Why are people from Holland called “Dutch”?
Answer Hello Simon, Well, people from Holland are called Dutch by English speaking people only. In German and French and even in Russian they are called – German: Hollnder, Niederlnder – French: les Hollandais – Russisn: gollantskij As you can see all these words are derived from the Dutch word Holland. Strictly spoken even Holland is wrong. Holland was the name of the county Holland until 1795. But as the economic and cultural centre of The Netherlands was situated in the old county of Holland, this last name stood for the whole of The Netherlands. Moreover the name “The Netherlands” also applies for Belgium historically. Originally there were 17 counties united as the Low Countries, in French Les Pays Bas. History divided them into two groups which became Belgium and Netherlands. Now about Dutch. This word is the English counterpart of the Dutch words “Diets” and “Duits”. In Dutch “Duits” means “German”, where the Germans call themselves “Deutsche”. Around 1290 in the northern and ea
