Holland and the Nethrelands. What is the difference?
There is often confusion about the name Holland. Some people call the Netherlands Holland, but it is not the same. Holland is only a small part of the Netherlands and like the Dakotas, Carolinas and Virginias, there are two Hollands.
'North Holland' (capital city Haarlem) and 'South Holland' (capital city The Hague).
Holland used to be an independent country. It had a 'Count', its own monetary system (until the 19th century!), its own measuring units and time. Holland gave up this independence in the 16th century, when it allied with the Northern and Southern Netherlands against the armies of the King of Spain. The King of Spain was officially the 'Count of Holland' at the time and ruled over this whole area.
The main reasons for the war were religious differences, disputes over taxes and the fact that when some cities wanted to break free, the King's army was quite brutal to civilians.
Eventually, the Southern Netherlands gave up the fight and war occupied by foreign forces until 1830. This area is now Belgium. The Northern Netherlands fought on and won. Then, along with the counties (Holland, Drente, Groningen, Friesland, Gelderland, Zeeland and Utrecht) became a free Republic, including the occupied regions of Brabant and Limburg.
All these counties and some new ones together (called provinces today) make up 'the Kingdom of the Netherlands'.
This day the province of Limburg has a Governor. To say to someone from Limburg or Friesland that he or she is from Holland, is considered an insult. They are not! They consider themselves to be from the Netherlands. They even have their own language.
People from other provinces than North and South Holland will perhaps not consider it a real insult, but still they are not from Holland.
In summary, Holland gave up its independence a very long time ago, so calling the Netherlands "Holland", is like calling Great Britain 'Scotland' or 'Wales'.
Source: worldatlas.com
Additional Info:
Dutch:
a) Of or relating to the Netherlands or its people or culture.
b) The official West Germanic language of the Netherlands and one of the official languages of Belgium.
c) To pay one's own expenses on a date or outing.
d) In disfavor or trouble.
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