The European region known as the Low Countries, historically also known as the Netherlands or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Benelux" countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands – which English and French give the same name as the traditional regional name. Geographically and historically, the area also includes parts of France and Germany such as French Flanders and the German regions of East Frisia and Cleves. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were divided into numerous semi-independent principalities.
The Low Countries as seen from space
Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, National Gallery, London
Sack of Maastricht by the Tercios de Flandes (Flemish Regiments) in 1579
Siege and capture of Tournai (1581)
Dutch is a West Germanic language, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the third most spoken Germanic language. In Europe, Dutch is the native language of most of the population of the Netherlands and Flanders. In South America, it is the native language of the majority of the population of Suriname, and spoken as a second language in the polyglot Caribbean island countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. All these countries have recognised Dutch as one of their official languages, and are involved in one way or another in the Dutch Language Union. Dutch Caribbean municipalities have Dutch as one of the official languages too. Up to half a million native speakers reside in the United States, Canada and Australia combined, and historical linguistic minorities on the verge of extinction remain in parts of France and Germany.
The Utrecht baptismal vow
Title page of the Statenvertaling (1637) reads: Biblia ... Uyt de Oorspronckelijcke talen in onse Neder-landtsche tale getrouwelijck over-geset. (English: From the Original languages into our Dutch language faithfully translated.
Indonesia did not adopt the Dutch language after independence. However the Indonesian language absorbed a lot of Dutch vocabulary into its language. Seen here is the kantor pos (from Dutch postkantoor), meaning post office.
Standard Dutch used in a 1916 ad in South Africa before Afrikaans replaced Dutch for use in media