Nederland: The Dutch Plural Society

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The word “Nederland” was used to describe the geographical situation of the land, since “neder” is the Dutch term for low/down and “land” simply means land in Dutch. Since the country is very flat and not undulating, the name fits perfectly to describe this area. In the 15th century, the Netherland consisted of the upper and the lower land. Later in that time, both of the areas fell to a European Dynasty. The regions now became one country, known as the Netherlands. Holland is a slightly incorrect way to refer to the Netherlands. The origin lies in the former northwestern province of the country, known as Holland. The province was divided in the 19th century and is now called North Holland and South Holland. Dutch citizens originally not from one of these two provinces dislike being called “Hollander”, which is another term for a Dutch person (Dennis Mares, A.C.).

Overview

Territory
“God created the world, but the Dutch made Holland”. The country takes up 40,844 square kilometers, making Holland the same size as Scotland. It ranges 300 kilometer from North to South and 200 kilometers from East to West. The country is mostly flat and over half of the Netherlands is lying below the sea level. The land is protected from inundation by 2,400km of dykes. On top of this the Dutch created a complex drainage and canal system. The rivers, which extend to an amount of 5000 kilometers, are providing a convenient and effective way of transportation. Forests compose only eight percent of the land in Holland, thus making it the least wooded country in Europe. Over half of the soil is used for agriculture. The saying at the beginning of the paragraph resembles the truth, since the People had to deal with the tough circumstances of the geograph...

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