Why did the Netherlands change its name to the Netherlands?

Why did the Netherlands change its name to the Netherlands?

Not long ago, the Netherlands announced that it would no longer use the name "Holland" and would change its official name to "Netherlands". In fact, the country's official name has long been "The Kingdom of the Netherlands". The word "Holland" is just a common name. At the same time, the Netherlands is only a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the provinces of North Holland and South Holland.

How do the words "Netherlands" and "Netherlands" get mixed up? This needs to start with the country’s history. An earlier name for this area of ??the Netherlands was "the lowlands". Indeed, more than half of the Netherlands lies below sea level, and water can only be removed by windmills.

Although the Netherlands is not suitable for agricultural production, industry and commerce are very developed. The Netherlands is the estuary of the Rhine, the largest river in Western Europe. It has been a trade transit base for Northern Europe since the Middle Ages. Therefore, the seeds of capitalism began to appear in the 14th century. During the Age of Discovery, the Netherlands used its own advantages to engage in resale trade and gradually became the financial and shipping center of Europe.

Later, Charles V of Spain became the king of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands became the treasury of Spain. Half of the Spanish Empire’s financial revenue came from the Netherlands. Spain also suppressed the Reformation in the Netherlands. Eventually, these actions sparked the Netherlands' independence revolution. In 1573, the seven provinces in the northern Netherlands declared independence and later established the "United Provinces of the Netherlands". William, the governor of the Netherlands, was elected to rule. Because the Netherlands is at the core of the provinces, it is also called the "Dutch Republic".

Unfortunately, the independence movement in the Southern Province resulted in the rebellion of the nobles, leading to the failure of independence. It was still under Spanish control and was called the "Spanish Netherlands", which was later collectively known as Belgium. In 1713, Belgium passed to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. In 1794, French Napoleon defeated Austria and occupied Belgium. In 1810, France annexed the Netherlands.

In 1814, after the collapse of the First French Empire, European countries held the Congress of Vienna and decided to assign Belgium to the Netherlands and establish the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This was the first time the Netherlands had been unified in modern times. However, many people in Belgium demanded independence and the Kingdom of Belgium was proclaimed in 1830. In this way, the Netherlands was permanently divided.

For a long time, the official name used by the Netherlands has been "Netherlands", but many institutions still use the name "Netherlands". However, the Dutch government has stipulated that starting from January 2020, Dutch government agencies, embassies, consulates, companies, etc. will use the name Netherlands in external activities.