The Netherlands actually means “lower countries”, and is so named because of its geography, which is made up of a good amount of flat land that is barely above sea level, if at all. It is an extremely densely populated country, with about 17 million people, about 78% of which are ethnically Dutch. The Netherlands is the main country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which includes some nations and cities in the Caribbean.

The Netherlands is among the leading European nations when it comes to foreign direct investment, and is one of the five countries that invests the most in the U.S. The Dutch enjoy a high level of economic freedom thanks to the success of their country’s economy.

Agriculture is very important to the Dutch economy, and in the Netherlands it is very mechanized. The emphasis is mostly on growing for international export, which is apparent when you see that the Netherlands comes in at number two in terms of the value of their agricultural exports. The Netherlands provides two thirds of the world’s fresh-cut plants, flowers, and flower bulbs as exports.

About the Dutch Language

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 20 million people. Outside of the Netherlands, Dutch is spoken in Belgium, parts of the Nord department of northern France, the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, parts of Suriname, and parts of Indonesia. The official standard form of Dutch is taught in schools and used by the government in the Netherlands, in Flanders (Belgium), Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles.

Dutch is a direct ancestor of Old Franconian, and Modern Dutch came into being in the late 1400s, along with standardization of the language. Dutch’s closest linguistic relative is Afrikaans, but it is also close to German and English, often being described as taking up a space between the two. Though the majority of its vocabulary is of Germanic origin, some Dutch words come from French and Latin as well.