Another Dutch dialect granted the status of regional language is Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg. Corporal punishment is discouraged by Dutch society. The average family in the country has one or two children. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Netherlands. The Dutch Golden Age roughly spanned the 17th century. The barrel organ and the accordion are used to play the levenslied music. Allegories, in which painted objects conveyed symbolic meaning about the subject, were often applied. The Netherlands has a population of around 17,151,228 individuals. Dutch is the country's official and most widely spoken language. It was all in the oral form, mainly as poetry, folktales and legends. (Normal Amsterdam Level) is the level between average high tide and average low tide, and the standard to which all lows and highs in the cou… In the 1960s and 1970s, the lyrics were mostly in English, and some tracks were instrumental. Sinterklaas has a companion known as Zwarte Piet, which in recent years has come under scrutiny in light of accusations of racist caricatures. Dutch is also spoken and official in Aruba, Brussels, Curaçao, Flanders, Sint Maarten and Suriname. The only exception are shows for children. The Dutch have all sorts of pastry and cookies (the word "cookie" is in fact derived from Dutch), many of them filled with marzipan, almond and chocolate. Amaze your friends and family during your visit to the Netherlands and see what new things you can discover about the country with these 15 interesting and fun facts about Dutch culture. Very close friends may greet each other by air kissing near the cheek three times, starting with the left cheek. 12. It is as well known as Mother's and Father's Day.[31]. There were as many as 4.27 million Dutch Americans, unknown percentage of which might be Flemings. Dutch cheeses and Dutch pastry are renowned. A large section of the Dutch people (50.7%) do not adhere to any religion. A large majority of the Dutch population believes that religion should not have a determining role to play in politics and education. The Netherlands often referred to as Holland, is a country located mostly in North Western Europe. Contemporary Dutch rock and pop music are also quite popular in the country. The largest of these is the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN), a United church which is Reformed and Lutheran in orientation. 1.There are still around 1200 windmills in the Netherlands today. Domestic Unit. The Culture Of The Netherlands Ethnicity, Language, and Religion in the Netherlands. Relief. Most households in the country are nuclear in nature but single-parent households are also rising in numbers. Perhaps the most notable example is the monarchy. Protestantism in the Netherlands consists of a number of churches within various traditions. More than a quarter of the Netherlands is under sea level Since the year 2000, there has been raised awareness of religion, mainly due to Muslim extremism. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Endemol has around 90 companies in over 30 countries. In 2006, 34% of the Dutch population identified as Christian,[3] decreasing till in 2015 almost 25% of the population adhered to one of the Christian faiths (11.7% Roman Catholic, 8.6% PKN, 4.2% other small Christian denominations), 5% is Muslim and 2% adheres to Hinduism or Buddhism, based on independent in-depth interviewing by Radboud University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Its official language is Dutch. Wonderful Wanderings Itineraries and practical travel tips However, such a requirement was not felt in the Netherlands. This includes schools based on religious principles by religious groups (especially Roman Catholic and various Protestant). 10. People are often confused about whether to refer to ‘the Netherlands’ or... 2. Athletes from the Netherlands have won numerous medals in both the Summer and the Winter Olympic Games. This celebration marks the beginning of the dark period before Christmas and the long days of winter. Frisian is the official language in the country’s Fryslan province. Current symphonic metal bands Epica and Within Temptation, as well as jazz/pop singer Caro Emerald are having some international success. In the 20th century, the Netherlands produced many fine painters and artists including (but not limited to): Roelof Frankot, Salomon Garf, Pyke Koch and many more. Lastly, a sister language of Dutch, Afrikaans, has emerged in recent years. Soils. It is also an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally strait-laced Dutch let down their hair,[29] often dyed orange for the occasion. Nearly 4.5 million people in the country are registered to one of the thousands of sports clubs existing there. Children's comic book series Miffy (Dutch: Nijntje) by Dick Bruna has been published in over 50 languages,[13] and predates the similarly drawn Hello Kitty by over ten years. The traditional musical genre of the country is called levenslied and involves songs with a simple rhythm and melody that are based on light but sentimental themes. This holiday is celebrated in some parts of Groningen, North Holland and the southern and middle part of Limburg and to a lesser extent in South Holland and Zeeland. [5] The Dutch constitution guarantees freedom of education, which means that all schools that adhere to general quality criteria receive the same government funding. Around 1905-1910 pointillism was flourishing. The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ()), informally Holland, is a country primarily located in Western Europe and partly in the Caribbean, forming the largest constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 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