(1975) - print version Hear many more names of towns and cities etc. in Holland and Belgium Maps Overview - 300 AD CE - 1000 AD CE - 1650 AD CE - 1900 AD CE - at present Low and High Ground - 20th Century Land Reclamation* - The Delta Protection Works* * - with names spoken Maps and Names from Operation Market Garden ('The Bridge too Far') The Netherlands in The World - The Netherlands in Europe - Dutch Names for Foreign Lands Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands, but The Hague is the seat of government. The houses of parliament (where the elected representatives have their meetings) and almost all government departments and embassies are in The Hague. See also: Conversation Subjects: Politics Dutchmen usually call The Hague "Den Haag," but the full, official name is " 's-Gravenhage " (The Count's Hedge, i.e. piece of land enclosed by a hedge; this count is the count of Holland, and now that I've mentioned it, this 'Holland' is in the Dutch sense of the word: only the present provinces of Noord- and Zuid-Holland.) In pronouncing the full name, the 'G' is usually left out (in analogy with CH of SCHR - see Dutch Pronunciation Rules); it may be hypercorrect to pronounce this G. Similarly, the capital of the province of Noord-Brabant is usually called "Den Bosch," but the full, official name is " 's-Hertogenbosch " (The Duke's Forest.) The H is always dropped, it's almost impossible for a Dutchman to say that H. (The " 's (apostrophe-s)" in these words is the possessive.) Den Haag 's-Gravenhage hear 's-Gravenhage hear (unusual, G not dropped) Den Bosch 's-Hertogenbosch hear - 2

Countries Nederland België Duitsland Engeland hear Rivers 1 De Rijn De Waal De IJssel hear Provinces Groningen Friesland Drente Overijssel hear Flevoland Gelderland Utrecht Noord-Holland hear Zuid-Holland Zeeland Noord-Brabant Limburg hear Cities Den Bosch Breda Tilburg Eindhoven Maastricht more hear Hear 500 names separately Land Reclamation

Seas and Lakes De Noordzee De Waddenzee Het IJsselmeer De Zuiderzee * hear Rivers 2 De Lek De Maas De Schelde hear Cities Groningen Leeuwarden Assen Zwolle Enschede hear Apeldoorn Arnhem Nijmegen Utrecht hear Amsterdam more Haarlem Zaanstad hear Den Haag Leiden Rotterdam Dordrecht Middelburg hear Belgian Cities Shown Brussel Antwerpen Gent hear

Speaking Dutch, we rarely use the word 'Holland' for our country. We almost always say 'Nederland' .
At independence (1648) the new country called itself "The Republic of The (Seven) United Provinces." The seven were: Groningen (Old name: Stad en Lande 2 'town and country') - Friesland 2 - Overijssel - Gelderland - Utrecht 2 - Holland and Zeeland 2. Poor and sparsely populated Drente and the Roman Catholic southern provinces of Noord-Brabant 2 and Limburg were a kind of territories without self-rule. Flevoland 2 is a new province of most of the reclaimed land in Lake IJssel, and the province of 'Holland' was split in Noord Holland 2 and Zuid Holland 2.
Before Lake IJssel ('het IJsselmeer' ) was closed off from the sea in 1932, it was called '(de) Zuiderzee' 2 ("Southern Sea,") in English often written as "Zuider Zee" or "Zuyder Zee."
We call the neighbors to the right Duitsers ('Germans,') singular: Duitser ('German,') their language or the adjective is Duits ('German') and their country Duitsland ('Germany.') This leaves Dutch with the word Germanen for the members of the Germanic tribes of old; in Dutch 'Indo-European' is usually Indogermaans .

Map by Marco Schuffelen, after 'Kleine Geografie van Nederland,' Published by 'Het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken' (State Department), The Hague, Holland 1983

You might also be interested in hearing:
Dutch Sailors and Ships of The 17th Century - Vermeer's World - Rembrandt

Brought to you by Marco Schuffelen - email
copyright © 1999-2006 Marco Schuffelen - All rights reserved