31 Facts About The Dutch

1.

The Dutch are a Germanic ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands.

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2.

Traditional arts and culture of the Dutch encompasses various forms of traditional music, dances, architectural styles and clothing, some of which are globally recognizable.

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3.

The dominant religion of the Dutch is Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, but in modern times the majority are no longer religious.

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4.

Significant percentages of the Dutch are adherents of humanism, agnosticism, atheism or individual spirituality.

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5.

Linguistically Old Frankish gradually evolved into Old The Dutch, which was first attested in the 6th century, whereas religiously the Franks converted to Christianity from around 500 to 700.

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6.

The document itself clearly distinguishes between the Dutch speaking and French speaking parts of the Seventeen Provinces.

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7.

Dutch colonial empire comprised the overseas territories and trading posts controlled and administered by Dutch chartered companies and subsequently by the Dutch Republic, and by the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands after 1815.

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8.

The Dutch underwent none of these sound changes and thus occupies a central position in the West Germanic languages group.

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9.

Standard The Dutch has a sound inventory of 13 vowels, 6 diphthongs and 23 consonants, of which the voiceless velar fricative is considered a well known sound, perceived as typical for the language.

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10.

The Dutch is currently an official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Curacao, the European Union and the Union of South American Nations .

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11.

In South Africa and Namibia, Afrikaans is spoken, a daughter language of The Dutch, which itself was an official language of South Africa until 1983.

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12.

Generally, it can be said that the Northern The Dutch are more pragmatic, favor a direct approach, and display a less-exuberant lifestyle when compared to Southerners.

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13.

Northern The Dutch culture has been less influenced by French influence than the Southern The Dutch culture area.

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14.

Culturally, modern Frisians and the The Dutch are rather similar; the main and generally most important difference being that Frisians speak West Frisian, one of the three sub-branches of the Frisian languages, alongside The Dutch, and they find this to be a defining part of their identity as Frisians.

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15.

The Southern The Dutch, including The Dutch Brabant and Limburg, remained Catholic or returned to Catholicism.

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16.

The Dutch dialects spoken by this group are Brabantic, South Guelderish, Limburgish and East and West Flemish.

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17.

Southern The Dutch culture has been influenced more by French culture, as opposed to the Northern The Dutch culture area.

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18.

Since World War II, The Dutch emigrants have mainly departed the Netherlands for Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States, Belgium, Australia, and South Africa, in that order.

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19.

Today, large The Dutch communities exist in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Turkey, and New Zealand.

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20.

The Dutch Mennonites migrated as far as the Russian Empire, where they were offered land along the Volga River.

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21.

In some villages and towns a The Dutch Reformed church is present, and a number of border districts have towns and village with an etymologically The Dutch origin.

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22.

The Dutch colonisers began arriving shortly thereafter, making the Cape home to the oldest Western-based civilisation south of the Sahara.

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23.

Afrikaans, which developed from Middle The Dutch, has been influenced by English, Malay-Portuguese creole, and various African languages.

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24.

The Dutch was taught to South African students as late as 1914 and a few upper-class Afrikaners used it in polite society, but the first Afrikaans literature had already appeared in 1861.

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25.

In many cases, the Dutch were the first Europeans whom the people living there encountered.

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26.

The most of the Dutch population is held in Accra, where the Netherlands has its embassy.

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27.

The Dutch have remained a tightly knit community, especially in the large cities.

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28.

The Dutch had settled in America long before the establishment of the United States of America.

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29.

Nevertheless, many Dutch communities remained virtually isolated towards the rest of America up until the American Civil War, in which the Dutch fought for the North and adopted many American ways.

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30.

The Dutch were among the first Europeans settling in Brazil during the 17th century.

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31.

Many The Dutch settlers left Suriname after independence in 1975, which diminished the white The Dutch population in the country.

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