Dutch people

This article is about the Dutch as an ethnic group and a nation. 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
Belgium	121,489, of which 59,000 in border region
Germany	114,087, of which 41,000 in border areas
Canada	120,000
United States	110,000
United Kingdom	40,000
Australia	circa 85,000
South Africa	40,000 to 45,000
New Zealand	circa 25,000
France	circa 30,000
Switzerland	16,143
Languages
Dutch
Religion
Protestant (mostly Calvinist), Roman Catholic, agnosticism, atheism, other.
Related ethnic groups
Frisians.

The Dutch people (Dutch: Nederlanders. Literal translation: 'Lowlanders') are an ethnic group and also a nation who form the majority of the population in the Netherlands (13 million in 2006).

The terms Nederlanders and Dutch can have different meanings depending on intent, context and definition. The number of Dutch people today for example can range from 13 million to 17 or 18 million (including overseas population), depending on context. Most Dutch people live in the Netherlands: for the Dutch overseas and groups of partial Dutch descent, see Dutch diaspora.

Dutch identity

Members of an ethnic group or nation identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common ancestry. and shared values, culture, lanaguage and/or religion. The Dutch identity is strongly associated with the Netherlands itself, as a geographical unit: there is almost no irredentist sentiment. Religion has historically been a dividing rather than a unifying factor. Fluency in the Dutch is considered necessary for being Dutch, an important factor in the status of immigrants. Dutch is also spoken by six million people in Flanders. Although the succesive governments of premier Jan-Peter Balkenende emphasised 'Dutch values', the often-quoted examples are not specific to the Netherlands or the Dutch - democracy, human rights, freedom of expression.

Germanic roots of the Dutch

Identification of the Dutch or Flemings, or their ancestry, as 'Germanic' was once common, but became increasingly politicised. It was associated with 19th-centuty Pan-Germanism, which saw Flanders and the Netherlands as kin-related and sought their political association with Germany. During the First World War Germany sought to identify the Flemish as a related Germanic people, to facilitate the furure annexation of Flanders. Similarly, the Kulturraumforschung in Nazi Germany was aimed at the future annexation of territory in north-western Europe into the Reich. Dutch ethnography adopted similar views, and before the Second World War, identification of the Dutch as part of the "Germanic race" and as descendants of Germanic tribes was common. After the Second World war, Dutch ethnography dropped the references to Germanic and pan-Germanic unity, although often opportunistically.

Terminology

The Term"Dutch" can reflect different definitions, which are listed below.

1. It can refer to the entire population of the (country) the Netherlands. Note that the Kingdom of the Netherlands includes 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. Finally it can also refer to descendants of Dutch emigrants. (Note that the Pennsylvania Dutch do not fall into this category, the term is a misnomer for a minority of German ancestry). In this article, only those with recent affiliation with the Netherlands will be considered.

Allochtones

In the Netherlands (and Flanders), the term "allochtoon" is widely used to refer to immigrants and their descendants. Officially the term allochtoon is much more specific and refers to anyone of whom one or both of his/her parents was not born in the Netherlands. Hence, third generation immigrants, are no longer considered allochtoon (if both their parents were born in the Netherlands). The corresponding antonym autochtoon is less widely used, but it generally corresponds to ethnic Dutch.

Whether or not the 'allochtones' are treated as part of the Dutch people is a controversial issue, one of the most controversial in Dutch politics. Some people do not regard them as Dutch, even if they have Dutch citizenship. Others advocate an inclusive definition.

Total number of Dutch

In official statistics, immigrant and emigrant refer to changes in permanent residence in a state. They are not ethnic terms, and if people leave and return, that are counted both as emigrants and immigrants. In the 1950s (the peak of traditional emigration) about 350 000 people left the Netherlands, mainly to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and South Africa. About one-fifth returned Since 1960 4,2 million immigrants entered the country. Not all were non-Dutch, about one-quarter were returning Dutch migrants. The total amount of emigrants (includes returning ex-immigrants) was 3,2 million, of these about half born in the Netherlands. This is half of the total 6,5 million emigrants since 1865.

The maximum emigrant stock for the 1950s is therefore about 300 000 (some have since died). The maximum emigrant stock (Dutch-born) for the period after 1960 is 1.6 million. Discounting pre-1950 emigrants (who would be about 85 or older), at most around 2 million people born in the Netherlands are now living outside the country. Combined with the 13 million autochtoon inhabitants, there are about 15 million people who are Dutch, in a minimally accepted sense.

Usage outside the Netherlands

The Dutch language term Nederlanders may refer to "ethnic Dutch" or to the entire population of the Netherlands, depending on context. Outside the Netherlands, the English-language demonym 'Dutch' may refer to both of these, and also to people with Dutch ancestry. The English-language exonym The Netherlands is used for both the present Netherlands, and in historical contexts for a larger area which approximates to the present Benelux countries. The English term Low Countries has no official status, is used in both historical and modern contexts, and also approximates to the Benelux. In Dutch, the terminology is clearer: the modern state is referred to as Nederland (singular) while Nederlanden (plural) refers to the historical Low Countries.

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 emmigrants 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).

Flemings

Main article: Flemings

The relation between the Dutch and Flemings is a complicated one. By Napoleonic times, the inhabitants of the southern Netherlands (previous Austrian Netherlands) considered themselves to be 'Belgians'. 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 decendants 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 inteligeble 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 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 uninvoled 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.

History

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 Batavii (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.

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. Today, support for a state that would unify all Dutch speakers mainly, but not exclusively, comes from the political right, especially on the fringes of the Flemish movement.

In 1950, Dutch descent, Dutch nationality, and Dutch citizenship were in practice identical. The Netherlands was largely a mono-ethnic society with some colonial influences (if the Frisians are considered part of the Dutch ethnic group). In 1950, most Dutch were either Catholic or Protestant, with some atheists. Decolonisation and immigration from the 1960s on, altered the ethnic and religious composition of the country - there are now about one million Muslims. This development has made the 'ethnicity' and national identity of the Dutch a political issue.

Influence on the world

Further information: Dutch Empire

A map showing the territory that the Dutch held at various points in history. Dark green indicates colonies that either were, or originated from, land controlled by the Dutch West India Company, light green the Dutch East India Company.

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.

The Dutch in Asia

The Dutch have had a profound effect on the developement of Asia, particulary South East Asia, Taiwan and Japan. In many cases the Dutch were often 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 name for the Long-nosed Monkey litterally translated means "Dutchman".

Japan

Main article: Deshima

From the 1630s to the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan was closed to foreigners. The only Westerners allowed to stay in Japan and engage in trade were the Dutch. They had to submit to very strict regulations, however, and were only allowed to live on Deshima, a small artificial island in Nagasaki harbor. Numerous (now extremely rare) pictures depicting Dutch traders in Nagasaki were made. At the time of their publication the prints were sold as souvenirs to Japanese who visited Nagasaki and hoped to catch a glimpse of these strange "red-haired barbarians".

Taiwan

Main article: Taiwan under Dutch rule

Dutch traders, in search of an Asian base first claimed Formosa (Taiwan) in 1624 as a base for Dutch commerce with Japan and the coast of China. Two years later, the Spanish established a settlement at Santissima Trinidad building Fort Santo Domingo on the northwest coast of Taiwan near Keelung, which they occupied until 1642 when they were driven out by the Dutch. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) administered the island and its predominantly aboriginal population until 1662, setting up a tax system, schools to teach romanized script of aboriginal languages, the Sinckan writing, and also evangelizing. Although its control was mainly limited to the southwest and north of the island, the Dutch systems were adopted by succeeding occupiers.

Malaysia

Main article: Dutch Malacca

The Dutch captured Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641. Dutch rule saw relative peace with the neighbouring Malay kingdoms, as the Sultanate of Johor made alliance with the Dutch. During European colonisation in Asia, the Portuguese were brutally known for forcing people to convert to Christianity or risk facing a death penalty - whereas the Dutch were more tolerant towards people who practise religions different to theirs.

Indonesia

Main article: Dutch East Indies

The history of the Dutch in what is now Indonesia is less peaceful. Beginning in 1602 the Dutch started to establish themselves as rulers of what is now Indonesia, exploiting the fractionalisation of the small kingdoms that had replaced Majapahit. The Dutch used a policy of divide and rule amongst the different ethnic groups and kingdoms of Indonesia and subsequently attacked the weak.

The primary Dutch aim was to create and maintain a monopoly of the spice trade in the archipelago. It did this through the use and threatened use of violence against the peoples of the spice-producing islands, and against non-Dutch outsiders who attempted to trade with them. For example, when the people of the Banda Islands continued to sell nutmeg to English merchants, the Dutch killed or deported virtually the entire population and repopulated the islands with indentured servants and slaves who worked in the nutmeg groves.

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.

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 capitalistic country.

Genetics and appearance

The Dutch descend from a group of Homo sapiens 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 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 (about 155 cm).

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: Dutch. 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 Dutch Revolt and the Peace of Westphalia, the Dutch and Flemings (who live in Northern Belgium) were not generally seen as one single people or nation, despite the unification during 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 in some respects. 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 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 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, the supporters of the idea are found mainly among Flemish separatists. The main separatist party, Vlaams Belang, generally seen as belonging to the extreme right, supports an independent Flanders).

Support for the break-up of Belgium is less strong in Wallonia, as Flanders financially much stronger and independant, 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.

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, 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 [14]; 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 early 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 herritage, is considerably higher.

Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands ('Common Dutch', abbreviated to ABN) 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 ABN 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.

The image of the Dutch

Oranjegekte in the Netherlands

Symbols

Stereotype "Dutch" symbols such as wooden shoes, tulips, cheese and windmills, are not national symbols of the Netherlands, but reflect a popular image of the Netherlands and the Dutch people. The Netherlands itself has standard national symbols, including the Dutch flag and the national colour orange. 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 (as well as the worlds oldest) anthem, and is about the Dutch war of independence.

Self-image

The Dutch self-image differs considerably from the image(s) other people have of them (see section below). The Dutch often acknowledge 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 pride in their tolerance and flexibility, and are generally modest people. Negative charactaristics are a secret mistrust of foreigners and a distaste of alien cuisine.

Dutch image worldwide

File:Frau Antje Der Spiegel.jpg

Traditional costumes, 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 diaphram) "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 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 widely 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 Dutch are drug addicts, especially in the Western Hemisphere. In spite of, or perhaps due to this, the Dutch have a low figure of drug offences by country and the health effects of drugs are relatively well-controlled. Despite the high priority given by the Dutch government to fighting narcotics trafficking, the Netherlands continue to be an important transit point for drugs entering Europe as well as a major producer and exporter of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs.

Legalisation of prostitution was mainly motivated by the wish to protect the health of prostitutes and to fight the trafficking in human beings. Gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia stem from deeply developed values concerning the individual right of personal liberty and self-determination.

Dutch views on others

Dutch people tend to judge foreign cultures using the standards and values they hold dear. Especially cultures whose religious or political customs are seen as intolerant (compared to Dutch standards) are looked down upon.

In comparison to most 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 Mediterranian Sea, are regarded as being too emotional. In Dutch society, extravagantly flaunting ones emotions (whether positive or negative) is seen as lack of control or even as having a psychological disorder.

The ethnic stereotype of the Dutch in an 19th century British childrens 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 existed towards Germans. They were 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."

Perhaps strangely, Germans are generally unaware of the fact that they are disliked 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. Generally Belgians are admired for their educational and health system. 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

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

See also

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