You might have heard about a Western European country called “The Netherlands” which lies in the west of Germany. Well, it is a part of the “Kingdom of The Netherlands” which is a constitutional monarchy and people speak Dutch and Scandinavian languages. The Netherlands means “lower countries” about its low elevation and flat topography.
Before independence from the Spanish Empire, the Netherlands used to comprise the Northern Netherlands and The Southern Netherlands. The Southern Netherlands is now Modern-day Belgium. There are twelve Dutch Provinces. Each of the Dutch Province has its provincial languages.
Dutch is commonly spoken in the Netherlands and about 99% of its population speaks the Dutch Language. So, its population is collectively also called Dutch about the name of the Netherlands Official and National language.
Dutch Accents
The Dutch people have their different accents of the Dutch language according to the provinces they originate from. A large number of Dutch People can speak and understand foreign languages easily.
About 90% to 93% of the Dutch people can speak and understand English and 70% of the population knows German very well. While, 29% of the population understands and can speak French and about 5% of the population speaks Spanish.
In this article, we will answer many of your unasked but important questions about the origin of the Dutch language, similarities between the Dutch and the other Scandinavian languages, the Dutch Golden Age.
Moreover, we will discuss the evolution of Dutch from a Germanic Language of the Middle Ages, the disambiguation regarding the Dutch as a Scandinavian language and all the other important information that you will need to know.