Dutch

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken primarily in the Netherlands being its official language and in several former Dutch colonies in Africa. Dutch grammar shares many common features with German, but has a less complicated morphology. Additionally, all speakers of other languages in the Netherlands are also fluent in Dutch.

Map of Dutch language speakers.
Enlarge
Map of Dutch language speakers.

Basic stats

Total speakers: native: 31 million: 23 million speakers of Dutch as first language, plus 4 million with Dutch as second language; 7 million speakers of Afrikaans as first language, plus 10 million with Afrikaans as second language.

Main Countries: Netherlands, also spoken in Aruba, Belgium, France, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia

Alternate names: Nederlands, Hollands

ISO 639-3 Code: nld


Language Sample

Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren. Zij zijn begiftigd met verstand en geweten, en behoren zich jegens elkander in een geest van broederschap te gedragen.

(Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1)


Some proverbs in Dutch:

Als je moet, dan kun je veel
If you must, you can [do] a lot

Beter ten halve gekeerd dan ten volle gedwaald
It's better to turn around halfway, then to get lost completely

De een z'n dood is de ander z'n brood
One person's death is another's bread

Product Availability

The following products are currently available in Dutch:

  • For Consumers

(Coming soon)

Sources

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