Sarah Kate Hemphill
Consultation Assignment Draft
March 15, 2018
Introduction
Geography and History
The etymology of the word “Netherlands” stems from the Dutch “Nederland” which literally means “low lands” or low-lying country. It is also ommonly referred to as Holland, which derived from the Old-Dutch “holtlant” which meant “wood-land”. In fact, this is misrepresentative, and only formally refers to two out of twelve provinces, Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018) This is remarkably true for the country, because the majority of the country is low-lying and flat. In fact, only about 50% of its land sits one meter or more above sea level. Located in Western Europe, The Netherlands sits between Belgium and Germany, and borders the North Sea. Because of the low-level of land, the area is incredible susceptible to flooding erosion by the North Sea, which is why there are many lakes, marshes and rivers. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018)
The Netherlands is a relatively small country. It is only about 41,543 square kilometers, which is slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey. (The World Factbook, 2018)
The population is about 17.02 million people as of 2016. For comparison purposes, in 2016 the population of the United Kingdom was about 65.64 million, while the United States rose to a population of about 323.64 million people. (World Bank Group) The largest and most populated area in the Netherlands is known as the Randstad, which includes the cities of Amsterdam (the capitol), Rotterdam, the Hague, and Utrecht. CIA
Economy and Government
It is believed that the Dutch people are descendants from Germanic tribes with some Gallo-Celtic mixture. The Netherlands was founded by Julius Caesar in the first century B.C. The west was occupied by the Batavians and became a Roman province while the east was inhabited by Frisians, who were a Germanic ethnic group. The area then passed through many different hands because the area was very frequently invaded by Europe. It wasn’t until the Union of Utrecht in 1579 that the provinces were united and became the Republic of the United Netherlands. (Netherlands, 1999) In 1813, the Netherlands and Belgium joined together to become the “Kingdom of the United Netherlands”, until Belgium withdrew from the union 17 years later. The current constitution of the Netherlands was formed in 1848, and the country is now a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch, much like England today. (Netherlands, 1999)
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution declares that the head of state, the monarch, is inviolable and thereby embodies the concept of ministerial responsibility. This means that the monarch has the ultimate responsibility for the actions of the ministry. The current reigning monarch of the Netherlands is King Willem-Alexander, since 2013. After World War II, in accordance with their views on humanism and care for all, the Netherlands developed an elaborate system of social security that provides all of its citizens with universal health care and old age and unemployment benefits. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018)
The flag of the Netherlands is three equal sized horizontal stripes- red, white, and blue. The red stripe was originally orange. It is believed that this was because of Prince William of Orange, who fought for Dutch independence. (National Flag of the Netherlands)
People and Culture
What do we think of when we think of the Dutch people? Common stereotypes may include wooden shoes, cheese, tulips, and windmills. And true, these things are major aspects of the dutch culture. As for the windmills, there are 1180 in the Netherlands. But what else is associated with the Dutch?
The Dutch are a mixture of Frisians, Saxons, and Franks. Their main language is Dutch, though a majority of the Dutch people speak English, as well as French and German. 89% have a good knowledge of English, 70% of German, 29% of French, 5% of Spanish. (Bongaerts and Bot, 1997)
Because the Netherlands places value on humanism, the Netherlands are incredibly religious tolerant. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, religious affiliation in 2009 was mostly nonreligious and atheist. The main religion is Roman Catholic, while 19 percent was Protestant and 11 percent was other religions- which includes a significant Muslim population. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018)
Their food involves lots of bread and cheese, and is pretty rustic. Their cheese is a staple of their culture, and usually are named after the towns for which they originated, such as Gouda. They also have very popular pastries like bankets and oliebollen. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018) They are also very popular with their Jenever, which is a type of spirit that is very similar to gin. It was first sold as a medicine in the late 16th century. (Maciamo)
The golden age of the Netherlands’ history was during the 17th century. During this time, the country was a leader in technology and culture. This time period produced some of the most famous painters in history, such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt. (Heslinga, Rowen, Wintle, Meijer, 2018)
During the start of both world wars, the Dutch claimed neutrality. Since then, however, they have abandoned this neutrality and although a large number of people in the Netherlands are over 65, the Netherlands are known to be very progressive in terms of their politics and their ideologies. The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages in 2001. Soft drugs like cannabis are legal. Abortion has been legal since 1981. (Maciamo)
One major aspect of every-day Dutch life is cycling. Most of the Dutch use their bikes as their main transport to get around. In fact, it has been stated that there are more bikes than people in the Netherlands. The New York Times states that there are 22.5 million bikes to 18 million people, and that daily usage has grown 11 percent in the last decade. (Schuetze, 2017)
Hofstede Model
Conclusion
References
1. 5 Clichés about the Dutch that are Absolutely True – DutchReview. (2018, February 14). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://dutchreview.com/featured/cliches-about-the-dutch/
2. Els, T. V., Bongaerts, T., & Bot, K. D. (1997). Perspectives on foreign-language policy: studies in honour of Theo van Els. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub. Co.
3. Heslinga, M. W., Rowen, H. H., Wintle, M. J., & Meijer, H. (2018, March 09). Netherlands. Retrieved March 15, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Netherlands
4. Maciamo. (n.d.). Interesting facts about the Netherlands. Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://www.eupedia.com/netherlands/trivia.shtml
5. National Flag of the Netherlands. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from http://www.worldflags101.com/n/netherlands-flag.aspx
6. Netherlands. (1999).
7. Netherlands. Background Notes on Countries of the World 2003, 10495517, May 99 Netherlands
8. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol2/iss1/8/?&sa=U&ei=9owuVLrgCIfXaqzngIgJ&ved=0CEsQFjAJ&usg=AFQjCNFBrStE0AJaAVPLrpU8s-lDqibYvw
9. Population, total. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NL
10. Schuetze, C. F. (2017, September 06). If You Build It, the Dutch Will Pedal. Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/world/europe/bicycling-utrecht-dutch-love-bikes-worlds-largest-bike-parking-garages.html
11. The World Factbook: NETHERLANDS. (2018, March 14). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/nl.html
12. Travel – The Netherlands. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/travel/europe/the-netherlands