"Holland" and "The Netherlands" – What’s the difference?

Although they are two different things, the terms “Holland” and “The Netherlands” are often used interchangeably. The official name of the entire country is “Koninkrijk der Nederlanden,” or Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was founded in the late 1600’s as a union of various provinces and cities. Even after the provinces of The Netherlands united, Holland was still the dominant region. Today it is divided into “Noord-Holland” (North) and “Zuid-Holland” (South).

The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces and each province has its own capital, provincial parliament and administration. The capital of The Netherlands is Amsterdam with The Hague – historically and to this day – as the seat of the Prime Minister, the parliament and many government-related services.

The cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague are in either Noord-Holland (Amsterdam) or Zuid-Holland (Rotterdam and The Hague). As a result, a lot of the touristic, economic and political dealings foreigners and other countries have with the country are in the ‘Holland’ part of the country so that the name “Holland” continues to be popular with foreigners. The people are often referred to as “the Dutch” and their language as “Dutch” (“Nederlands” in Dutch); not to be confused with “the Danes”, the people from Denmark, and “Danish” (spoken in Denmark) and Deutsch which is “German” in German.