Netherlands Explained!
Summary
TLDRJoin host Kenon on an informative journey through the Netherlands, exploring its rich history, vibrant culture, and unique geography. Discover why the Dutch are the healthiest and most active Europeans, their love for bicycles, and the country's fight against the sea to protect its land. Learn about Dutch traditions, such as tulips and windmills, and notable Dutch figures like Vincent van Gogh. This episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the Dutch way of life and its contributions to the world.
Takeaways
- 🌍 The Netherlands is officially known as the Netherlands, not Holland, a term that was dropped in January 2020.
- 🌷 Famous for windmills and tulips, the country also boasts the healthiest diets and is the most physically active in Europe.
- 🚴♂️ The Dutch are avid cyclists, with bikes being a primary mode of transportation, contributing to their physical activity.
- 🏙️ The Netherlands is a low-lying country, with almost a third of its land below sea level, protected by an extensive system of dikes, canals, and windmills.
- 🏰 The country's history includes a struggle against the sea, a fight for independence from Spain, and a Golden Age of exploration and colonization.
- 👑 The Dutch royal family, House of Orange-Nassau, is symbolized by the color orange, which is also historically significant in Dutch culture.
- 🏰 Amsterdam, founded in 1275, is known as the greatest planned city of Northern Europe and played a central role in Dutch history.
- 🌈 The flag's red, white, and blue colors replaced the original orange stripe, which was changed for visibility reasons.
- 🌱 The Netherlands is a global leader in horticulture, exporting 75% of the world's flower bulbs, particularly tulips.
- 📈 The country has a strong economic history, from the establishment of the world's first stock exchange to being one of the wealthiest nations today.
Q & A
Why is it incorrect to refer to the Netherlands as 'Holland'?
-It is incorrect because 'Holland' was historically used to refer to the provinces of North and South Holland, but as of January 2020, the Dutch government officially dropped 'Holland' as a nickname for the country, which is officially known as the Netherlands.
What is the significance of windmills in the Netherlands?
-Windmills in the Netherlands were historically used to drain water from the land to help manage the country's low-lying terrain and to protect it from the sea. They played a crucial role in the land reclamation process.
How does the Netherlands rank in terms of land area in Europe?
-The Netherlands is one of the smaller countries in Europe, ranking 32nd in terms of land area, just above Moldova and just below Switzerland, with a total area of 41,850 square kilometers.
What is the meaning behind the Dutch saying 'God made the Earth but the Dutch made Holland'?
-The saying refers to the Dutch people's efforts in land reclamation, where they built canals, dams, dikes, and pumping stations to manage water and prevent the sea from flooding their land, thus 'creating' new land.
What are the official languages spoken in the Netherlands?
-The official language is Dutch, which is most similar to German. However, most Dutch people also speak English, and often some German or French. Additionally, in the northern Friesland region, West Frisian is spoken, and in the Dutch Caribbean, Papiamento is spoken.
Why did the Dutch change the color of their flag from orange to red?
-The color was changed from orange to red because red was easier to see at a distance, which was important for signaling and identification purposes during the time when the flag was used on ships.
What is the historical significance of the Dutch East India Company?
-The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, which played a crucial role in the Dutch Golden Age of colonialism. It was instrumental in expanding Dutch trade and influence across the world, including the colonization of various territories.
Why are Dutch men considered the tallest in the world?
-Dutch men are the tallest in the world, with an average height of 1.83 meters. The reasons behind this are not entirely clear but are believed to be a combination of genetic factors and a high standard of living, including good nutrition and healthcare.
What is the connection between the Netherlands and the color orange?
-The color orange is associated with the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, and their ancestor William of Orange, who is considered the founding father of the Netherlands. The color is also a symbol of Dutch national identity and is often seen during sports events and celebrations.
How did the Netherlands become one of the wealthiest countries in the world?
-The Netherlands became one of the wealthiest countries through a combination of factors including strong economic growth, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, a focus on trade and international business, and a strategic location that facilitated its maritime and colonial expansion during its Golden Age.
Outlines
🌍 Introduction to the Netherlands
The script introduces the Netherlands, correcting the common misconception that the country is called Holland. The Dutch government officially dropped this nickname in 2020. The country is known for its windmills, tulips, and a healthy diet, despite the popularity of cheese. It also boasts the most physically active population in Europe, largely due to the widespread use of bicycles. The Netherlands is located in Northwestern Europe, bordered by Belgium and Germany, and has a total area of 41,850 km². It includes the Dutch Caribbean and the ABC islands, and is affected by the North Sea, which is continually eroding its land. The country is low-lying, with almost a third of its land below sea level, protected by an extensive system of dikes, canals, and pumping stations. The Dutch language is the official language, and English is widely spoken. The country is known for its liberal stance on religion and its diverse population.
🏰 History and Culture of the Netherlands
The script delves into the history of the Netherlands, starting from prehistoric times and moving through significant historical events such as the founding of Amsterdam, the 80 Years' War against Spain, and the Dutch Golden Age of colonialism. It discusses the Dutch East India Company and the myth of the purchase of Manhattan for $24. The Netherlands' neutrality in World War I and invasion by Germany in World War II are also mentioned, along with the country's post-war reconstruction and economic growth. The script highlights the Netherlands' cultural symbols, including the national flag's colors and the significance of the color orange in Dutch history. It also touches on the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, and the country's religious landscape, which is predominantly non-religious with a significant Roman Catholic minority.
🌷 Dutch Innovations and Contributions
The script highlights the Netherlands' innovative approaches to land management, such as the use of windmills and the construction of Amsterdam on wooden poles. It emphasizes the Dutch love for bicycles, noting that the country has more bicycles than people. The script also lists famous Dutch people and their contributions to the world, including the establishment of the world's first stock exchange, the art of Vincent van Gogh, and the Dutch's role in developing the modern cheese industry. It mentions the country's economic and cultural achievements, such as the production of tulips and the influence of Dutch culture on the global stage. The script concludes by inviting feedback and suggesting that there is much more to learn about the Netherlands.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Netherlands
💡Windmills
💡Tulips
💡Cycling culture
💡Dikes
💡Dutch East India Company
💡Vincent Van Gogh
💡Liberalism
💡Dutch Caribbean
💡Flag of the Netherlands
💡Dutch Golden Age
Highlights
The Netherlands is officially known as the Netherlands, not Holland.
The Dutch are known for their healthy diets, despite their love for cheese.
The Netherlands has the most physically active population in Europe due to their cycling culture.
The country is located in Northwestern Europe, bordered by Belgium and Germany.
A significant portion of the Netherlands is below sea level, protected by an extensive system of dikes and canals.
Windmills were historically used to drain water from the land to protect against flooding.
The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in the European Union.
Dutch is the official language, closely related to German, and English is widely spoken.
The Dutch are not predominantly religious; many do not identify with any religion.
The Dutch flag's original red stripe was orange, symbolizing the prince of Orange.
The Netherlands has a rich history, including a period of colonization known as the Golden Age.
Dutch men are the tallest in the world, with an average height of 1.83 meters.
The color orange in carrots was influenced by Dutch farmers as a tribute to William of Orange.
Tulips are a significant part of Dutch culture, with 75% of the world's flower bulbs exported from the Netherlands.
Amsterdam is built on over a million wooden poles due to the swampy land it was originally on.
The Dutch own more bicycles per capita than any other country.
The Netherlands is home to the world's first Stock Exchange, established in 1602.
Vincent van Gogh, one of the most influential Western artists, was Dutch.
Transcripts
[Music]
a very warm welcome to you all we're
back with episode number two on our
journey throughout the world and this
time we're visiting the Netherlands
because you know why not my name is
kenon and I'll be your host here today
but before we get into things let's make
one thing crystal clear this is not
Holland Yes you heard me right if you're
saying Holland you're doing it wrong
Holland was early referred to as a
common name for the two provinces North
Holland and South Holland but as of
January 2020 the Dutch government
officially dropped the nickname of the
country so now there's just the
Netherlands okay well it actually always
was but yeah now you know let's move on
the home of the windmills and tulips but
believe it or not there is so much more
to this country like being the
healthiest people in the world
in regards to diets now how is that
possible with all the cheese that they
eat or being the most Physically Active
population of Europe well that one is
pretty obvious it's because they ride
bikes all freaking day yeah trust me
when I say this they love their bicycles
anyway these Giants yeah we get into
that later on seem to just have it all
you definitely do not want to miss this
episode so ladies and gentlemen cheese
lovers and liberal people we present to
you the red white and blue and
apparently orange the
Netherlands oh and hold your breath
because the sea will try to drown you
while you're here quick country facts
located in Northwestern Europe this
low-lying country which by the way is
the actual meaning of Netherlands is
kind of sandwiched between Belgium and
Germany like most in Europe being close
to Germany that is with a total area of
41850 KM squared it's one of the smaller
countries in Europe ranking in on the
32nd Place in regards to land area right
above mova and just below like really
just below Switzerland the kingdom of
the Netherlands also includes a few more
places in the world first there is a
place referred to as the Dutch Caribbean
that contains the islands of banire St
eustasis and Saba then there's a few
more islands that separately belong to
the kingdom and go under the name of the
ABC islands named Aruba kurasa and boner
again then there's also the island named
St Martin the North Sea is located to
the north and west of the Netherlands
and it's continually eating the land
itself in fact there is a Dutch saying
God made the Earth but the Dutch made
Holland and yes I know I said there was
no such thing as Holland but they're
referring to the provinces I mentioned
earlier which is where most of Dutch
people live nowadays but don't get it
twisted here the country is called the
Netherlands nothing else but what did
they mean by that saying well in fact
almost a third of the Netherlands is
below sea level and if it wasn't for the
people the Dutch Country wouldn't even
be there today the Dutch came out strong
fighting the sea Itself by building a
series of canals dams dikes and pumping
stations that over the years made it
possible for the water to go through the
country rather than over it and today
there are more than 4,400 km of dikes
rivers and canals shielding the lowly
country this is also the reason for all
the windmills you see around the country
they were simply used to drain the land
of water and help the Dutch survive oh
and there's three major rivers that
cross the country to help with the flow
of the water they're named The Muse the
Shelt and the Ry so with whatever land
surface the Dutch had remaining they had
to be creative with it and find
innovative solutions for everything and
I guess they did because they have about
17.5 million people living in this area
something that makes the Netherlands the
most densely populated country in the
European Union and in fact one of the
most densely populated countries in the
world Dutch is the official language of
the country a language most similar to
German if anything Dutch or netherlandic
as it can also be called but probably
shouldn't it's also spoken in Belgium
with a bit of a dialect but here it's
called Flemish most people in the
country also speak English and often a
bit of German or French as well then
there's fan which is spoken in the
northern freezeland region also it's
worth mentioning that the Africans
language of South Africa is basically
Dutch with an African twist the religion
of the Netherlands is kind of Roman
Catholics but I say kind of because only
about 20% of the population identify
with this religion actually about half
of the country's population don't
identify with any particular religion at
all today the Netherland embodies the
liberal Middle Road of having both
freedom of religion as well as freedom
from religion and there's a strong
growth of each M which can be described
as a faith without a religion so
basically a person saying I don't
believe in God but I do think there is
something out there the flag of the
Netherlands consists of three horizontal
striped lines with the colors red white
and blue in the early days the red
stripe was actually orange to symbolize
the prince of orange which the rebel
Province fought under in the
independence war against Spain between
the years 1568 and
1648 but since red was easier to see at
c h how do you like that pun they
changed the orange to red and so these
have been the official color since the
19th of February 1937 when Queen
Willamina made the decision however most
of us have seen the orange color still
being representative of the Netherlands
especially in different sport events so
what's up with that the simple answer to
that orange color refers to the Dutch
royal family the house of orange Nassau
and their ancestor William of Orange who
is the Founding Father of the
Netherlands but this kind of turns us
into the history segment of things so
let's jump right in there shall we
history segment all right so try to keep
up now because we have a lot to cover
and I'm running out of space with a
script but for the purpose of History
let's bring ourselves back to the
prehistoric times of roughly 250,000 BP
to a place called the low countries this
place is generally understood to include
the territory of what today are referred
to as the Netherlands Belgium and
Luxembourg this is where we find the
first remains of human life in the
Netherlands but take a leap in time
until the year 1275 and the founding of
Amsterdam the greatest planned city of
Northern Europe this city has always
been wellknown in history and played a
very central part in the history of the
Netherlands then in 1568 Spain came to
ruin all the fun with the Spanish King
and his governor and the Forefront they
tried to dominate the Netherlands and
introduce its taxation there so there
was war war war war war then a little
bit of war and some War to that as well
all in all we're looking at 80 years wor
of war against Spain until 1581 where
the United provinces declared their
independence from Spain then comes the
discovery period or the Golden Age of
colonialism if you so will and boy oh
boy was the Dutch a force to be reckoned
with here they expanded all over the
world and discovered new lands left and
right from America to Asia Africa and
South America the Dutch had colonized
them all so by the mid 17th century they
were actually the biggest Maritime power
in Europe yeah suck on that Spain
one of the more known stories is the one
of how director general of the Dutch
West India Company Peter manwe bought
the entire Manhattan Island for
$24 but is it true though no it's not
story has that Peter offered some
Trinkets and glass which with today's
value would be around $24 in exchange
for ownership of the land to some
natives he ran into Peter felt like a
boss obviously since he had done the
deal of well ever but the deal didn't
turn out that well in the and first the
natives who sold him the land didn't
actually own it sorry Peter you've been
scammed and also the Dutch turned out to
have very little interest in colonizing
the area after all this led to the
English Naval Force simply sailing into
the harbor In 1664 and took over New
Amsterdam without firing a single shot
Charles second of England then later
gave the territory to his brother James
second of England the Duke of York and
the land was later named New York the
Netherlands then started a slow but
constant economical growth and
implemented important constitutional
reforms which led them to be a liberal
and modern state in World War I the
country remained neutral but in World
War II like most of the European
countries they were invaded by German
troops in 1940 after a few years under
Terror of the Nazis the whole country
began to suffer the burden of War so
when the Nazis tried to incorporate the
Netherlands into the Third Reich they
fought back after the difficult years of
trying to reconstruct the country right
after World War II the Netherlands had
exponential economic growth in the
second half of the 20th century and
today today they're one of the most
developed and wealthiest countries in
the
world fun
facts so what's some fun facts about the
Netherlands well for starters Dutch men
are the tallest in the world they have
been on top for quite some time now with
an average length of 1.83 M but the
women aren't exactly short either
averaging at 1.69 M only losing out to
the women of lvia then there is this
absolutely fascinating fact about this
country did you know that the carrots
are orange because of a Dutch back in
the 10th Century the vegetable was
actually white or purple but as you know
orange is a big deal in the Netherlands
so as a tribute to William the orange
the Dutch Farmers tried to make their
carrots orange and we all know the
results of that then there's the flowers
or more specifically the Tulips now
there is an understatement that these
are a big part of the Netherlands but
did you know that about 75% of the
entire world's flower bulbs are exported
from the Netherlands prettyy crazy when
you think about it as we mentioned
earlier the Dutch have been a really
clever people using their creativity to
find ways to save their land from the
sea trying to drown them one of the
things they made are windmills and there
are actually over 1,000 of them
throughout the country and speaking of
being creative the city of Amsterdam is
in fact completely built on top of over
1 million wooden poles which extends
around 12 M into the ground the city was
built on a very wet swampy land so talk
about trying to see the possibilities
instead of focusing on things things
being impossible and if you didn't know
they love bikes they love them so much
that the Dutch own more bicycles than
any other country in the world about 22
million of them are present in the
country so that's more than one per
person on average did I mention that
they love bikes so what famous people
does this country have and what things
are they known for in the world well
besides bikes tulips and windmills there
are a few more things that they should
have credit for well for starters it's
home of the world's first Stock Exchange
established in 16 192 by the Dutch East
India Company if you've ever been to the
Netherlands chances are small you've
missed that they like cheese the Dutch
have a long history of cheese making but
the most famous one is without a doubt
the guda cheese then there is Vincent
Van go most of us have heard this
extremely famous painter he's one of the
most influential figures in Western Art
and he made over 2,000 artworks in his
lifetime his most notable Works being
Starry Night sunflowers and the Siesta
this country is just a
amazing and it would take me a day to
tell you every single thing about this
place we could mention Anne Frank
football rembrand licorice beer and
probably a million other things as well
but the space of my script has come to
an end yet again so what did you think
of the video did you learn anything if
you're from the Netherlands what did we
miss I'd love to hear your opinions so I
can keep making better and better videos
until next week take care
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