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The World Cup has advanced to the knockout bracket and the United States Men’s National Team is facing the Netherlands in the round of 16. The winner of the match advances to face the winner of Argentina vs. Australia while the loser of the match heads home with their World Cup trip finished.
As the match progresses, we are bound to hear the Netherlands referred to also as the Dutch and Holland. We hear the USA also called America, but that is at least pulled from the A in USA. For the Netherlands, it’s not quite as clear for the casual observer.
The official name of the country is the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country has a king, but is a constitutional monarchy, similar to England. The current King is Willem-Alexander and he has limited powers, but has a right to periodic briefings and consultations on government affairs. The country has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815.
The term Holland is often used interchangeably with the Netherlands, but in reality, Holland is actually just meant to cover the two provinces of North Holland and South Holland.
The term Dutch covers the people of the Netherlands and is of Germanic descent. You can see the similarity in Dutch vs. Deutchsland (Germany). According to one resource, it comes from a word meaning “of the people.”