Forgotten world (53): The Netherlands

The Netherlands – a nation of just over 16 million – is often referred to by the name Holland. This is not terminologically precise, as the provinces of North and South Holland in the western Netherlands are only two of the country’s 12 provinces.
In the 17th century, the country was a great maritime nation which rivalled England which is why the English language has so many derogatory terms about the Dutch (such as “Dutch courage”).
The bitter experience of invasion and occupation during World War II led the Netherlands to abandon neutrality in 1945 and become a leading supporter of international cooperation. Although their country has traditionally been one of the keener advocates of the European Union, Dutch voters echoed those in France when a referendum spurned the proposed EU constitution in 2005.
In the post-war years, the Netherlands has been noted for its relaxed liberal policies towards drugs, prostitution, same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. However, this reputation is being challenged by growing anti-immigrant sentiments and the killing of the poltician Kim Fortuyn and the film-maker Theo van Gogh.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 20th, 2006 at 6:18 am and is filed under World current affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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