Which is politically correct in England, "The Netherlands" or "Holland" ???

Question

Which is politically correct in England, "The Netherlands" or "Holland" ???

Answer 1

do the scots, irish and welsh not get in on this.  its not just england you know. its Britain

Answer 2

Either are correct, and its nothing to do with politics.

Answer 3

Eithers fine

Answer 4

The correct term is the Netherlands.

Answer 5

The distinction between Netherlands and Holland is the fact, that  Netherland means the land itself and Holland means only a part of Netherland. Both expressions are used, but actually only Netherlands is correct when you want to talk about the whole country.

Answer 6

This 'argument' is just never going away, is it? I have answered a similar question before, quoting the souvenir (Tourist) industry as almost invariably marking souvenirs as 'A present from' or 'Greetings from' Holland.

Heineken brewery is also guilty of marking their beers as being imported from Holland, and I came across this site whilst looking up Euro 2008 from a Dutch perspective. Note the logo top left next to the KNVB logo ...................... Hup Holland Hup. On top of that, the last time I was in The Netherlands I actually bought a set of two car widow flags at a garage (sad or what), one of which has Holland printed along the white stripe.

To sum up I would say that both names are in frequent use by Nationals and Non Nationals alike, and both are recognised and accepted.  

http://www.oranjeartikelen-euro2008.nl/

Answer 7

It's nothing to do with political correctness. Strictly speaking, Holland is only one part of The Netherlands, so if you're referring to the whole country you should say the latter. But everyone will know what you mean, whichever one you say.

Answer 8

In English, the correct term is "The Netherlands"

As mentioned Holland is only a part - actually it is two of the 12 provinces here  - Noord Holland & Zuid Holland (North and South)

So this is the correct term, but indeed a lot of people abroad(including some Dutch for convenience sake's it has to be said) do refer to it as Holland.

There will be some people who correct you on it, if you use "Holland", but generally it is accepted and people know what you mean

Answer 9

Either is perfectly acceptable..