History UsefulNotes / TheNetherlands

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people (similar to how "England" is often used to refer to the entirety of the United Kingdom). The Netherlands is even called "Holland" in Japan[[note]]her sole trade partner during the two centuries of isolationism[[/note]] and Indonesia[[note]]her former colony[[/note]].

There's also a gray zone: things which are illegal but are officially stated as not being prosecuted. The Dutch word is "gedogen". In a way it's the same as decriminalization but also without the risk of getting penalized. The up to 5 grams marijuana sales and possession fall under this. Medicinal marijuana doesn't fall under this system, as it's produced by licensed producers and distributed via pharmacies like other medicine, and requires a doctor's prescription.

The claim that "[[BilingualBonus Everybody in the Netherlands speaks English]]" is very accurate. This is mainly because the Dutch and English languages [[https://elms.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/lexical-distance-among-languages-of-europe/ have similar grammatical and word structure]] (as both English and Dutch are from the Germanic language family[[note]]A minority in the northern province of ''Friesland'' speaks Frysian, which is actually the language most linguistically closely-related to English of the world. Unless you count Scots,
which not everyone does.[[/note]]) and the fact that early education requires children to learn English, and English is a mandatory subject until high school graduation[[note]]which is at 17, 18 or 16, depending on the track / level you follow[[/note]]. Two other foreign languages, usually German and French though in some schools Spanish, Chinese or Arabic are options too, are required to be taken for at least 2 years in high school and optionally for up to 6 years - which makes the Netherlands one of the most [[{{Omniglot}} polyglot]] countries in Europe[[note]]Of course, this is based on pure theory because with similar rules, the British would also be one of the most polyglot (French is an official language of the UK and from about 2007 is a requirement to be taught from the start of education age 4, two other languages - usually including German - must be learnt through high school age 11-15) but people wouldn’t really say that is accurate. Not every Dutch person knows four languages[[/note]]. Latin and classical Greek are included for students that are at the top tier of the Dutch school system. At Universities / Colleges, Dutch is the standard for "Bachelor" level but English is ''required by law'' at "Master" level University for the lectures to given in, and assignments to be written in (probably Justified because University Master programmes typically have a lot of foreign students). English serves as a ''de facto'' secondary language in the Netherlands, with Dutch people regularly using English words in otherwise Dutch sentences.[[note]]Funnily enough, the Dutch have completely incorporated the English-language swear words "fuck" and "shit", to the point that they use them more casually than native-English-speakers themselves.[[/note]] Fluency is probably helped by the fact that on TV and in movies subtitling is generally preferred over dubbing, regardless of a work's original language. Dubbing a work into Dutch is usually reserved for small kids (preschoolers)' media, though as of late more VideoGames are using dubbing as well.

* Needless to say driving under the influence of any drug is illegal, which is tested via cheek swab (and alcohol using a breathalyzer).
* Producing and/or selling most other drugs. As of 2009, magic mushrooms are illegal, however [[ExactWords truffles are not]]. Possession is often not prosecuted for small amounts (deemed for personal use). There's however no legal basis that guarantees this, in contrast to the "gedogen" of the marijuana sales and possession, see below.
* On most city streets: consuming alcohol or drugs or even visibly holding an open can of beer. This is regulated by local law called "APV", which roughly translates to "local police regulations", which is formed separately by each municipality and often applies to specific areas within.

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people (similar to how "England" is often used to refer to the entirety of the United Kingdom). Even the Netherlands is called "Holland" in Japan[[note]]being her sole trade partner during the two centuries of isolationism[[/note]] and Indonesia[[note]]Her former colony[[/note]].

[[caption-width-right:330:''[[https://youtu.be/VC-5jkZGPrg?t=289 Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik, van Duitsen bloed...]]'']]

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people (similar to how "England" is often used to refer to the entirety of the United Kingdom). Even the Netherlands is called "Holland" in Japan[[note]]being its sole trade partner during the two centuries of isolationism[[/note]] and Indonesia[[note]]Her former colony[[/note]].

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people (similar to how "England" is often used to refer to the entirety of the United Kingdom).

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people.

* ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak''

* ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' has it's third episode, "Flight of Fancy", set in Kinderdijk.

The war ended in 1648, when Spain officially recognized the Republic's independence and renounced its claims on the northern provinces. At the same time, they also officially left the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire. But by that time, the British had already become accustomed to call their inhabitants "Dutch". This word, from "diet" ("people"), originally applied to the inhabitants of the entire UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire north of the Alps. In modern Dutch, however, it's never used by the Dutch to describe themselves; the word "Duits" can only mean "German" (compare the German word for "German": "Deutsch".)

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander (who is moderately famous for being a qualified pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating[[note]]This was originally so that he could fly the royal jet--at that point a Fokker 70--rather than having to get a Royal Netherlands Air Force pilot at government expense. He flew KLM Cityhopper Fokker 70s as part of his training to get additional hours in. After KLM and the Air Force phased out the Fokker 70, he started 737 training so he could keep flying the royal flight.[[/note]] and so moonlights for KLM on short-to-medium-haul routes served by 737s).[[note]]If you ever find yourself on a KLM 737 out of Schiphol, know there's a non-zero chance your captain or first officer is none other than His Majesty the King.[[/note]]

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander (who is moderately famous for being a qualified pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating and so moonlights as an airline captain for KLM on short-to-medium-haul routes served by 737s).[[note]]If you ever find yourself on a KLM 737 out of Schiphol, know there's a non-zero chance your captain or first officer is none other than His Majesty the King.[[/note]]

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander (who is moderately famous for being a qualified pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating and so moonlighting as an airline captain for KLM on short-to-medium-haul routes served by 737s).[[note]]If you ever find yourself on a KLM 737 out of Schiphol, know there's a non-zero chance your captain or first officer is none other than His Majesty the King.[[/note]]

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander (who is moderately famous for being a qualified pilot with a Boeing 737 type rating and so moonlighting as an airline captain for KLM on short-to-medium-haul routes served by 737s).

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander (who is moderately famous for being a qualified pilot who moonlights as an airline captain for KLM).

As of April 30, 2013, The Netherlands' monarch is King Willem-Alexander.

The Dutch Republic was an interesting beast. Nominally a loose confederation of quasi-independent states, it was in practice dominated by Holland. To further complicate matters, although each province was in theory free to appoint anyone "stadtholder" (commander of its armed forces), in practice every province gave the position to the head of the House of Orange-Nassau. As a result, the Princes of Orange (from French lineage) were generally accorded quasi-royal status by the monarchies of Europe, which is why William III of Orange was judged to be an acceptable husband (and co-ruler) for [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart Mary II of England]] (and, not incidentally, that his ''father'' was considered an acceptable husband for an English princess; yeah, William and Mary were [[KissingCousins first cousins]]). The structure of the United Provinces also had an impact on later federalist political theory: the founders of UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates looked to the Dutch Republic as a model, basing the Articles of Confederation on it: the Confederation Congress (one state, one vote) was modeled on the Dutch States-General, as was the practice of having some lands administered directly by the federal legislature (in the Netherlands these were called Generality Lands; in the US, Territories). As it happened, the first part only really worked in the Netherlands because of Holland's domination over the other provinces, and was quickly dropped (albeit modified in the form of the Senate), but the territorial system worked out rather well and was retained. Both of these innovations, with modifications, later spread to other federal regimes (e.g. Canada, Australia, Mexico, and India).

Amsterdam is the largest city and capital. However, the King lives in The Hague, Parliament meets in The Hague, the courts and Embassies are also all in The Hague. Rotterdam houses the largest port of Europe and is therefore an important center of commerce in the Netherlands. These cities, together with Utrecht and smaller towns in between, form a large urban area called the Randstad. It has more than 7 million inhabitants.

Although the country's name is plural in many languages, the Dutch name for it is simply "Nederland", which would translate to "Netherland". [[UsefulNotes/TheBeautifulProvincesOfNederland "The Kingdom of the Netherlands", plural, consists of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten]]. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_(disambiguation) Holland]]'' actually is the name of only two of its provinces (North Holland and South Holland), but is often used casually to refer to the entire Netherlands country, even by many Dutch people, as well as being the correct short form and de facto name for the country in the UK and in Holland/the Netherlands itself. The UK may be stuck in their ways, or getting revenge for many other countries having their official name listed [[UsefulNotes/BritainVersusTheUK as some translation of only England]].

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Scenery (887 m/2,910 ft) (176th) in Saba

which not everyone does.[[/note]]) and the fact that early education requires children to learn English, and English is a mandatory subject until high school graduation[[note]]which is at 17, 18 or 16, depending on the track / level you follow[[/note]]. Two other foreign languages, usually German and French though in some schools Spanish, Chinese or Arabic are options too, are required to be taken for at least 2 years in high school and optionally for up to 6 years - which makes the Netherlands one of the most [[{{Omniglot}} polyglot]] countries in Europe[[note]]Of course, this is based on pure theory because with similar rules, the British would also be one of the most polyglot (French is an official language of the UK and from about 2007 is a requirement to be taught from the start of education age 4, two other languages - usually including German - must be learnt through high school age 11-15) but people wouldn’t really say that is accurate. Not every Dutch person knows four languages[[/note]]. Latin and classical Greek are included for students that are at the top tier of the Dutch school system. At Universities / Colleges, Dutch is the standard for "Bachelor" level but English is ''required by law'' at "Master" level University for the lectures to given in, and assignments to be written in (probably Justified because University Master programmes typically have a lot of foreign students). English serves as a ''de facto'' secondary language in the Netherlands, with Dutch people regularly using English words in otherwise Dutch sentences[[note]]Funnily enough, the Dutch have completely incorporated the English-language swear words "Fuck" and "Shit", to the point that they use them more casually than native-English-speakers themself [[/note]]. Fluency is probably helped by the fact that on TV and in movies subtitling is generally preferred over dubbing, regardless of a work's original language. Dubbing a work into Dutch is usually reserved for small kids (preschoolers)' media, though as of late more VideoGames are using dubbing as well.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Scenery (887 m/2,910 ft) (161st) in Saba

* Buying small quantities of marijuana from licensed stores, which are not allowed to sell or serve alcohol. Consuming marijuana is legal in private.

* Creating or selling most other drugs. As of 2009, magic mushrooms are illegal, however [[ExactWords truffles are not]].

There's also a gray zone: things which are officially not allowed but tolerated. The Dutch word is "gedogen". The marijuana sales ''technically'' fall under this. The government doesn't ask where the coffeeshops get their nugs either, in other words.

* Consuming alcohol or drugs on the street, or even visibly holding an open can of beer. (This is, of course, fairly normal in most countries; any American who hasn't heard of someone getting a civil infraction or misdemeanor for "open intox" [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_intoxication#State_public_intoxication_laws_today probably isn't paying attention]].)

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Scenery (887 m/2,910 ft) (161st)

* '''Lowest point:''' Vergeten Plek (−7 m/−22 ft) (28th)