quote:

---

peppyII wrote:

Only English speakers call us "Dutch"

In our own language it's like this:

Country: Nederland
People: Nederlanders
Language: Nederlands

(makes sense, doesn't it?)

Holland is only a part of the country, in fact it's two provinces: North-Holland and South-Holland. The capital city Amsterdam is in North-Holland, and the world's largest harbour Rotterdam is in South-Holland.

So, most non-Dutch only know the name Holland, mainly from the time our ships sailed the oceans for trade and colonialism.

The two provinces of Holland are at the west-coast. So, most people in the west of The Netherlands don't mind if you call the place "Holland". But it's not correct when meaning any of the other 12 provinces (like calling a New Yorker a "Texan").

The word "Dutch" is not based on "Duits"
It's based on "Dietsch" which is the most ancient language of this area, from which Dutch, Flammisch and German languages have developed.

---