch nation was defined in the middle of the 19th century, when the current state of the Netherlands emerged after the secession of Belgium, thus also the Dutch-speaking Belgians. This however, did not coincide with the Dutch ethnic group, which had long since emerged.

The Dutch republic for example was the first truly independent Dutch state, before its establishment there had been various personal unions between a number, and in the end all, Dutch fiefs/provinces.

The exact date when the Dutch emerged as a new ethnic group is, like with most other ethnic groups, difficult to determine. The Franks arived in the Northern and Central Low Countries around the 3rd and 4th century AD (after the retreat of Roman troops) and started the development of a people later known as the Dutch. The Dutch language was spoken and attested around 450 AD, and emerged from Old Frankish. The people who spoke the language did speak Dutch, but they would most likely be classified as being Franks today.

The cultural and linguistic distance between the modern Germanic peoples is rather large. Although in the beginning the Germanic tribes were united by mutual intelligible dialects (and a more or less single mythology), today, of about 50 related Germanic languages, only Afrikaans (a Dutch semi-creol mainly spoken by the Afrikaners, partly the descendants of Dutch colonists) is mutually intelligible with Dutch.

The Flemish once were, and sometimes still are, regarded as "Dutch". It is however inaccurate to view the Flemish as a Dutch offshoot. A more accurate view would be to consider the modern Dutch and Flemish as having been a single people which subsequently (due to all kinds of factors) split. When this exact split occurred is open to debate (as is, in some circles, the split itself). Some claim it began when the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of Münster, thus creating essentially the first political division between the Northern and Southern Dutch, while others say it wasn't until the start of the Flemish movement at the beginning of the 20th century.

The situation in Belgium itself was/is very vague. Until 1980, for example, the "Flemish community" was called the "Nederlandse Cultuurgemeenschap" (Dutch: [The] Dutch cultural community) and there are people who deny the existence of the Flemish as an ethnic group, and refer to them as Dutch-speaking Belgians instead.

Epic ancestry

The Batavians swear allegiance to Gaius Julius Civilis, by Rembrandt.

The Batavians were a relatively small Germanic tribe, allied to the Roman Empire and romanized, who between 69 and 70 rebelled against Rome. The rebels led by Gaius Julius Civilis managed to destroy four legions and inflict humiliating defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis eventually defeated them.

From the 16th century until the early 20th century, the Batavians were falsely regarded as the sole ancestors of the Dutch. Dutch intellectuals saw a parallel between the Dutch revolt against Spain and the Batavian revolt against the Roman Empire. As a result a number of things related to the Dutch are and were named after this tribe. Some examples include:

• "Lingua Batava", a Latin term for the Dutch language.
• "Batavia", the colonial capital of the Dutch East Indies, established in the 16th century, now Jakarta, Indonesia.
• The Netherlands were briefly (1795 - 1806) known as the "Batavian Republic", a republic modeled after the French Republic.

Modern historians view the Batavians as a minor contributor and historical sources indicate the Batavians most likely joined the much larger tribe of the Franks when they arrived in the Low Countries.

Genetics and appearance

The Dutch descend from groups of people who settled in Europe during the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. These people originated in what is now the Middle East and brought with them a distinct set of Y chromosomal and mitochondrial haplotypes as well as Indo-European languages, agriculture and pottery. Hence the Dutch share a lot of their genetics with other European people; nevertheless there are some mutations that arose among the Dutch. The percentages of hair colour for the Dutch population are 43% brown, and 40% blonde hair and 17% other (note that this includes non-western ethnic minorities so the actual percentages of blond or brown hair for the Dutch ethnic group are likely to be higher) Generally the Dutch are described as being very tall, and they are indeed among the tallest people on earth, but this is a relatively recent development. It was only in the 1950s that the Dutch passed Americans, who stood tallest for most of the last 200 years. In fact, in 1848, one man out of four was rejected by the Dutch military because he was shorter than 5-foot-2 (157 cm).

Related ethno-linguistic groups

Flemings

Main articles: Flanders and Flemings.

The relation between the Dutch and Flemings is a complicated one. For example in Napoleonic times, the inhabitants of the southern Netherlands (previously Austrian Netherlands) considered themselves to be 'Belgians' (Belgae), which in contemporary Latin meant 'Dutch' The existence of "Flemings" as an ethnic group, is itself debated, and the idea of a Flemish nation or ethnic group is itself fairly recent.

The Belgian Revolution of 1830 followed an unusual alliance of ultramontanist Catholic clergy and the new liberal movement. Both opposed, for their own reasons, William I of the Netherlands and his policies in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The North and South had conflicting economic interests, the North was over-represented in public administration, and French speakers, including the Francophone Flemish elite, resented the introduction of Dutch as language of government. After Belgian independence, the language problem was reversed: a Francophone state disadvantaged Dutch speakers, a major factor in the rise of the Flemish movement. From 1830 (the start of the revolution) till 1873, the Dutch language was unrecognised, even though the majority of Belgium’s inhabitants spoke it.

Linguistically the dialects of Dutch spoken in Belgium are all cross-border dialects which means that these dialects are also spoken in the Netherlands. As for religion Flanders, despite the fact that in the 16th century Protestantism first arrived in the Low Countries in Western Flanders, is almost completely Catholic. The southern parts of the Netherlands are also overwhelmingly catholic. Catholicism itself is the largest religion in the Netherlands today.

The Dutch and Flemings have experienced a separate political development since the Dutch Revolt, with the exception of the short-lived United Kingdom of the Netherlands. As a result of this the Flemish people are generally not regarded as identical nowadays, and most Dutch people see them as a separate ethnic group. At the same time however, the Dutch and Flemish see themselves as the most similar people, and some institutions see "Fleming" as an alternative term for "Dutch".

Some people even support a re-unification of Flanders and the Netherlands, though they form a minority; it is not a political issue in the Netherlands and the sentiment is strongest within the right wing of Flemish politics.

Afrikaners

Main article: Afrikaners

See also: Afrikaans

The Afrikaners are an South African and Namibian ethnic group mainly (though not exclusively) originating from Dutch immigrants, much in the same way as Dutch Americans, Dutch Australians or Dutch Canadians do. There is however one major difference. The Dutch emigrants and, more importantly, their descendants in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, have adopted English as their first language, while Afrikaners speak a creolized version of the Dutch language. Their language, Afrikaans, is mutually intelligible with Dutch and it was hence easier to maintain cultural bands between the two, now separate, groups.

Until the early 20th century, at the time of the First and Second Boer Wars, there was a strong sense of unity, this has gradually faded. Most Afrikaners acknowledge that they (predominantly) descend from Dutch people, but they generally do not consider themselves to be ethnic Dutch, and they may not be considered 'Dutch' in the Netherlands itself.

Frisians

Main article: Frisians

See also: Frisian language

Frisian may refer to an ethnic group, a regional or cultural identity, to inhabitants of the Province of Friesland, or to speakers of the Frisian language. Frisia was a county that was relatively uninvolved with Guelders, Utrecht, Holland, Zeeland and Flanders until the early Middle Ages. However, after a series of wars (often followed by revolts) between the Dutch fiefs and the Frisians they were eventually defeated. From the 1400s onwards Hollandic government and civil servants were installed and from then the fortunes of Friesland are intertwined with those of the present-day Netherlands.

Though many Frisians speak the Frisian language, which is not a Dutch dialect but a historically separate language and have (to some degree) a separate culture they are not treated as a separate group in Dutch official statistics. In this way Frisians can both be both 'Dutch' and Frisians.

Ethnic nationalism

Main articles Greater Netherlands, Heel-Nederland and Orangism.

There has been some call for a "Greater Netherlands", combining the Dutch-speaking regions in Belgium with the Netherlands, since the late 19th century. This wish was voiced by Dutch, and especially Belgian, fascists during the 1930s, but the occupation of Belgium and the Netherlands by Nazi Germany brought no major border changes.

The Belgian revolution, domination by a Francophone elite, and structural disadvantage for Dutch-speaking Belgians led, at the end of the 19th century, to an oppositional "Flemish" (ie. Dutch-speaking Belgian) cultural movement, which soon politicised. It revived interest in the idea of reunification - at present in the form of unity between the Netherlands and Flanders, rather than a recreation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Support for the idea has varied: at present no political party represented in the Dutch parliament actively supports it. In Flanders, there are several parties who openly strive for independence (such as the N-VA, Vlaams Belang, VLOTT and Lijst Dedecker), but none of them actively support or reject an union with the Netherlands. Support for the break-up of Belgium is less strong in Wallonia, as Flanders financially much stronger and independent, and there is no major political support there for unification with France. An obstacle to any break-up of Belgium is that both groups claim the capital Brussels, historically a Dutch-speaking and culturally Flemish city, currently near 80% Francophone, although officially bilingual.

Dutch diaspora

Main article: Dutch diaspora

Emigrants from the Netherlands since the Second World War went mainly to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and until the 1970s to South Africa, and Dutch immigrants can be found in most developed countries. In several former Dutch colonies and trading settlements, there are ethnic groups of partial Dutch ancestry.

The Dutch in Asia

The "Dutch" Monkey.

Main articles: Deshima, Dutch Malacca, Taiwan under Dutch rule, and Dutch East Indies

The Dutch have had a profound effect on the history of South East Asia, Taiwan and Japan; the Dutch settlement on Deshima provided for centuries the only means of cultural exchange between Japan and European civilization, and indeed most of the outside world. In many cases the Dutch were the first Europeans the natives would encounter. As a result there has been some considerable ethnic stereotyping. The Japanese described the Dutch as red-haired barbarians and in Malay, the language of the former Dutch East Indies, the name for the Long-nosed Monkey literally translates as "Dutchman", as in Eastern Asian eyes the noses of Europeans were exceedingly large.

Descendants

Main article: Indo (Eurasian)

After the Indonesian Revolution, most Dutch were either evacuated or evicted from Indonesia. Ever since the earliest days of the VOC several waves of mainly Dutch males decided to stay in the islands now known as Indonesia. Through the centuries of Dutch presence a relatively large Dutch speaking Eurasian population developed that is known as Indos or Indo-Europeans. Nowadays the majority of this group lives in the Netherlands.

The Dutch in the Western Hemisphere

File:Dutch2000.png

Percentage of Dutch Americans per U.S. county according to the 2002 U.S. Census.

United States

Main article: Dutch Americans

The Dutch had settled in America long before the establishment of the United States of America. For a long time the Dutch lived in Dutch colonies, owned and regulated by the Dutch Republic, which later became part of the Thirteen Colonies. Nevertheless, many Dutch communities remained virtually isolated towards the rest of America up until the American Civil War, in which the Dutch fought for the North and adopted many American ways.

Most future waves of Dutch immigrants were quickly assimilated. There have been three American presidents of Dutch descent: Martin van Buren (8th, first president who was not of British descent, first language was Dutch), Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd, elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms) and Theodore Roosevelt (26th).

Canada

File:Dutch-Americans.jpg

A Dutch family in New York ^(c.1880)

Main article: Dutch Canadians

According to the 2001 Canadian census 923,310 Canadians claim full or partial Dutch ancestry.

The first Dutch people to come to Canada were Dutch-Americans among the United Empire Loyalists. The largest wave was in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when large numbers of Dutch helped settle the Canadian west. During this period significant numbers also settled in major cities like Toronto. While interrupted by the First World War this migration returned in the 1920s, but again halted during the Great Depression and Second World War. After the war a large number of Dutch immigrants moved to Canada, including a number of war brides of the Canadian soldiers who liberated the Netherlands.

History

Languages in and around the Low Countries in the 13th century AD.
Legend:

  Dutch.

  (West) Frisian.

  (High) German.

  French.

  Low Saxon.

The history of the Dutch, as of most European peoples, is complex and intertwined through migrations and shifting empires. In this section, a short overview of these issues in relation to the approximate area of the current Netherlands is sketched.

In the Roman Empire, the imperial boundary ran east-west through the present Netherlands, along the Rhine. Within the empire, tribal groups included the Belgae (whose name was adopted in 1830 for the new Kingdom of Belgium), and the Batavi (whose name was adopted for the Dutch Batavian Republic). After the Fall of the Roman Empire, by the end of the Migration Period, the Low Countries were inhabited by Frisians, Saxons and the Franks, a Germanic people first recorded living in Pannonia. Of these three groups, the Franks were most dominant, and would in fact conquer large areas of Europe in the subsequent centuries. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun divided the (Frankish) Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms for the three sons of Louis the Pious. The Low Countries became part of Middle Francia under Emperor Lothair I.

In 962, the Holy Roman Empire was established with the coronation of Otto the Great, extending from the Low Countries to Italy. The Holy Roman empire was a largely decentralised state and its authority within the low countries was never very strong. Later, semi-independent fiefdoms formed in the Low Countries; the most powerful being Brabant, Flanders, Guelders, Holland and Luxembourg. The first steps towards political unification of the Low Countries took place under the dukes of Burgundy (until 1473). The Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, issued by Charles V, established the Low Countries as an independent entity, the Seventeen Provinces with boundaries approximating to the present Benelux, as an entity separate from the Holy Roman Empire and France.

Although the Seventeen Provinces had become a political unity, there were still great regional differences. The eastern (e.g., Guelders and Liege) and southern provinces (Artois) were less densely populated and agrarian. These provinces were also partially oriented towards their (German or French) neighbours. A division between North and South was not foreseeable at the time. The primary contrast was between the rich urbanised coastal provinces (Flanders, Zealand and Holland), and the less developed peripheral domains.

As the Reformation gained influence in Europe, Calvinism became very influential in the Seventeen Provinces, including Artesia and Flanders, the base of the Spanish governors. When Catholic Habsburg Spain turned to repressive policies, this added to general dissatisfaction in the Seventeen Provinces. In 1566, a wave of iconoclastic attacks on Catholic churches began what is now known as the Dutch Revolt. During the succeeding rebellion, the Spanish forces managed to re-establish their power in the southern provinces. In the north, the Dutch Republic emerged, defining for the first time an independent Dutch nation. The economic golden age, and spread of Calvinism, redefined "the Dutchman" across Europe a "Hollander" rather than a "Fleming" as had previously been the case.

As the Spanish forces reconquered the Southern cities (in present-day Belgium), of which the fall of Antwerp in 1585 was most notable, many Calvinists, including much of the local economic and cultural elites, fled north. The Southern Netherlands remained under Spanish rule, and remained almost entirely Catholic. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia recognised the de facto geopolitical division of the former Seventeen provinces. The Dutch Republic prospered and created the trade-based Dutch Empire overseas, while the Southern Netherlands had lost their leading economic role in Europe. In the 18th century, the power of the Dutch republic started to diminish.

After a short lived existence as the Batavian Republic supported by French revolutionaries, and as the vassal state Kingdom of Holland, the Low Countries were for a short time (1810-1813), annexed by the French Empire. At this time, the English occupied the Dutch colonial possessions. Except for the Cape Colony (South Africa) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the colonial possessions were returned after Napoleon had been defeated. The lasting division between the Dutch and the Boers (who were Dutch settlers in South Africa) started here. When France was defeated in 1814 and again after the Hundred Days Campaign in 1815, the winning coalition, created the United Kingdom of the Netherlands comprising of the Northern and the Southern Netherlands at the Congress of Vienna. The new state, intended to act as a semi-buffer state between France and Prussia, proved to be unworkable; not only did it include different ethnic and linguistic groups (Walloons, Germans and Dutch), the state was also divided by cultural, religious, and internal economic differences. In 1830, the southern provinces declared their independence in the Belgian revolution. In 1839, the independence of Belgium was recognised by the northern Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the resolution of the status of Luxembourg in 1890, the three states acquired most of their present boundaries. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy.

Influence on the world

A map showing the territory that the Dutch held at various points in history.

Further information: Dutch Empire

Although comparatively small in numbers, the Dutch have definitely made their mark on the world, as we know it today. The Dutch Republic was an economic and military power during much of the 17th century, and involved in many conflicts of the time, such as the Anglo-Dutch Wars.The economy was carried by private enterprises, for the first time on that scale and the Dutch East India Company issued the first freely tradable stock, one of the cornerstones of modern economy.

Dutch colonialism still influences the lives of many today. Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans such as the Dutch began to establish trading posts and forts along the coasts of western and southern Africa. Eventually, a large number of Dutch, augmented by French Huguenots and Germans, settled in the Cape Colony. Their descendants in South Africa, the Afrikaners and the Coloureds, are the largest European-descended groups in Africa today, see Demographics of Africa. The Dutch also controlled what is now known as Indonesia, and waged various wars against its native inhabitants in a series conflicts raging from the early 16th to the late 20th century. The area surrounding New York was a Dutch colony and in fact many street names and geographical locations still bear Dutch (though Anglicised) names, see Legacy of the Dutch in New York for more information.

Contribution to humanity

Further information: List of Dutch people

A significant number of painters and philosophers are Dutch, despite its small population. Remarkable persons include painters like Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Vermeer, and philosophers like Spinoza, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Hugo Grotius as well as various poets and writers such as Pieter Hooft, Joost van den Vondel and Anne Frank and scientists like Christiaan Huygens also made their mark on how we today view the world. The Netherlands were arguably the first nation state of the world and the first republic in modern Europe. During the early 17th century, the economic reforms, empire and ideas made the Netherlands one of the world's richest countries and the first thoroughly capitalist country.

Culture and identity

Main article: Dutch culture

Dutch culture is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as foreign influences thanks to the merchant and exploring spirit of the Dutch. The Netherlands and Dutch people have played an important role for centuries as a cultural center, with the Dutch Golden Age regarded as the zenith. During the 20th century Dutch architects played a leading role in the development of modern architecture, and Dutch painters like Rembrandt and Van Gogh are world renowned.

The Dutch people and their culture were historically influenced by the culture of neighbouring regions. France played a substantial role in the history of the Netherlands in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, and there are resulting cultural influences. Cultural contacts with Scandinavia were, and are, much less influential. English-speaking cultural influences are predominant since the Second World war. The Dutch also were influenced by their colonies, most notably Indonesia.

The Greater Netherlands.

The Dutch and the Flemish share the same language. The present state border between the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium does not coincide with any linguistic or dialectal boundary. In the Province of Limburg, the Netherlands border with Wallonia coincides, in places, with the Dutch-French linguistic boundary.

After the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch and people now known as Flemings (who live in Northern Belgium) began to slowly diverge, this diverging would prove to be a contributing factor to the dissolving of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Nevertheless they share a sense of being closely related, as the only two Dutch-speaking societies in Europe. They share a language and have a similar culture. There are some differences: although Calvinism was originally strongest in Flanders, it remained under Spanish control after the Dutch Revolt, and remained overwhelmingly Catholic. (So did the southern part of the modern Netherlands, which was incorporated later into the Dutch Republic, but its culture was not dominant within the Netherlands).

The Frisian people, who speak their own language and today live mainly in Friesland (a province of the Netherlands), have had some influence on Dutch culture, especially in the northern parts of the province of North Holland proper; also named West Frisia.

Religion

Also see: History of religion in the Netherlands

Predominant religion in the Netherlands before the rise of secularism and the arrival of immigrant faiths. Red: Catholicism, Green: Protestantism.

The Dutch population can be separated into two main religious groups: Roman Catholics and Protestants. During and after the Dutch revolt against Spain, Protestantism became the dominant religion in most of the country. The provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the region of Twente, however, remained predominantly Catholic.

At 30 percent of the population, Catholics form the largest religious group today. Meanwhile, the Dutch belong to many separate Protestant churches, the largest of which are the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormd) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Gereformeerd), although in 2004 these merged to form the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the different religious groups were living completely separately from each other, and from the newly emerging socialist labour movement. These sub-societies were a form of horizontal stratification: people lived and married within their own communities, and the pillars had their own schools and universities, media (newspapers, magazines and radio broadcasting associations), sport clubs, shops, hospitals, unions and political parties. This intense social fragmentation was called verzuiling and led to significant tension within Dutch political life. Pillarisation is described in detail in Arend Lijphart's seminal work on consociationalism, The Politics of Accommodation.

After peaking in influence in the 1950s, the social system of pillarisation started to crumble in the early 1960s during the Dutch postmaterialist revolution, due to secularisation, individualism, consumerism, counter-culture, rising living standards, the emergence of mass media (especially television), increased social and geographical mobility, and agitation by movements such as Provo, D66 and Nieuw Links.

A 2004 study conducted by Statistics Netherlands shows that 50% of the population claim to belong to a Christian denomination, 9% to other denominations and 42% to none. In the same study 19% of the people claim go to church at least once a month, another 9% less than once a month, 72% hardly ever or never. There is a small Jewish community of some 40,000 people, mostly in the larger cities. The only religion that has been growing in recent decades is Islam. This is mostly in areas where Turkish and Moroccan immigrant communities have formed.

People of Dutch ancestry in the United States are generally more religious than their European counterparts [9]; the numerous Dutch communities of western Michigan remain strongholds of the Reformed Church in America, a descendant of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Sports

There are a number of sports which the Dutch possibly invented or Dutch claim to have invented, which then spread worldwide, examples include ice hockey and golf. Apart from these worldwide sports there are also a number of local Dutch sports such as polsstokverspringen, kaatsen, klootschieten, kolven and korfbal.

The most popular sports, both for active participation and audience are Football (Soccer), Cycling, Speed skating, (Field, not ice) Hockey and Tennis.

Traditions of government

The earliest more or less exclusively Dutch politically entity, the Dutch republic, was a confederation of Dutch states and was led by their representatives, the Grand Pensionary (the de facto political leader of the Dutch Republic) and the Stadholder (a descendant of William of Orange) who acted as the Dutch supreme military commander. This system was eventually overthrown in the Batavian Revolution, inspired by the French revolution, in which the Stadholder fled to Britain and the revolutionaries established the Batavian Republic in 1795, which was a more centralised unitary state, not a loose confederation of (at least nominally) independent provinces. The Batavian Republic was actually a vassal state of France, which wanted to tighten its grip by establishing the Kingdom of Holland in 1806 with Napoleon's brother Louis Bonaparte as head of state, and finally by annexation in 1810 for a period of 3 years, until Napoleon was defeated. An independent Dutch state was put back on the map at the Congress of Vienna, comprising of the northern and southern Netherlands for the first time ever, as an independent monarchy, with strong monarchial powers. When the revolutions of 1848 swept across Europe, the King conceded a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary control, which it has been until this day.

Dutch language

Main article: Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 22 million people, mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Surinam. The language was first attested around 470 AD. Dutch is an official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch, Flemish and Surinamese governments coordinate their language activities in the Nederlandse Taalunie ('Dutch Language Union'). Dutch was an official language in South Africa up until 1961, having fallen into disuse since Afrikaans (itself a descendant of Dutch) became an official language in 1925. The Dutch immigrants of the 20th century often quickly began to speak the language of their new country. For example of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 0.7% say their home language is Dutch despite the percentage of Dutch heritage, is considerably higher.

Algemeen Nederlands ('Common Dutch', abbreviated to AN) is the standard language as taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch Language Union defines what is AN and what is not, for example in terms of orthography.

Dutch names

Main article: Dutch name

In Dutch society a given name is given to a child by the parents shortly after, or before, birth. It is common to give a child several given names, particularly among Catholics, but only one of them is meant to be for daily use. This is often underlined on official documents, as it is often the second or third christian or a different name not even related to the Christian names. Dutch surnames are easily recognisable, mainly because of tussenvoegsels such as van, van der or de. In the United States, partly due to the fame of rich industrials such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dutch surnames are often associated with the upperclass of society even though when translated the surnames are often very simplistic. For example, Vanderbilt means "(coming) from De Bilt", De Bilt being a small village in the province of Utrecht. Unlike what is sometimes thought, Dutch van does not denote aristocratic status.

The image of the Dutch

Oranjegekte in the Netherlands

Symbols

Stereotype "Dutch" symbols such as wooden shoes, tulips, cheese and windmills, are not considered thé symbols of the Dutch by the Dutch themselves, but reflect a popular image of the Netherlands and the Dutch. The Dutch have standard national symbols, including the Dutch flag and the "national colour" orange (used for the national team in sports). The red, white and blue flag is the oldest tricolour in continuous use until today. Orange is the symbolic colour of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau. Another symbol of the Dutch is Het Wilhelmus, the Dutch anthem is considered as the world's oldest anthem in use. The form of the song is that of an apologetic statement by William I of Orange-Nassau, leader of the Dutch revolt against Spain.

Self-image

The Dutch self-image differs considerably from the image(s) other people have of them (see section below). The Dutch often profess that they greatly value hygiene, are thrifty, have an excellent feel for business, are good at foreign languages and have an ability to coexist with others. The Dutch take pride in their tolerance and flexibility, and are generally modest people. According to the Xenophobe's Guide, perceived negative characteristics are a secret mistrust of foreigners and a distaste of alien cuisine. Traditionally, the Dutch are also a nation of preachers, and it is common to (deprecatingly) speak of "the preacher's wagging finger" (Dutch "het opgeheven vingertje van de dominee") as a typically Dutch trait, especially when referring to the moralising tone that is seen by many as characteristic of Dutch foreign politics.

Dutch image worldwide

File:Frau Antje Der Spiegel.jpg

Traditional costumes, tulips, clogs and windmills combined with drugs and pollution. German caricature of the Dutch by Sebastian Krüger.

Many nations regard the Dutch as being organized and efficient, but harmless at the same time due to the stereotypical mental picture of "a nation of rosy-cheeked farmers who live in windmills, wear clogs, have a garden full of tulips and sit on piles of yellow cheese". Apart from the more or less touristy image described above, the Dutch also have a reputation for being opinionated, stubborn and incurably mean. Belgians even consider them to be downright devious in business affairs. Dutch frankness completely overwhelms more reticent peoples such as the Japanese who consider the Dutch to be the most arrogant of all the Europeans they do business with, but at the same time are impressed by their reputation as formidable merchants. "Where a Dutchman has passed, not even the grass grows anymore" a Japanese saying goes. English people survey the Dutch with guarded approval, as the closest any "continentals" will come to the sacred state of being English. It wasn't always like this. At the time of the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century these two nations were at each other’s throats. An English pamphlet raged: "A Dutchman is a Lusty, Fat, Two-legged Cheese worm. A Creature that is so addicted to eating butter, drinking fat, and sliding (skating) that all the world knows him for a slippery fellow". At this time the English language gained a whole array of new insults such as "Dutch courage" (booze-induced bravery), "Dutch comfort" ("Things could be worse") and "Dutch gold" (alloy resembling gold). Others include:

"Double Dutch" (gibberish) "Dutch cap" (contraceptive diaphragm) "Dutch wife" (prostitute; sex doll) "Dutch widow" (prostitute) "Dutch uncle" (harsh admonisher)

"Dutch metal" (fake gold leaf or fake gold) "Dutch treat" (social date where the invitee pays for themselves) "Dutch concert" (noise and uproar, as from a drunken crowd) "Dutch-bottomed" (empty)

These terms also gained prominence in 17th century New England during their rivalry with New Holland which was captured (and later recaptured by the Dutch) during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

The Dutch in popular culture

Dutch people generally appear in popular culture in two completely distinct ways. The traditional Dutch image (people in national dress, wearing clogs, having blond hair and blue eyes, standing in front of wide, flat landscapes covered with tulips and windmills in the background) and the more recent, and mostly negative, image of non-religious drug addicts, who legalized prostitution, marihuana, abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage.

None of these stereotypical images are correct. Dutch people only wear traditional costumes on very special occasions in certain parts of the country or to entertain tourists. Clogs, or wooden shoes, are not usually worn in public life (although clogs can be seen in public in some smaller towns) but are still used for gardening and in farming. The drug and value related stereotypes of the Dutch are relatively recent, from around 1985. The Dutch laws no longer establish drug use and small scale sales of some drugs as a criminal act, which created the widespread stereotype that the Netherlands are a drug-based society, especially in the Western Hemisphere.

Dutch views on others

The Dutch tend to judge foreign cultures using the standards and values they hold dear. Traditionally, the socio-political climate in the Netherlands has been one of collaboration and working towards compromises. Accordingly, cultures with different standards are often considered unsympathetic.

In comparison to many other cultures, the Dutch are rather reserved in public and do not often touch each other or display anger or extreme exuberance. This is why people and cultures who display these "vices", for example those living around the Mediterranean Sea, are regarded as being too emotional. In Dutch society, extravagantly flaunting ones emotions (whether positive or negative) is easily seen as an 'act'. It's neatly illustrated by the Dutch proverb "Doe maar gewoon dan doe je al gek genoeg" (Just act normal, you'll be crazy enough already).

The ethnic stereotype of the Dutch in an 19th century British children's book: "A peep around the World".

After centuries of close commercial, military, cultural and religious relations between the Netherlands and the British Isles, the Dutch have a generally positive opinion of the British. Anglophone television programmes and English literature are popular and held in high regard, and English is widely spoken. Americans are typically also thought to be principally "good" people, though somewhat uneducated, unsophisticated and badly guided by their politicians.

For many years, most recently since WWII, a strong animosity exists towards Germans. They are said to be rude, arrogant, noisy and intolerant and in fact most other antonyms of characteristics the Dutch pride themselves on. For many Dutch people it is not a question of "why" they dislike Germans, they just do. According to The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch, "Telling a Dutch person that their language seems very similar to German is unlikely to benefit your relationship." It humorously adds: "Remarking that the two nations are similar in many ways will probably get you thrown out of the house." In recent years, however, the attitude towards German people has become more positive.

The Germans seem to be generally unaware of the way they are stereotyped by their neighbours and often think it is merely a soccer phenomenon, as this is when the anti-German feelings are most visible. The Dutch and Germans have had fierce soccer rivalry ever since the Second World War, even though the post war rivalry on Germany's side is actually a reaction on the behaviour displayed by the Dutch.

Belgians have an entirely different image. They feature prominently in Dutch jokes in which they are typically portrayed as stupid and uneducated. This is however commonly accepted to be a fictional stereotype, originating at the time of the Belgian Revolution, in which the Flemish and Walloons seceded from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Most, if not all, Dutch people consider the Belgians to be the closest related people. It should however be noted that the Dutch, when they speak of Belgians, nearly always mean the Flemish (the Dutch speaking inhabitants of Belgium) rather than the Walloons.

Literature

• Voor wie Nederland en Vlaanderen will leren kennen. By J. Wilmots and J. De Rooij, 1978, Hasselt/Diepenbeek.

^{(Dutch: "For those who want to know about the Netherlands and Flanders")}

• Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden. By J.C.H. Blom et al.

^{(Dutch: "History of the Low Countries")}

• The Xenophobe's Guide to the Dutch. By Rodney Bolt. Oval Projects Ltd 1999, ISBN 190282525X
• The Dutch in America, 1609-1974. By Gerald Francis De Jong. Twayne Publishers 1975, ISBN 0805732144
• Handgeschreven wereld. Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur in de middeleeuwen. By D. Hogenelst and Frits van Oostrom, 1995, Amsterdam.

^{(Dutch: "A handwritten world. Dutch literature and culture in the Middle Ages.")}

• Dutch South Africa: early settlers at the Cape, 1652-1708. By John Hunt, Heather-Ann Campbell. Troubador Publishing Ltd 2005, ISBN 1904744958.
• The Undutchables, by White & Boucke, ISBN 1-888580-32-1.
• The Persistence of Ethnicity: Dutch Calvinist pioneers. By Rob Kroes. University of Illinois Press 1992, ISBN 0252019318
• Die Niederlande. Geschichte und Sprache der Nördlichen und Südlichen Niederlande. J.A Kossmann-Putto and E.H. Kossmann, 1993.

^{(German: "The Netherlands. History and language of the Northern and Southern Netherlands")}

See also

• Demographics of the Netherlands
• List of Dutch people
• Dutch customs and etiquette
• Netherlands diaspora