Hi staff,

First, thanks for this great site. Been an diamond member in the past, but since money is tight, now I'm a freeloading bas****. Enjoy the site very much, however, I would like to explain the difference between Holland and the Netherlands.

Holland (noord/zuid (north/south)) is a province, part of The Netherlands. It is not a country. People like me, who don't live in North or South Holland, but for example in Groningen or Limburg, don''t like to be called "Hollander'. We don't say New York when we mean the USA, neither do we say Koln when we mean Germany. Would you please consider changing the country state Holland to it's actual name, The Netherlands?

Kind regards,

Wilbert,

The Netherlands :)  

Also, UK != Great Britain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

for anyone interested to learn the difference.

Holland (noord/zuid (north/south)) is a province, part of The Netherlands

Interesting, I did not know that Wilbert, about your country, I learn something new everyday on chess.com

So do i :D

I've lived in NL for 25years but when I go back to the UK I find that some people know where Holland is but are a bit confused when you say The Netherlands

I can imagine when websites keep using Holland instead of the Netherlands :( Those poor souls :( We must educate them!

Or you could have a chess tournament

The All I ever wanted to know on Netherlands Tournament

I am so afraid that it will be filled with clichés  

Strangely enough, most germans know that Holland is not The Netherlands, but say "Holland" in common speech even if they actually mean The Netherlands (I have no idea why).

Well, it's even worse... the dutchies from Holland, seem to think Netherlands is Holland 

Wilbert, in most other languages it is Holland, Hollande, Olanda, etc. There are exceptions like French (Pay Bas) and other but mostly a derivative of Holland.

It can be wost: americans call you "dutch" which comes actually from Deutsch.

I do love Amsterdam, never had a chance to see more of the country but I will one day, I love the football there but it looks to me like the country is going on the far "right."

Well, I guess that when hard times are coming everybody does the same.

Take care

Yes, I am aware that people tend to say Holland, but look at the real name. In websites 9 out of 10 times they use a standard list for the countries, in that list it's also Netherlands. I'm just asking the staf to consider naming the country by its name :) 

 Well on the political issue, trust me, most people don't want that. They came up with a construction that set aside democracy. A minority is ruling the country, with support of Geert Wilders. And for power our 'liberal' party (the VVD) is more then willing to set aside any principles. But, it won't last long. They have this period and if they can make it thru, they will be exit. But probably and hopefully, before they make a complete term.  Most people in the Netherlands aren't on the right side of the spectrum, especially not the extreme right side. Unfortunally we have some populists now and some people fall for it :( But it's a long story and maybe this forum isn't the place to discuss that issue. 

@sunnyman57: your confusing and complicating things. What the Netherlands translates to in other languages doesn't matter, this is about the English translation. And people from the Neterlands are Dutch, so it's correct to call them Dutch. But that's about the people who live in the Netherlands and not about the translation of the country the Netherlands.

And I agree with Wilbert of course. The country we live in is Nederland (in dutch) and the correct translation of "Nederland" is "the Netherlands".

I will be rooting for your home in Euro 2012, Wilbert

I do not really understand football, but orange is a groovy color on 10 men chasing a ball, on grass while one dude just stands around in long-sleeved Tee with gloves guarding what looks like an over-sized fish net

you cant help but to root for a team that wears an orange groovy tee

(I hope I did not offend you football crazied peeps, for I know you are not as bad as chess crazied peeps, right?)

I understand the point he, and you, are making. Holland is a region of The Netherlands (country). That someone here put down the country as Holland not as it should be The Netherlands. Most likely it is ignorance and your comments are welcome.

One point I was trying to make is that, like it or not, Holland  is also accepted in languages that are not germanic (including english). Through asimilation I guess. 

As far as "dutch" goes, I was very surprised when I found out that it came from "deutsch" and that it refered to different things at the same time:

"Dutch plural

well said, Wilbert! hope they change it soon

@AnnaZafi: there are 11 of them :D 

But to be honest, I never cheer for the goalkeeper either, unless he catches a ball

@to the others, thank you :D
I know that it looks like I am making a big deal out of it, that isn't the case, it's just that I'm from the Netherlands and not from Holland... But then I again, I'm a 'Limburger'  

 Edit: and Sunnyman, no offence taken, you just brought up a fair point! 

And the wiki in support :P http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands 

The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces

They'll always be "hollanders" to me. "The Netherlands", atleast the plural in that name, makes me think about when we kicked the hollanders out of our country. The same thing with Pays-Bas...the plural is archaic and still refers to when we were under Willem's thumb. Just joking there, buurman!

Edit; and as most people do, I checked the wiki and found out that the whole region was actually called Belgica, lol.