Today the US, China and Russia are the global superpowers. And isn’t that going well. Back in the day it was the lads with the boats who held the most global influence. The North Sea nations competed with the Mediterranean traders for superiority and that included the Dutch. But why did we used to call The Netherlands, Holland?
Holland is a district of The Netherlands. Well, not really. Kind of. But it is. I’ll start again.
Let’s take it back to the concrete streets, original beats with real live MCs
Let’s establish a few facts.
The Netherlands is the country. Tick. North Holland and South Holland are two districts within The Netherlands. Tick tick. Collectively these two districts are informally known as Holland. So Holland isn’t the name of the country, it’s the informal name of two districts grouped together.
Crucially, Holland is the coast. When people first took to the sea Holland existed as it’s own nation state and the other nations who met them met people from Holland.
Today the three biggest cities in The Netherlands are in Holland; Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Holland is winning.
Why isn’t the UK called London or Australia called New South Wales?
This still doesn’t explain why people still name the country after its biggest district.
The European map was reshaped and helped form The Netherlands, which included Holland, after Napoleon took a bit of a pummelling at Waterloo.
The country was called The Netherlands but it was those on the coast in Holland who were swanning around in the boats and in charge of global meeting and greeting. “Hi, I’m Ruud and I’m from Holland.”
Because a large part of The Netherlands wealth came from the sea, especially in its formative years, the coastal region prospered. That’s why most of the people are here. Holland is the part of the country where the most people, wealth and influence is held, and is the part of the country that other nations encountered first.
Follow the money
Other countries have an area where wealth, people and power are focused. Why did we used to call The Netherlands, Holland, and why isn’t their country named after their main areas?
Thank you for asking.
The United Kingdom is a group of smaller countries grouped together but these countries still have sovereignty. You use England when you talk of England and you use the UK when you’re talking about the UK. There’s no assumption you’re talking about a different area. France and Italy were a series of city and nation states but the power wasn’t so obviously concentrated in one area.
Australia hasn’t been a separate group of nation states, it’s always been one country, so there’s no confusion there. (The fact that Australia was known as ‘New Holland’ until the early 19th century doesn’t help matters, but it’s always had one name for one country.
Why did we used to call The Netherlands, Holland?
We used to call The Netherlands, Holland because that’s where most people came from, certainly the people we met whilst the nation’s identity was being formed.
Holland remained the dominate district after the country of The Netherlands was formed relatively recently.
The Dutch Government were happy to continue with the informal use of the name until recently…
Naming today
The Dutch haven’t really helped themselves when it comes to sorting out their name. They’ve always been The Netherlands but happy to use the informal name. The website for the Dutch tourist board is www.holland.com!
In 2020 The Netherlands decided to bin the term Holland as a name for the country and throw their weight behind The Netherlands. The fact they decided to use the Eurovision Song Contest as one of the main events to reinforce their new identity is brilliant.
The Dutch Government want to give the rest of the country a bit more of the spotlight and encourage investment in other provinces. The Netherlands isn’t just Holland.
You’re welcome.
Read some more from the Culture section here.