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The Netherlands is a small democratic country in the Northwest part of Europe. At the moment it has around 17 million inhabitants. Most of those inhabitants are Dutch, around 80%. 5% comes from other European countries and 15% comes from other parts of the world.
The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces. They all have their own capital city. They are shown on the map with red dots. The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam.
The Netherlands has had two big wars in its history. The First World War is a long time ago. Not only the Netherlands was involved in it, but the whole of what is nowadays called Europe was. Spain has been the leader in the Netherlands for a very long time; from 1556 to 1715. The Germans were the leaders in The Netherlands from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War. Still the Dutch celebrate their ‘Liberation Day’ at the fifth of May. All these key events in the Dutch history have influences on the generations we distinguish nowadays. For example Generation X. They might have a different opinion about the government, raising the youth and working. We will emphasise on this at the sub question ‘generations’.
In some cultures people think that children in the West show too little respect for the elderly in general and parents in particular. The fault is mostly given to the parents, they would not have brought up their children well. However, Dutch parents can see this as letting their children free in developing into the person they want to be. The opinion of foreign students who have studied for a couple of years in the Netherlands show that there are different perspectives about the Netherlands. For example, Dutch people do not visit other people unexpectedly and as well do not want other people just to come over to them. The Dutch therefore mostly call beforehand to see whether it is ok for you to come over. In addition, the Dutch business is very formal and there are many deadlines. For other cultures this can be seen as too formal and non-flexible.
In foreign cultures, people think that you have to stand up for an older person. Moreover, you should listen to your parents. You also must never protest against your family members, especially your father, in public. However, western children are sometimes rude to their parents. When they watch television, they sometimes give their parents orders about taking care of drinks and snacks. This causes miscommunication between the parents and their children. This is caused by a difference between the generation of the parents and the generation of the children. As well, this is because of the difference between the Netherlands and foreign countries. The Netherlands is more a “I”-country while other countries are described as a “We”-country. Dutch people are more on themselves and independent. As well, Dutch people do not always want to stand out, for example in their achievements. When you are an average person, that’s just fine. Of course this is not the case for every situation, but it shows the differences between cultures.
The Netherlands knows a lot of celebration days. For example King’s day, which had been Queen’s day until Willem Alexander became the King of the Netherlands. King’s day is celebrated on the 27th of April. Everyone is the Netherlands wears orange coloured clothes, play games and there are a lot of market stands.
Another important celebration is Sinterklaas. He is a very old man with a large white beard and wears a red cape and mitre. The Dutch children celebrate his birthday. For a few weeks he comes from Spain to the Netherlands and he gives present to all the children. In the weeks before his birthday, they can place their shoe in front of the fireplace or back door and the next morning there will be a present in it. On the fifth of December, his actual birthday is celebrated (although it is actually at the sixth of December). Black Pete and Sinterklaas will knock on the door and bring a lot of presents. Since Sinterklaas does not exist for real, parents dress up as Sinterklaas. For the older children and adults, Sinterklaas is still a celebration day. They will give presents to each other, often together with a poem (pretending as if Sinterklaas wrote it).
The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces. They all have their own capital city. They are shown on the map with red dots. The capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam.
The Netherlands has had two big wars in its history. The First World War is a long time ago. Not only the Netherlands was involved in it, but the whole of what is nowadays called Europe was. Spain has been the leader in the Netherlands for a very long time; from 1556 to 1715. The Germans were the leaders in The Netherlands from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War. Still the Dutch celebrate their ‘Liberation Day’ at the fifth of May. All these key events in the Dutch history have influences on the generations we distinguish nowadays. For example Generation X. They might have a different opinion about the government, raising the youth and working. We will emphasise on this at the sub question ‘generations’.
In some cultures people think that children in the West show too little respect for the elderly in general and parents in particular. The fault is mostly given to the parents, they would not have brought up their children well. However, Dutch parents can see this as letting their children free in developing into the person they want to be. The opinion of foreign students who have studied for a couple of years in the Netherlands show that there are different perspectives about the Netherlands. For example, Dutch people do not visit other people unexpectedly and as well do not want other people just to come over to them. The Dutch therefore mostly call beforehand to see whether it is ok for you to come over. In addition, the Dutch business is very formal and there are many deadlines. For other cultures this can be seen as too formal and non-flexible.
In foreign cultures, people think that you have to stand up for an older person. Moreover, you should listen to your parents. You also must never protest against your family members, especially your father, in public. However, western children are sometimes rude to their parents. When they watch television, they sometimes give their parents orders about taking care of drinks and snacks. This causes miscommunication between the parents and their children. This is caused by a difference between the generation of the parents and the generation of the children. As well, this is because of the difference between the Netherlands and foreign countries. The Netherlands is more a “I”-country while other countries are described as a “We”-country. Dutch people are more on themselves and independent. As well, Dutch people do not always want to stand out, for example in their achievements. When you are an average person, that’s just fine. Of course this is not the case for every situation, but it shows the differences between cultures.
The Netherlands knows a lot of celebration days. For example King’s day, which had been Queen’s day until Willem Alexander became the King of the Netherlands. King’s day is celebrated on the 27th of April. Everyone is the Netherlands wears orange coloured clothes, play games and there are a lot of market stands.
Another important celebration is Sinterklaas. He is a very old man with a large white beard and wears a red cape and mitre. The Dutch children celebrate his birthday. For a few weeks he comes from Spain to the Netherlands and he gives present to all the children. In the weeks before his birthday, they can place their shoe in front of the fireplace or back door and the next morning there will be a present in it. On the fifth of December, his actual birthday is celebrated (although it is actually at the sixth of December). Black Pete and Sinterklaas will knock on the door and bring a lot of presents. Since Sinterklaas does not exist for real, parents dress up as Sinterklaas. For the older children and adults, Sinterklaas is still a celebration day. They will give presents to each other, often together with a poem (pretending as if Sinterklaas wrote it).
Religions in the Netherlands
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