Netherlands Explained!

Summary

Join 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

00:00

🌍 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.

05:01

🏰 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.

10:01

🌷 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.

Keywords

💡Netherlands

The Netherlands, formerly known as Holland, is the central theme of the video. It is a country located in Northwestern Europe, known for its windmills, tulips, and cycling culture. The video script clarifies that 'Holland' is no longer the official nickname for the country, which is now solely referred to as the Netherlands. This term is essential for understanding the video's geographical and cultural focus.

💡Windmills

Windmills are iconic structures in the Netherlands, historically used for draining water to protect the low-lying land from the sea. The video mentions that there are over 1,000 windmills in the country, which were instrumental in the Dutch struggle against water and symbolize their innovative spirit.

💡Tulips

Tulips are a significant symbol of the Netherlands, representing the country's rich horticultural history. The video notes that the Netherlands exports about 75% of the world's flower bulbs, highlighting the importance of tulips to the nation's economy and cultural identity.

💡Cycling culture

The Dutch are known for their love of bicycles, which is a prominent aspect of their transportation and lifestyle. The video emphasizes that the Netherlands has more bicycles than people, showcasing the country's commitment to sustainable and healthy modes of transportation.

💡Dikes

Dikes are essential engineering structures in the Netherlands, built to protect the land from the sea. The video explains that over 4,400 km of dikes, rivers, and canals have been constructed to manage water flow, illustrating the Dutch's historical battle against the sea and their engineering prowess.

💡Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company is mentioned in the context of the country's colonial past and its role in establishing the world's first stock exchange. This company was a major player in global trade and colonization, reflecting the Netherlands' historical influence and economic development.

💡Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh is a renowned Dutch painter highlighted in the video for his significant contributions to Western Art. His works, such as 'Starry Night' and 'Sunflowers,' are celebrated worldwide, and the video uses him as an example of Dutch cultural influence.

💡Liberalism

Liberalism is a key concept in the video, describing the Netherlands' social and political climate. The country is portrayed as embracing freedom of religion and freedom from religion, reflecting a progressive and tolerant society. This term is crucial for understanding the Netherlands' values and policies.

💡Dutch Caribbean

The Dutch Caribbean refers to the islands that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. The video mentions these territories to provide a comprehensive view of the geographical extent of the Dutch influence and the complexity of the kingdom's composition.

💡Flag of the Netherlands

The flag of the Netherlands, with its red, white, and blue horizontal stripes, is discussed in the video as a symbol of national identity. The script explains the historical significance of the colors, particularly the change from orange to red, and the flag's role in representing the country's unity and history.

💡Dutch Golden Age

The Dutch Golden Age is a period mentioned in the video that signifies the country's maritime dominance and cultural achievements in the 17th century. It was a time when the Netherlands was a major global power, with extensive colonization and trade, which greatly influenced its economic prosperity and cultural development.

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