As someone living in the Netherlands for nearly three years, I often say that I live in Holland when asked where I live. You might be wondering what is the difference between Holland and the Netherlands. (Will the real country please stand up?) Some people actually ask me how many countries exist in Holland or the Netherlands. You’re about to get schooled in all things that you need to know about Holland before your trip to the Netherlands, so you don’t sound silly.
I’m writing this post as someone who is deeply frustrated by explaining to people the difference between Holland and the Netherlands and as someone who routinely writes about travel in Holland (and the Netherlands more generally). I get a lot of questions about this, so I figured it was time to set the record straight. I realize that a lot of Dutchies say that they’re from Holland, but it’s often due to the fact that it’s tiring to explain the difference and everyone knows Holland.
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The difference between Holland and the Netherlands
So, people have asked me how many countries are in the Netherlands. There’s only one country in the Netherlands: the Netherlands. Holland is not a country, but a region of the Netherlands that is made up of two provinces where most of the population of the Netherlands lives. (Provinces are similar to states.) The Netherlands is made of twelve provinces and the ones specific to Holland are Noord Holland and Zuid Holland. Each province has its own form of government and aid in maintaining regional infrastructure, helping encourage investments in the region, etc.
Here’s a map showing you where Holland is located within the Netherlands. Find Amsterdam and the Hague to locate Holland….
I live in the Hague and I used to live in Amsterdam, which are both parts of Holland. That said, I will say that I’m living in Holland as I’ve lived in both the Noord Holland (North Holland) and Zuid Holland (South Holland) provinces. Someone who lives in Maastricht (in Limburg) would not be living in Holland. (I should mention that not all Dutchies are sticklers about this difference and sometimes will say Holland just to make things easy as they think that people can’t locate their hometown.) I’ve met quite a few people from the eastern part of the Netherlands who do not appreciate it when people ask them if they’re from Holland.
Side note: I absolutely love exploring the beautiful cities in Holland. You’ll find so many charming cities in Holland. My favorites include Haarlem, Leiden, Amsterdam (of course), Delft, and The Hague! Outside of Holland, you’ll also find a lot of beautiful Dutch cities, including Maastricht, Sneek, and Breda.
Why is Holland used more than the Netherlands?!
Delft
Over 17 million people live in the Netherlands (as of 2017), however over six million of these people live in Zuid and Noord Holland. Given that nearly 35% of the Netherlands lives in the provinces that compose Holland, you can imagine that the likelihood that you meet someone from Holland abroad is pretty high.
Similarly, Amsterdam is in Holland. Amsterdam has been the economic hub of the Netherlands, so Holland tends to be well known as many of the most famous Dutch exports come from Holland, including Gouda cheese, Edam cheese, and tulips.
What do you call someone from Holland and the Netherlands?
Actually, in Dutch (and in English), you’d call someone from Holland a Hollander. This only applies to people from Noord Holland and Zuid Holland. Someone from the Netherlands is called Dutch although you’d say in Dutch Nederlander. The fact that we call people from the Netherlands Dutch in English has historical roots. Dutch shares a linguistic past with Germany, so English speakers used to group them together using the word for “nation” in old English.
That said, some groups in the Netherlands will typically identify themselves first as from a specific province. For instance, we met a couple from Friesland (up in the North of the Netherlands) who identified as Frisian. Friesland has historically had a distinct cultural identity and language although it’s part of the Netherlands.
I hope that this little mini article clarified the difference between Holland and the Netherlands, so you know which one to use!
[learn_more caption=”Inspired to visit Holland?” state=”open”] Click for tips on the best cities to visit in the Netherlands
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Hello,
Born and raise in Limburg and still living there, I would like to tell you how we feel it. Can you “feel” it how it is about Hollanders? Well, we do. For us, people of the south, all people who living above the rivers (Maas, Waal) are Hollanders. So even if they don’t live in Noord and Zuid Holland.
Greetings
Well, we people from Holland used to say that all Brabanders and Limburgers used to refer to Hollanders as anyone living “Boven de Moerdijk”, so that would include, not only those living in Noord- and Zuidholland, but those in all the other provinces as well. In this context ONLY. Brabanders and Limburgers would not be Hollanders. This whole concept of Holland, Netherlands, and Dutch is very confusing to foreigners. And the author of this story has not made things any easier.Historically, The Netherlands included what is now called the country of Belgium (minus Wallonia). Present Belgium also contains two provinces named Brabant and Limburg. Both the Dutch and Belgiuan Brabant and Limburg speak pretty much the same dialect. There is much in Dutch history and culture that unites the people living above and below the Moerdijk .Any emphasis on whether one is a Hollander only if one lives in the provinces of Noord- and Zuidholland provides a very narrow scope of what it means to be a Hollander indeed!
I had no idea!! And I am born and raised in Utrecht..
Thnx for the lesson 😉
I miss Rotterdam. It is more important than Lelystad.
Thanks for that explanation Karen. It has been confusing understanding this and your explanations made a lot of sense. I’ve never travelled outside Australia on the opposite side of the planet but we have strong Dutch communities here. Interesting reading the other comments and how they fee/think…sure to be a variety of opinions.
Thanks for the article and thanks to the people who commented to clear some things up. It’s kind of like here where I live, people say they are from pismo but that could mean they live in one of the five cities it is located in, or that they used to live In pismo and still consider themselves residents (in spirit).
it was very interesting information . thanks very much!
The provinces Brabant and Limburg joint the Netherlands around 200 years ago, a lot has to do with religion. The people above the rivers are Protestant and the south is Catholic. Al of this goes back to the time that the Spanish and the French ruled over the Netherlands. If you consider that the Dutch Caribbean is a part of the Dutch kingdom for about 400 years. The south is really the new kid on the block. As in many cases like this where people are not like minded the south has been treated differently politically for a long time. That and passed battles between Protestant and the Catholic rulers of that time. Did not help in unifying the two parts of the Netherlands Republic later the Dutch kingdom.
We have a similar issue in the UK, which often get referred to as England. This is ultra annoying for those of us in Cymru (Wales), Scotland and Northern Ireland – the three nations with their own governments, laws, cultures and languages! England only has the UK government, but by far the largest population.
I’ve heard Welsh people agree they’re from England when asked while abroad. I always correct them and remind them they need to educate people. They wouldn’t say yes to coming from Scotland.
This article was interesting and I’ve always been conscious of the difference between Holland and the Netherlands.
Thank you for this general explanation which helped me better understand without going into great detail. I found it peaked my curiosity sufficiently that I plan to delve further into the rich history of the Netherlands. Thanks again.
Hi Christine,
You’re very welcome! I’m delighted to hear that the explanation piqued your curiosity about the rich history of the Netherlands. It’s a fascinating journey into a country with a diverse and storied past.
Happy exploring!
Your Wanderlustingk Team