Names of Some Foreign Lands, as Said in Dutch

Londen ,

de Theems ,

Engeland

Keulen .

On this page, you'll come across a few E's with two dots on top: ë - the dots (called trema in Dutch) indicate that the vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding vowel(s), that it is not part of a diphthong or long vowel - compare: Azië with zie . It looks a bit like the German Umlaut, but that indicates a vowel sound change, a completely different function.

Speaking Dutch, Holland is called Nederland >> and the Dutch word for Belgium is België 2.
Ik ben in Nederland geboren. I was born in Holland.
Ik ben in Nederland geboren en opgegroeid. I was born and grew up in Holland.
Ik heb tot m'n zevenendertigste (37ste) in Nederland gewoond. 2 I have lived in Holland till age 37.
En toen ben ik naar Amerika gegaan. Then I went/moved to the US.
('Amerika' is of course the whole New World, but it often means 'the US.')

Nederlander 2 ('Dutchman') - landgenoot ('fellow countryman') - Vlaming 2 ('Fleming')
De wereld ('the world') - het buitenland 2 ('the world outside Holland and Belgium,' "Abroad") - buitenlander 2 ('foreigner')
Afrikaans 2 is a language of South Africa with roots in Dutch. It has the nice word uitlander 2 for 'foreigner.' Another Afrikaans word I like is oubaas 2 ('old man') - Dutch would be oude man - oude baas - ouwe baas . Afrikaans - More Afrikaans Links
Many people are familiar with the Afrikaans word apartheid 2 for the former white supremacist ruling system of South Africa. Apartheid ended because the other Western nations found it unacceptable and led a boycott of the white South-African regime. I am glad it is gone. Still, there are many people in the world who think their religion gives them the right, or even the mandate to rule all others, and some of that group think their 'race' is superior to all others. I do hope that those views too will soon disappear or adapt to modern views of human equality: Alle mensen zijn gelijk. ('All men, all humans are equal.')
In the 19th Century, slavery ended because the leading nations in the West decided it was wrong. The British Navy stopped the transatlantic slave trade, but in East Africa slaves still moved North. Colonialism ended in the 20th Century because the Western nations realized it was wrong, and no longer could stomach the violence necessary to subjugate colonial subjects. It's hard to believe for people in the West that some groups that claim to be victims of a kind of apartheid do not look for equality, but feel entitled to be on top themselves.

Ik ben een Amerikaan. I'm an American. Ik ben een Engelsman. I'm an Englishman. Hij is een Belg. He is Belgian Hij is een Fransman He is a Frenchman. Hij is een Ier. He is an Irishman. Hij is een Spanjaard He is [a Spaniard] from Spain.

Ze is een Française. 2 She is a Frenchwoman Engelse 2 3 Englishwoman Belgische 2 'Belgian woman' Zijn tweede vrouw was een Belgische. His second wife was Belgian. Ze is Engels 2 3 She's English Frans 2 French Belgisch 2 3 4 Belgian Duits German

The Netherlands in The World (map) The Netherlands in Europe (map) Maps of The Netherlands ('Holland') Place Names in Holland Travel Vocabulary and Phrases

vlag

vlaggen 2

vlaggen/lachen - licht/ligt 2

Waar kom je vandaan? 2 3 'Where are you from?'

Engeland England Schotland Scotland Ierland Ireland, Eire Europa Europe Amerika America, the U.S. De Verenigde Staten 2 The United States (Californië California) Canada Canada Australië Australia Nieuw Zeeland New Zealand Zuid-Afrika South Africa

Finland Finland Noorwegen Norway Zweden Sweden Denemarken Denmark IJsland Iceland Rusland Russia De Sovjetunie The Soviet Union Estland Estonia Letland Latvia Litouwen Lithuania Polen Poland Oekraïne Ukraine

Duitsland Germany (Pruisen 2 Prussia/Preusen) (Beieren Bavaria/Bayern) Frankrijk France (Bourgondië 2 Burgundy/Bourgogne) Zwitserland Switzerland Oostenrijk Austria Tsjechië The Czech Republic Slowakije Slovakia Tsjechoslowakije Czechoslovakia Hongarije Hungary

Roemenië Rumania Bulgarije Bulgaria Griekenland Greece Macedonië Macedonia Servië Serbia Kroatië Croatia Slovenië Slovenia Joegoslavië Yugoslavia Italië Italy Spanje Spain Portugal Portugal

Afrika Africa Azië Asia Centraal Azië 2 Central Asia China China Korea Korea Japan Japan Thailand Thailand Viëtnam Vietnam India 2 India Indonesië Indonesia Nederlands-Indië 2 The Dutch Indies 'Ons Indië' 'Our Indies'

Nieuw Guinea 2 New Guinea De Filippijnen The Philippines Het Midden-Oosten 2 The Middle East Israël Israel Noord-Amerika North America Midden-Amerika 2 Middle America Zuid-Amerika South America Brazilië Brazil Argentinië 2 Argentina Suriname Surinam(e)

The (Former) Dutch Antilles, The Dutch Caribbean

Aruba Curaçao Bonaire 2

Sint Maarten 2 Saba Sint Eustatius in US history 2

'Statia' 2 more

steden 2 (cities) - singular: (de) stad (city)
Londen Parijs Rome Napels	Milaan Milan Venetië Venice Moskou Moscow Wenen Wien - Vienna Praag Prague	München Munich Berlijn Berlin Hamburg Keulen Köln - Cologne Aken Aachen, Aix-la-Chapelle	Kleef Kleve Brussel Bruxelles - Brussels Antwerpen Antwerp - Anvers Brugge Bruges more Belgian names

Miscellaneous

De Noordzee 2 The North Sea De Oostzee 2 The Baltic Sea De Middellandse Zee The Mediterranean Sea Het Kanaal 2 The English Channel Het Nauw van Calais 2 The Narrows of Calais, The Straits of Dover De Bocht van Helgoland 2 Heligoland Bight (Bay) De Golf van Biskaje 2 The Bay of Biscay De Straat van Gibraltar 2 The Straits of Gibraltar De Baai van San Francisco San Francisco Bay De Vlakte der Kruiken ('der' is an old-fashioned contraction of 'van de' (of the) The Plain of Jars (Laos)

De Atlantische Oceaan 2 The Atlantic Ocean De Indische Oceaan The Indian Ocean De Grote Oceaan The Pacific De Stille Oceaan The Pacific de noordpool 2 the North Pole de zuidpool the South Pole de Evenaar the Equator keerkring tropic

noord north het noorden 2 the North oost east het oosten 2 the East zuid south het zuiden 2 the South west west het westen 2 3 the West

't Verre Oosten 2 The Far East Oost west, thuis best Home sweet home de Poolster 2 the North Star (het) sterrenbeeld constellation

Dutch words for geographical features >>

The adjective Indisch - as for instance in Indische jongens 'young men of mixed Dutch and Indonesian descent' - usually refers to the old Dutch Indies, though you would expect it to mean 'Indian' - the subcontinent. The adjective Indiaas for those things Indian doesn't sound good - it's better to say uit India ('from India.')
In the colonial era, the native people of Indonesia were called Indiërs - but now the word is only used for the people of India.
The Dutch word for Native Americans is Indianen and the adjective is Indiaans 2.

This page was made because of a question from Malcolm Hatfield of London.

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Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2