General information
2010/02/22
At present, the provinces of North and South Holland are the most heavily populated of all the provinces, encompassing Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and other well-known Dutch cities such as Delft and Leiden.
Dutch society is multicultural. The country’s historical ties with other parts of the world has for decades brought people of non-Dutch origin to settle in Holland.
The Dutch are accustomed to interacting with people from around the world, and, above all, to working with them. This cultural diversity has made Holland into a place where knowledge, ideas and cultures from all over the world come together.
Although Dutch is the national language, the majority of the population also speaks English and very often another foreign language, such as German or French.
Population
16,410,046 (March 2008).
Holland is the third most crowded country in the world.
Ethnic composition
Of the current population, 18% are of recent foreign descent (another EU member state, Indonesia, Suriname, Turkey, Morocco or the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba).
Residents of non-Dutch descent
3.2 million.
Religion
52% identify themselves as Christian, 40% claim no affiliation, 8% belong to other religions.
National language
Dutch; Frisian is spoken as a second language by some 400,000 people living in the northern province of Friesland.