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The Languages and Religions of the People of the Netherlands

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The official language in the Netherlands is Dutch, and nearly everyone living there speaks it. Many people also speak Frisian, which sounds a lot like Dutch, German, and English. Towards the north and east of the Netherlands, a few dialects of Low Saxon are also spoken. The people living towards the south of the country speak varieties of German and Low Franconian (like West Flemish and Limburg).

In addition to their national languages, the people of the Netherlands almost always speak addition foreign languages. About 75% of the inhabitants of the Netherlands speak English, 60%, German, and 17%, French.

About 30% of the population of the Netherlands claims to be Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant, 8% "other", and 42% unaffiliated with a church. However, the worship service attendance indicates a different situation than the statistics do. About 70% of the people of the Netherlands never attend a church, temple, or other place of worship, and most who go rarely only do so for weddings or the like.

The "other" category that made up about 8% of the population is comprised of Muslims originally from places like Morocco and Turkey (approximately 920,000 individuals), Hindus originally brought from India as servants (about 200,000), and Jews (between 30,000 and 40,000). The numbers of Jews living in the Netherlands used to be so much higher (about 140,000) that Amsterdam, the capital, was called "Jerusalem of the West." However, most of these Dutch Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, and the remaining Dutch Jews are much more liberal than their Orthodox ancestors.

Next Page: The Attitude of the Dutch People

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