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Subject:RE: the Netherlands vs. The Netherlands From:"Garrett Winn" <garrett1 -at- garrettwinn -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:21:14 -0600
Also important to know is that The Netherlands and Holland is not the same
(Holland is a province in The Netherlands - or "het kikker landtje" as I
like to affectionately call it).
Also, New York did indeed used to be called New Amsterdam, but that does not
really seem to apply here.
However, to re-validate what Mr. Hiemstra said, you always want to
capitalize the "The" in The Netherlands.
Enjoy!
Garrett Winn
(former resident of) The Netherlands
-----Original Message-----
From: Johan Hiemstra [mailto:webmaster -at- techexams -dot- net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 10:37 AM
To: 'T K'; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com; techcomm -at- user -dot- itconsult -dot- co -dot- uk
Subject: RE: the Netherlands vs. The Netherlands
Hi,
The correct spelling of the 'name' (not term...) is The Netherlands. Writing
it without the cap in The is simply incorrect.
Johan Hiemstra
The Netherlands :)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+webmaster=techexams -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+webmaster=techexams -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of T K
> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 18:25
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com; techcomm -at- user -dot- itconsult -dot- co -dot- uk
> Subject: the Netherlands vs. The Netherlands
>
> Hi,
>
> I have a question in relation to the correct spelling of the term "The
> Netherlands". If the word "The" is at the start of a sentence there is no
> ambiguity but if it occurs mid-sentence I am seeing conflicting opinions
> as to whether it should be "...of the Netherlands" or "...of The
> Netherlands".
>
> Would anybody be able to advise?
>
> I apologise if this seems like a very basic question, but I am unable to
> find a conclusive answer on sites such as the ISO list of country names
> (http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-
> lists/list-en1.html),
> and indeed searching various websites throws up a mixture of both
> capitalisation and non-capitalisation so it would seem I am not the only
> one who is unsure.
>
> Wiktionary says that the proper noun is "the Netherlands"
> (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dutch) and indeed the Wikipedia naming
> conventions page indicates "of the Netherlands" and "of The Gambia" so it
> would seem that Wikipedia acknowledges that some countries can have the
> definite article capitalised mid-sentence, but not the Netherlands.
>
> I guess my question becomes how authoritative a source is Wikipedia?
>
> The official title seems to be "Kingdom of the Netherlands" (rather than
> "Kingdom of The Netherlands") so it would follow that it should be "...of
> the Netherlands". However sites such as Ethnologue omit the definite
> article and refer to terms such as "Languages of Netherlands" - see
>http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=NL
>
> Thanks,
> Thomas.
>
>
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