Sometimes I come across things that surprise me...the little trivia that comes my way that had never occurred to me before. And then, it 's there and I think, "yea, I wonder why that is?".
Well, I had that thought today as I read through the hotel magazine in my NL hotel. Why is the Netherlands called "The Netherlands" and no longer "Holland"?
Answer: The official name of the the country is actually The Kingdom of The Netherlands. The Dutch themselves call their country "Nederland". Actually, Holland is only used to refer to 2 of The Netherlands' 12 provinces. Apparently, the provinces of South-Holland and North-Holland contain the country's most highly urbanised area and do not refer to the majority of the country.
Flash for my American friends: When you visit The Netherlands, please don't refer to the country as Holland. Trust me on this one...it would be like referring to all of the US as Texas.
Roughly...
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Update: per my Aussie colleague: Holly, to go with the comment posted on your blog about the name of Netherlands v Holland I make the following comment...
...and Holland is actually Dutch for Hollow Land - as it is below sea level. Netherland has similar meaning...
Regards,
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