Alderique:Países Baxos

Hi, I regret to type this in English instead of your native tongue, but maybe it's nice to include in this article that for some Dutch people, "Holland" (Holanda) is quite insulting. In Dutch language, Holland only refers to just 1/6th of the country of The Netherlands.

Good luck with your Uiquipedia! Regards, Sietske

The English wikipedia says the following:

"The province of Holland was the cultural, political and economic center of the United Provinces. The greatest cities of the provinces were located within the province of Holland such as Amsterdam (the capital), Rotterdam, Leiden, the Hague (the seat of government), Delft and Haarlem. From the great port cities of Holland, Dutch merchants sailed to and from destinations all over Europe, and merchants from all over Europe gathered to trade in the warehouses of Amsterdam and other trading cities of Holland. As a result, many Europeans heard of the United Provinces first as "Holland" rather than "Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands". This tradition continues to this day.

Thus, even though it is officially incorrect, the word Holland is often used by both Dutch (speaking) and foreign people to denote the entire Netherlands, possibly because "The Netherlands" ("Nederland" in Dutch) is more cumbersome. (Further trouble is caused when referring to Holland in Greek, as The Netherlands are there called Ολλανδια (Ollandia), which is also the Greek name for Holland). It is a common misconception for someone to refer to the Netherlands as Holland, because what they are suggesting is the province mentioned above. People from the other provinces of the Netherlands (such as Friesland, Groningen, North Brabant, Zeeland etc.) are often offended when referred to as "Hollanders"."

Sietske - 19:35, 4 setiembre 2005 (UTC)