Here are some basic facts about the country to get you started. A sort of Holland FAQ if you will.

WHERE IS HOLLAND?
Holland is located right in the middle of Western Europe. It is a coastal country, bordering the North Sea on its northern side. It has only two neighbors, Belgium and Germany. Unlike the many other European countries whose borders are blob-like and forgettable, Holland actually has a pretty unique and memorable shape.

THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY
There is a lot of confusion as to what Holland's "real" or "correct" name is. In Dutch, the country's full name is "Koninkrijk der Nederlanden" which means "Kingdom of the Netherlands." However this is just the country's formal, proper name, and in English the term "Netherlands" is usually only used in formal sources such as encyclopedias and maps. In casual Dutch, the country is referred to as simply Nederland, and it is this "stand-alone" name that most English translators translate as"Holland." The Dutch themselves widely translate Nederland to "Holland" when speaking or writing in English, so despite the concerns of some, there is really nothing wrong or ignorant about using this name.

But where does the name "Holland" come from in the first place, you ask. Well in the old days, as I will explain in greater detail in the history section, what is now the Kingdom of the Netherlands was just a loose confederation of self-governing provinces known as the United Republic. The largest and most influential province was called Holland, and since most of the important business and political dealings were done there, the name"Holland" quickly became synonymous with the entire Republic. Today there is actually no province of Holland at all anymore. It has since been split into two- North Holland and South Holland.

THE LANGUAGE
The main language of Holland is Dutch, a fairly obscure language spoken only in Holland and half of Belgium. It is apparently one of the closest languages to English, and indeed a lot of the words and grammer are very similar.

Dutch people are proud of their language, and practically everything in Holland is available in Dutch, from American magazines to Japanese video games. All foreign movies and TV shows shown in Holland are similarly subtitled with Dutch captions.

The Dutch are also a very practical people, however, and they are well aware that they do not speak the world's most useful language. As a result, most Dutch can also speak English fluently. The only exceptions tend to be old people and people who live in isolated areas away from big cities. The younger generation is understandably the most fluent in English, and this is often reflected by Dutch advertisers, who will often use English slogans or product names in order to appear "hip" to the younger crowd.

And just where does the term "Dutch" come from? Well, the Dutch themselves just call their language Nederlands so it's obviously something we outsiders made up. Basically, back before Holland and Germany were clearly defined countries, foreigners didn't really know who was what. The word "Dutch" is thus a bastardization of the word "Deutsch," which means "German."