National Police Corps ( Dutch : Korps Nationale Politie ), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force , is divided in ten regional units, two national units, the police academy, police services center, and national dispatch center cooperation. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the courts , and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different agencies, are also commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress. The police commissioner (eerste hoofdcommissaris) in the Netherlands is Janny Knol since March 1, 2024.
202-592: Besides police officers, the Netherlands has about 23,500 peace officers. These officers have a Special Enforcement Officer (SEO) status ( Buitengewoon Opsporingsambtenaar ) or BOA/Handhaving in Dutch and therefore have police powers (detaining suspects, ask for identification, make an arrest, issue fines within their power of offences and use force). They can be found within the transport police, game wardens and local enforcement agencies. The majority of BOA officers have
404-479: A pars pro toto for the entire country. Many Dutch people object to the country being referred to as Holland instead of the Netherlands , on much the same grounds as many Welsh or Scottish people object to the United Kingdom being referred to as England. In particular, those from regions other than Holland find it undesirable or misrepresentative to use the term Holland for the whole country, as
606-578: A common ancestor with languages such as English, German, and the Scandinavian languages . All Germanic languages are subject to the Grimm's law and Verner's law sound shifts, which originated in the Proto-Germanic language and define the basic features differentiating them from other Indo-European languages. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in
808-467: A schwa . The Middle Dutch dialect areas were affected by political boundaries. The sphere of political influence of a certain ruler often also created a sphere of linguistic influence, with the language within the area becoming more homogenous. Following the contemporary political divisions they are in order of importance: A process of standardisation started in the Middle Ages , especially under
1010-601: A synod taking place in Corbridge , England , where the decisions are being written down " tam Latine quam theodisce " meaning "in Latin as well as common vernacular". According to a hypothesis by De Grauwe, In northern West Francia (i.e. modern-day Belgium) the term would take on a new meaning during the Early Middle Ages , when, within the context of a highly dichromatic linguistic landscape, it came to be
1212-458: A Spanish prisoner, nailed it on a vessel's prow, and invited the townsmen to come and fasten their teeth in it, which many did with savage satisfaction. The Duke of Alba attempted to suppress the Protestant movement in the Netherlands. Netherlanders were "burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive" by his " Blood Council " and Spanish soldiers. Bodies were displayed along roads to terrorise
1414-576: A comparison between the West Germanic languages, see the sections Phonology, Grammar, and Vocabulary. Dutch dialects are primarily the dialects that are both related with the Dutch language and are spoken in the same language area as the Dutch standard language . Although heavily under the influence of the standard language, some of them remain diverse and are found in the Netherlands and in
1616-431: A complaint about litter or an inconveniently parked car. There are also more serious calls that need direct attention, like an accident with injuries, a stabbing, a burglary, vandalism; all events where the police have to act and reassure. Surveillance is not only done from the patrol car, but also from a motorbike or a horse. Especially in crowded malls surveillance is often done on foot or (motor)bike. The men and women on
1818-467: A consequence evolve (along with Alemannic , Bavarian and Lombardic ) into Old High German. At more or less the same time the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law, moving over Western Europe from west to east, led to the development of Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Old Frisian and Old Saxon . Hardly influenced by either development, Old Dutch probably remained relatively close to the original language of
2020-684: A distinct governmental structure of their own. They were utilized as a buffer zone between the Republic and the Spanish-controlled Southern Netherlands . In the Dutch Golden Age , spanning much of the 17th century, the Dutch Empire grew to become one of the major seafaring and economic powers. Science, military and art (especially painting ) were among the most acclaimed in the world. By 1650,
2222-469: A district chief. Each district consists of a number of local units, called basiseenheden (basic units) or teams. The "police strength", the number of constables and other police employees in a region is determined by the number of inhabitants and the amount of crime in the region. So the smallest regional force counts about 3,000 police officers, while the largest one counts more than 8,000 police employees. There are about 66,000 police employees serving in
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#17327760977122424-515: A long record of social tolerance , having legalised prostitution and euthanasia , along with maintaining a liberal drug policy . The Netherlands allowed women's suffrage in 1919 and was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. Its mixed-market advanced economy has the eleventh-highest per capita income globally. The Hague holds the seat of the States General , Cabinet , and Supreme Court . The Port of Rotterdam
2626-551: A mercantile middle class began to develop in these urban areas, especially in Flanders, and later Brabant. Wealthy cities started to buy certain privileges for themselves from the sovereign. Around 1100 AD, farmers from Flanders and Utrecht began draining and cultivating uninhabited swampy land in the western Netherlands, making the emergence of the County of Holland as the centre of power possible. The title of Count of Holland
2828-582: A minority language in Germany and northern France's French Flanders . Though Belgium as a whole is multilingual, three of the four language areas into which the country is divided ( Flanders , francophone Wallonia , and the German-speaking Community ) are largely monolingual, with Brussels being bilingual. The Netherlands and Belgium produce the vast majority of music , films , books and other media written or spoken in Dutch. Dutch
3030-670: A minority) and the province of Walloon Brabant . Brabantian expands into small parts in the west of Limburg while its strong influence on the East Flemish of East Flanders and eastern Zeelandic Flanders weakens towards the west. In a small area in the northwest of North Brabant ( Willemstad ), Hollandic is spoken. Conventionally, the Kleverlandish dialects are distinguished from Brabantian, but there are no objective criteria apart from geography to do so. Over 5 million people live in an area with some form of Brabantian being
3232-571: A more prominent role and provides support with specific expertise and special resources. The service does this in close collaboration with the National Coordinator for Counter terrorism and Security , and the Public Prosecution Service . The National Unit Investigation & Interventions works at a national and international level to combat serious and organized crime , terrorism, and cybercrime . In addition,
3434-420: A number of closely related, mutually intelligible dialects spoken in the former Old Dutch area. Where Old Dutch fragments are very hard to read for untrained Modern Dutch speakers, the various literary works of Middle Dutch are somewhat more accessible. The most notable difference between Old and Middle Dutch is in a feature of speech known as vowel reduction , whereby vowels in unstressed syllables are leveled to
3636-579: A political border, because the traditional dialects are strongly influenced by the national standard varieties. While a somewhat heterogeneous group of Low Franconian dialects, Limburgish has received official status as a regional language in the Netherlands and Germany, but not in Belgium. Due to this official recognition, it receives protection by chapter 2 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . Afrikaans , although to
3838-413: A result, Nederduits no longer serves as a synonym for the Dutch language. In the 19th century, the term " Diets " was revived by Dutch linguists and historians as well, as a poetic name for Middle Dutch and its literature . Old Dutch can be discerned more or less around the same time as Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Old High German , Old Frisian , and Old Saxon . These names are derived from
4040-509: A result, when West Flemings try to talk Standard Dutch, they are often unable to pronounce the g-sound, and pronounce it similar to the h-sound. This leaves, for example, no difference between " held " (hero) and " geld " (money). Or in some cases, they are aware of the problem, and hyper-correct the "h" into a voiced velar fricative or g-sound, again leaving no difference. The West Flemish variety historically spoken in adjacent parts in France
4242-473: A second or third 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 . The Dutch Caribbean municipalities ( St. Eustatius , Saba and Bonaire ) have Dutch as one of the official languages. In Asia, Dutch
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#17327760977124444-522: A significant degree mutually intelligible with Dutch, is usually not considered a dialect but instead a separate standardised language . It is spoken in South Africa and Namibia. As a daughter language of 17th-century Dutch dialects, Afrikaans evolved in parallel with modern Dutch, but was influenced by various other languages in South Africa. West Frisian ( Westerlauwers Fries ), along with Saterland Frisian and North Frisian , evolved from
4646-419: A somewhat different development since the late Middle Ages. Two dialect groups have been given the official status of regional language (or streektaal ) in the Netherlands. Like several other dialect groups, both are part of a dialect continuum that continues across the national border. The Dutch Low Saxon dialect area comprises the provinces of Groningen , Drenthe and Overijssel , as well as parts of
4848-424: A source language, mainly for law and history students. In Indonesia this involves about 35,000 students. Unlike other European nations, the Dutch chose not to follow a policy of language expansion amongst the indigenous peoples of their colonies. In the last quarter of the 19th century, however, a local elite gained proficiency in Dutch so as to meet the needs of expanding bureaucracy and business. Nevertheless,
5050-433: A state of almost continual war or paradoxically formed personal unions. As Frankish settlement progressed from Flanders and Brabant, the area quickly became Old Low Franconian (or Old Dutch). Around 1000 AD, due to several agricultural developments, the economy started to develop at a fast pace, and the higher productivity allowed workers to farm more land or become tradesmen. Towns grew around monasteries and castles , and
5252-424: A strengthened national intelligence picture by operating at a (inter)national level. Its main goal is to increase and strengthen the operational strength of the police. The unit makes high-quality knowledge, skills, intelligence/information, technology, and equipment available to other units and, where possible, to other security partners. In addition, it carries out broad police tasks (enforcement and investigation) on
5454-621: A timeline of the Dutch National Police's history. The Dutch Police history starts in 1581, with the formation of the Dutch Republic . A simple police organization was created without clear tasks and powers. This stayed the same until 1810, when Napoleon annexed the Netherlands to the French Empire and started to set up a proper police force. Cities could free up money for a schout ( sheriff ); for towns this
5656-497: A total area of 41,543 km (16,040 sq mi), including water bodies, and a land area of 33,481 km (12,927 sq mi). The Caribbean Netherlands has a total area of 328 km (127 sq mi) It lies between latitudes 50° and 54° N , and longitudes 3° and 8° E . The Netherlands is geographically very low relative to sea level and is considered a flat country, with about 26% of its area and 21% of its population below sea level. The European part of
5858-552: A unique prestige dialect and has a large dialectal continuum consisting of 28 main dialects, which can themselves be further divided into at least 600 distinguishable varieties. In the Netherlands, the Hollandic dialect dominates in national broadcast media while in Flanders Brabantian dialect dominates in that capacity, making them in turn unofficial prestige dialects in their respective countries. Outside
6060-537: Is kantor , handdoek "towel" in Indonesian is handuk , or bushalte "bus stop" in Indonesian is halte bus . In addition, many Indonesian words are calques of Dutch; for example, rumah sakit "hospital" is calqued on the Dutch ziekenhuis (literally "sickhouse"), kebun binatang "zoo" on dierentuin (literally "animal garden"), undang-undang dasar "constitution" from grondwet (literally "ground law"). These account for some of
6262-642: Is Sranan Tongo , spoken natively by about a fifth of the population. Netherlands – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union (light green) The Netherlands , informally Holland , is a country in Northwestern Europe , with overseas territories in the Caribbean . It is the largest of the four constituent countries of
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6464-506: Is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family , 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 (which includes 60% of the population of Belgium ). Dutch was one of the official languages of South Africa until 1925, when it
6666-466: Is a calque of the aforementioned Roman province Germania Inferior and an attempt by early Dutch grammarians to give their language more prestige by linking it to Roman times. Likewise, Hoogduits ("High German") and Overlands ("Upper-landish") came into use as a Dutch exonym for the various German dialects used in neighboring German states. Use of Nederduytsch was popular in the 16th century but ultimately lost out over Nederlands during
6868-473: Is a monocentric language , at least what concerns its written form, with all speakers using the same standard form (authorised by the Dutch Language Union ) based on a Dutch orthography defined in the so-called " Green Booklet " authoritative dictionary and employing the Latin alphabet when writing; however, pronunciation varies between dialects. Indeed, in stark contrast to its written uniformity, Dutch lacks
7070-474: Is also an official language of several international organisations, such as the European Union , Union of South American Nations and the Caribbean Community . At an academic level, Dutch is taught in about 175 universities in 40 countries. About 15,000 students worldwide study Dutch at university. In Europe, Dutch is the majority language in the Netherlands (96%) and Belgium (59%) as well as
7272-538: Is an emergency , and what priority the situation is, there are three priorities(One: use of lights and sirens, the vehicle is considered a priority vehicle. Two: no use of light and sirens, but vehicle has certain exemptions like driving the wrong way, parking on sidewalk, etc. Three: no use of lights and sirens and no exemptions, the vehicle is a regular road user). Coming soon The daily police uniform has slide-on ranks, partly for quick replacement, while dress and parade uniforms have fixed, more professional ranks. Within
7474-543: Is fitted with a container for various hand tools. Distinct are the riot control units (ME) and the SWAT (AT) units. Main all-purpose patrol vehicle: All-purpose vehicle: Fast intervention Unit (LX) Riot police transport (ME) For various other tasks the DNP uses: Since 2012, the new Dutch Police Law (Politiewet 2012) passed. The article which describes the police, has been changed from article 2, to article 3. Article 3 of
7676-587: Is found in the Salic law . In this Frankish document written around 510 the oldest Dutch sentence has been identified: Maltho thi afrio lito ("I say to you, I free you, serf") used to free a serf. Another old fragment of Dutch is Visc flot aftar themo uuatare ("A fish was swimming in the water"). The oldest conserved larger Dutch text is the Utrecht baptismal vow (776–800) starting with Forsachistu diobolae ... ec forsacho diabolae (litt.: "Forsake you
7878-471: Is mostly Germanic; it incorporates slightly more Romance loans than German, but far fewer than English. In Belgium, the Netherlands and Suriname, the native official name for Dutch is Nederlands (historically Nederlandsch before the Dutch orthographic reforms ). Sometimes Vlaams (" Flemish ") is used as well to describe Standard Dutch in Flanders , whereas Hollands (" Hollandic ")
8080-706: Is now the southern Netherlands: the Menapii and the Eburones . Under Augustus , the Roman Empire would conquer the entirety of the modern day Netherlands, incorporating it into the province of Germania Antiqua in 7 BC, but would be repelled back across the Rhine after the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, with the Rhine becoming fixed as Rome's permanent northern frontier around 12 AD. Notable towns would arise along
8282-487: Is occasionally used as a colloquial term for the standard language in the central and northwestern parts of the Netherlands. English uses the adjective Dutch as a noun for the language of the Netherlands and Flanders. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz . The stem of this word, *þeudō , meant "people" in Proto-Germanic, and *-iskaz was an adjective-forming suffix, of which -ish
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8484-569: Is so distinct that it might be considered as a separate language variant, although the strong significance of language in Belgian politics would prevent the government from classifying them as such. An oddity of the dialect is that, the voiced velar fricative (written as "g" in Dutch) shifts to a voiced glottal fricative (written as "h" in Dutch), while the letter "h" becomes mute (like in French). As
8686-585: Is sometimes called French Flemish and is listed as a French minority language . However, only a very small and aging minority of the French-Flemish population still speaks and understands West Flemish. Hollandic is spoken in Holland and Utrecht , though the original forms of this dialect (which were heavily influenced by a West Frisian substratum and, from the 16th century on, by Brabantian dialects ) are now relatively rare. The urban dialects of
8888-637: Is spoken in Limburg (Belgium) as well as in the remaining part of Limburg (Netherlands) and extends across the German border. West Flemish ( Westvlaams ) is spoken in West Flanders , the western part of Zeelandic Flanders and also in French Flanders , where it virtually became extinct to make way for French. The West Flemish group of dialects, spoken in West Flanders and Zeeland ,
9090-595: Is taught in various educational centres in Indonesia, the most important of which is the Erasmus Language Centre (ETC) in Jakarta . Each year, some 1,500 to 2,000 students take Dutch courses there. In total, several thousand Indonesians study Dutch as a foreign language. Owing to centuries of Dutch rule in Indonesia, many old documents are written in Dutch. Many universities therefore include Dutch as
9292-662: Is the Modern English form. Theodiscus was its Latinised form and used as an adjective referring to the Germanic vernaculars of the Early Middle Ages . In this sense, it meant "the language of the common people". The term was used as opposed to Latin , the non -native language of writing and the Catholic Church . It was first recorded in 786, when the Bishop of Ostia writes to Pope Adrian I about
9494-640: Is the busiest in Europe . Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands , and the fourth busiest in Europe . Being a developed country , the Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union , Eurozone , G10 , NATO , OECD , and WTO , as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts intergovernmental organisations and international courts , many of which are in The Hague. The countries that comprise
9696-404: Is the case with the ( standardised ) West Frisian language . It is spoken alongside Dutch in the province of Friesland . Dutch dialects and regional languages are not spoken as often as they used to be, especially in the Netherlands. Recent research by Geert Driessen shows that the use of dialects and regional languages among both Dutch adults and youth is in heavy decline. In 1995, 27 percent of
9898-530: Is the sole official language, and over 60 percent of the population speaks it as a mother tongue . Dutch is the obligatory medium of instruction in schools in Suriname, even for non-native speakers. A further twenty-four percent of the population speaks Dutch as a second language . Suriname gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1975 and has been an associate member of the Dutch Language Union since 2004. The lingua franca of Suriname, however,
10100-531: The 2006 New Zealand census , 26,982 people, or 0.70 percent of the total population, reported to speak Dutch to sufficient fluency that they could hold an everyday conversation. In contrast to the colonies in the East Indies , from the second half of the 19th century onwards, the Netherlands envisaged the expansion of Dutch in its colonies in the West Indies . Until 1863, when slavery was abolished in
10302-677: The Batavian rebellion of 69 AD but were eventually defeated. The Batavi later merged with other tribes into the confederation of the Salian Franks, whose identity emerged in the first half of the third century. Salian Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies. They were forced by the confederation of the Saxons from the east to move over the Rhine into Roman territory in the fourth century. From their new base in West Flanders and
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#173277609771210504-526: The Bergakker inscription , found near the Dutch city of Tiel , which may represent a primary record of 5th-century Frankish. Although some place names recorded in Roman texts such as vadam (modern Dutch: wad , English: "mudflat"), could arguably be considered as the oldest single "Dutch" words, the Bergakker inscription yields the oldest evidence of Dutch morphology. However, interpretations of
10706-455: The Brussels and Flemish regions of Belgium . The areas in which they are spoken often correspond with former medieval counties and duchies. The Netherlands (but not Belgium) distinguishes between a dialect and a streektaal (" regional language "). Those words are actually more political than linguistic because a regional language unites a large group of very different varieties. Such is
10908-521: The C2000 system and the CityGIS (GPS) system. C2000 is the digital, secure communications system and, with CityGIS, police cars can be tracked on a map using GPS , which can be reported to the communications center using a VDO navigation system. In the Netherlands basic police work consists of the following tasks: The Dutch government is keen to put more and more police "on the street". This means that
11110-496: The Caribbean territories . Netherlands literally means "lower countries" in reference to its low elevation and flat topography, with 26% below sea level . Most of the areas below sea level, known as polders , are the result of land reclamation that began in the 14th century . In the Republican period , which began in 1588, the Netherlands entered a unique era of political, economic, and cultural greatness, ranked among
11312-517: The Eighty Years' War between the Provinces and their Spanish ruler began. The level of ferocity exhibited by both sides can be gleaned from a Dutch chronicler's report: On more than one occasion men were seen hanging their own brothers, who had been taken prisoners in the enemy's ranks... A Spaniard had ceased to be human in their eyes. On one occasion, a surgeon at Veer cut the heart from
11514-640: The European Economic Community and European Atomic Energy Community . In 1993, the former two were incorporated into the European Union . Government-encouraged emigration efforts to reduce population density prompted some 500,000 Dutch to leave the country after the war. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of great social and cultural change, such as rapid de- pillarisation . Students and other youth rejected traditional mores and pushed for change in matters such as women's rights , sexuality , disarmament and environmental issues . In 2002
11716-554: The High German consonant shift , does not use Germanic umlaut as a grammatical marker, has largely abandoned the use of the subjunctive , and has levelled much of its morphology , including most of its case system . Features shared with German, however, include the survival of two to three grammatical genders – albeit with few grammatical consequences – as well as the use of modal particles , final-obstruent devoicing , and (similar) word order . Dutch vocabulary
11918-581: The Hilversum culture . Iron ore brought a measure of prosperity and was available throughout the country. Smiths travelled from settlement to settlement with bronze and iron, fabricating tools on demand. The King's grave of Oss (700 BC) was found in a burial mound, the largest of its kind in Western Europe. The deteriorating climate in Scandinavia from 850 BC and 650 BC might have triggered
12120-577: The Holland region only comprises two of the twelve provinces, and 38% of Dutch citizens. As of 2019, the Dutch government officially has preferred the Netherlands instead of Holland when talking about the country . Often Holland or Hollanders is used by the Flemish to refer to the Dutch in the Netherlands, and by the Southern Dutch (Dutch living " below the great rivers ", a natural cultural, social and religious boundary formed by
12322-753: The Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies . In 1944–45, the First Canadian Army liberated much of the Netherlands. Soon after VE Day , the Dutch fought a colonial war against the new Republic of Indonesia . In 1954, the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands reformed the political structure as a result of international pressure to carry out decolonisation . The Dutch colonies of Surinam and Curaçao and Dependencies and
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#173277609771212524-441: The Kingdom of the Netherlands . The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces ; it borders Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom , Germany, and Belgium. The official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland . Dutch, English, and Papiamento are official in
12726-419: The Korps Rijksveldwacht (national constable corps) was created with fourteen hundred employees. This force focused on public order in rural areas. In addition to the two corps, there was also a Gemeentepolitie (municipal police) with eleven thousand employees, Politietroepen (police troops) with sixteen hundred employees, and the Gemeenteveldwacht (municipal constable). During the Second World War there
12928-404: The Limes Germanicus : Nijmegen and Voorburg . In the first part of Gallia Belgica , the area south of the Limes became part of the Roman province of Germania Inferior . The area to the north of the Rhine, inhabited by the Frisii, remained outside Roman rule, while the Germanic border tribes of the Batavi and Cananefates served in the Roman cavalry . The Batavi rose against the Romans in
13130-431: The Low Countries , its meaning being largely implicitly provided by the regional orientation of medieval Dutch society: apart from the higher echelons of the clergy and nobility, mobility was largely static and hence while "Dutch" could by extension also be used in its earlier sense, referring to what today would be called Germanic dialects as opposed to Romance dialects , in many cases it was understood or meant to refer to
13332-473: The Low Franconian languages, paired with its sister language Limburgish or East Low Franconian. Its closest relative is the mutually intelligible daughter language Afrikaans. Other West Germanic languages related to Dutch are German , English and the un-standardised languages Low German and Yiddish . Dutch stands out in combining some Ingvaeonic characteristics (occurring consistently in English and Frisian and reduced in intensity from west to east over
13534-455: The Nordwestblock culture. The first author to describe the coast of Holland and Flanders was the geographer Pytheas , who noted in c. 325 BC that in these regions, "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men." During the Gallic Wars , the area south and west of the Rhine was conquered by Roman forces under Julius Caesar from 57 BC to 53 BC. Caesar describes two main Celtic tribes living in what
13736-476: The Randstad , which are Hollandic dialects, do not diverge from standard Dutch very much, but there is a clear difference between the city dialects of Rotterdam , The Hague , Amsterdam and Utrecht . In some rural Hollandic areas more authentic Hollandic dialects are still being used, especially north of Amsterdam. Another group of dialects based on Hollandic is that spoken in the cities and larger towns of Friesland , where it partially displaced West Frisian in
13938-467: The Rhine - Meuse river estuary . In the east of the Netherlands, remains are found of the last ice age , which ended approximately ten thousand years ago. As the continental ice sheet moved in from the north, it pushed moraine forward. The ice sheet halted as it covered the eastern half of the Netherlands. After the ice age ended, the moraine remained in the form of a long hill-line. The cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen are built on these hills. Over
14140-481: The Rijkspolitie (national police) for the rest of the country. The split disappeared in 1994, when the Police Act of 1993 took effect. After a major reorganization, the Rijkspolitie (national police) and Gemeentepolite (municipal police) were merged into 25 Regiokorpsen (regional police forces) and the Korps Landelijke Politiediensten (national police services agency). Each corps worked autonomously. This structure lasted until January 1, 2013. From that day on,
14342-406: The Southern Netherlands (now Belgium and Luxembourg), developments were different. Under subsequent Spanish , Austrian and French rule , the standardisation of Dutch language came to a standstill. The state, law, and increasingly education used French, yet more than half the Belgian population were speaking a variety of Dutch. In the course of the 19th century, the Flemish Movement stood up for
14544-510: The States General , was headquartered in The Hague and comprised representatives from each of the seven provinces. The sparsely populated region of Drenthe was part of the republic, albeit not considered a province in its own right. Moreover, during the Eighty Years' War , the Republic came to occupy a number of Generality Lands located in Flanders , Brabant and Limburg . These areas were primarily inhabited by Roman Catholics and lacked
14746-497: The antonym of *walhisk (Romance-speakers, specifically Old French ). The word, now rendered as dietsc (Southwestern variant) or duutsc (Central and Northern Variant), could refer to the Dutch language itself, as well as a broader Germanic category depending on context. During the High Middle Ages " Dietsc / Duutsc " was increasingly used as an umbrella term for the specific Germanic dialects spoken in
14948-471: The continental West Germanic plane) with dominant Istvaeonic characteristics, some of which are also incorporated in German. Unlike German, Dutch (apart from Limburgish) has not been influenced at all by the south to north movement of the High German consonant shift and had some changes of its own. The cumulation of these changes resulted over time in separate, but related standard languages with various degrees of similarities and differences between them. For
15150-434: The differences in vocabulary between Indonesian and Malay. Some regional languages in Indonesia have some Dutch loanwords as well; for example, Sundanese word Katel or "frying pan" origin in Dutch is " ketel ". The Javanese word for "bike/ bicycle " " pit " can be traced back to its origin in Dutch " fiets ". The Malacca state of Malaysia was also colonized by the Dutch in its longest period that Malacca
15352-682: The euro was introduced as fiat money , and in 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved . Referendums were held on each island. As a result, Bonaire , Sint Eustatius and Saba (the BES islands) were incorporated as special municipalities upon the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles. The special municipalities are collectively known as the Caribbean Netherlands . The European Netherlands has
15554-642: The pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age . The Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups: East (now extinct), West , and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period . Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots , Frisian , Low German (Old Saxon) and High German . It is characterised by a number of phonological and morphological innovations not found in North or East Germanic. The West Germanic varieties of
15756-404: The "Netherlands" lost their original deictic meaning . In most Romance languages , the term "Low Countries" is officially used as the name for the Netherlands. The term Holland has frequently been used informally to refer to the whole of the modern country of the Netherlands in various languages, including Dutch and English. In some languages, Holland is used as the formal name for
15958-550: The (inter)national security situation for operational police work. The service within the police also functions as a contact point for Europol , Interpol and Dutch liaison officers who work abroad on behalf of the police. In addition, the Intelligence LX fulfils the intelligence function for the domains within the LX. The Specialist Operations Service provides operational support and high-quality (technological) innovation to
16160-518: The 14th to 15th century onward, its urban centers ( Deventer , Zwolle , Kampen , Zutphen and Doesburg ) have been increasingly influenced by the western written Dutch and became a linguistically mixed area. From the 17th century onward, it was gradually integrated into the Dutch language area. Dutch Low Saxon used to be at one end of the Low German dialect continuum . However, the national border has given way to dialect boundaries coinciding with
16362-538: The 16th century and is known as Stadsfries ("Urban Frisian"). Hollandic together with inter alia Kleverlandish and North Brabantian , but without Stadsfries, are the Central Dutch dialects . Brabantian is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant , which corresponded mainly to the provinces of North Brabant and southern Gelderland , the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Flemish Brabant , as well as Brussels (where its native speakers have become
16564-549: The 490s, Clovis I had conquered and united all these territories in the southern Netherlands in one Frankish kingdom , and from there continued his conquests into Gaul . During this expansion, Franks migrating to the south (modern territory of France and Walloon part of Belgium) eventually adopted the Vulgar Latin of the local population. A widening cultural divide grew with the Franks remaining in their original homeland in
16766-688: The 7th century. It was replaced in France by Old French (a Romance language with a considerable Old Frankish influence). However, the Old Franconian language did not die out at large, as it continued to be spoken in the Low Countries, and subsequently evolved into what is now called Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch in the Low Countries. In fact, Old Frankish could be reconstructed from Old Dutch and Frankish loanwords in Old French. The term Old Dutch or Old Low Franconian refers to
16968-673: The Austrian-made Glock 17 pistol and/or a submachine gun, usually the German-made Heckler & Koch MP5 . It was originally planned to be replaced by the SIG Sauer PPNL, a 9×19mm Parabellum version of the SIG Sauer P250 , but the contract was canceled due to the failure of several safety tests. The Dutch National Police uses a selection of motor vehicles for its tasks. The current fleet of
17170-417: The DNP is made up of mostly Mercedes-Benz and Audi , but some Volkswagen vehicles still remain from a contract that ended in 2018. The vehicles the DNP uses are divided in marked and unmarked vehicles. The marked units are white with blue and red striping on the side and carrying a light bar on the roof. The cars are fitted with better suspension, megaphone and multiple communication devices on board. The back
17372-476: The Dutch Police law describes what the missions of the police are: "The task of the police is to, in subordination to the authorities and complying with applicable law, take care of the actual upholding of the legal order and to supply aid to those who need it." In practice this comes down to four main missions. Within the police, several departments are occupied with parts of these main tasks. All calls to
17574-623: The Dutch Republic was attacked by France, England and three German Bishoprics simultaneously, in what would become known as the Franco-Dutch War . At sea , it could successfully prevent the English and French navies from blockading the western shores. On land, however, it was almost taken over by the advancing French and German armies from the east. It managed to turn the tide by inundating parts of Holland . From 1672 to 1712,
17776-417: The Dutch adult population spoke a dialect or regional language on a regular basis, but in 2011, that was no more than 11 percent. In 1995, 12 percent of children of primary school age spoke a dialect or regional language, but in 2011, that had declined to four percent. Of the officially recognised regional languages Limburgish is spoken the most (in 2011 among adults 54%, among children 31%) and Dutch Low Saxon
17978-661: The Dutch established a presence in India , the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ), Formosa (now Taiwan ), and the only western trading post in Japan, Dejima . During the period of Proto-industrialisation , the empire received 50% of textiles and 80% of silks import from the India's Mughal Empire . Many economic historians regard the Netherlands as the first thoroughly capitalist country. In early modern Europe, it had
18180-490: The Dutch government remained reluctant to teach Dutch on a large scale for fear of destabilising the colony. Dutch, the language of power, was supposed to remain in the hands of the leading elite. After independence, Dutch was dropped as an official language and replaced by Indonesian , but this does not mean that Dutch has completely disappeared in Indonesia: Indonesian Dutch , a regional variety of
18382-746: The Dutch owned 16,000 merchant ships. The Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company established colonies and trading posts all over the world. The Dutch settlement in North America began with the founding of New Amsterdam in 1614. In South Africa, the Dutch settled the Cape Colony in 1652. Dutch colonies in South America were established along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains, among them Colony of Surinam (now Suriname ). In Asia,
18584-464: The Dutch police the following ranks are in use: The equipment carried by every Dutch police officer consists of the following: Police trainees are armed with a handgun when they pass their handgun training; before passing trainees perform their duties with only pepper spray, handcuffs, and a baton. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the duty pistols were FN 10/22 . The German-made Walther P5 used since 1978 while Arrest- and Support units were armed with
18786-641: The Dutch police. With its many specialist tasks, the service strengthens the regional and national units. Some of the services, among others, are the mounted police , search and specialist animals, the specialists of the National Forensic Service Center and the Network of Expertise Teams. The Infrastructure Service combats insecurity and crime on the Dutch main infrastructure: on the highways , waters, rails and in aviation. The service also provides helicopter air support to increase
18988-415: The Dutch standard language is largely absent, and speakers of these Dutch dialects will use German or French in everyday speech. Dutch is not afforded legal status in France or Germany, either by the central or regional public authorities, and knowledge of the language is declining among younger generations. As a foreign language , Dutch is mainly taught in primary and secondary schools in areas adjacent to
19190-531: The Dutch standard language, it is not mutually intelligible with Dutch and considered a sister language of Dutch, like English and German. Approximate distribution of native Dutch speakers worldwide: Dutch is an official language of the Netherlands proper (not enshrined in the constitution but in administrative law ), Belgium, Suriname, the Dutch Caribbean municipalities (St. Eustatius, Saba and Bonaire), Aruba , Curaçao and Sint Maarten . Dutch
19392-408: The Dutch, was still spoken by about 500,000 half-blood in Indonesia in 1985. Yet the Indonesian language inherited many words from Dutch: words for everyday life as well as scientific and technological terms. One scholar argues that 20% of Indonesian words can be traced back to Dutch words, many of which are transliterated to reflect phonetic pronunciation e.g. kantoor "office" in Indonesian
19594-699: The European country all became countries within the Kingdom, on a basis of equality. Indonesia had declared its independence in August 1945. Suriname followed in 1975. The Netherlands was one of the founding members of Benelux and NATO . In the 1950s, the Netherlands became one of the six founding countries of the European Communities , following the 1952 establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community , and subsequent 1958 creations of
19796-549: The Franks. However, the language did experience developments of its own, such as very early final-obstruent devoicing . In fact, the find at Bergakker indicates that the language may already have experienced this shift during the Old Frankish period. Attestations of Old Dutch sentences are extremely rare. The language is mostly recorded on fragmentary relics, and words have been reconstructed from Middle Dutch and loan words from Old Dutch in other languages. The oldest recorded
19998-736: The Frisians were defeated after a series of wars . With the approval of the Franks, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willibrord converted the Frisian people to Christianity and established the Archdiocese of Utrecht . However, his successor Boniface was murdered by the Frisians in 754. The Frankish Carolingian empire controlled much of Western Europe. In 843, it was divided into three parts— East , Middle , and West Francia . Most of present-day Netherlands became part of Middle Francia, which
20200-573: The Low Countries from 1384 to 1581. The new rulers defended Dutch trading interests. The fleets of the County of Holland defeated the fleets of the Hanseatic League several times. Amsterdam grew and in the 15th century became the primary trading port in Europe for grain from the Baltic region . Amsterdam distributed grain to the major cities of Belgium, Northern France and England. This trade
20402-537: The Low Countries south of the great rivers. These tribes would eventually develop into the Salian Franks . The Celtic La Tène culture (c. 450 BC to the Roman conquest) expanded over a wide range, including the southern area of the Low Countries . Some scholars have speculated that even a third ethnic identity and language, neither Germanic nor Celtic, survived in the Netherlands until the Roman period,
20604-513: The Meuse. These rivers functioned as a natural barrier between fiefdoms and hence historically created a cultural divide, as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognisable on either side of what the Dutch call their "Great Rivers" ( de Grote Rivieren ). Another significant branch of the Rhine, the IJssel river, discharges into Lake IJssel , the former Zuiderzee ('southern sea'). Just like
20806-576: The Netherlands and Flanders . In French-speaking Belgium , over 300,000 pupils are enrolled in Dutch courses, followed by over 23,000 in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia , and about 7,000 in the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (of which 4,550 are in primary school). At an academic level, the largest number of faculties of neerlandistiek can be found in Germany (30 universities), followed by France (20 universities) and
21008-412: The Netherlands and Belgium, the dialect spoken in and around the German town of Kleve ( Kleverlandish ) is historically and genetically a Low Franconian variety. In North-Western France, the area around Calais was historically Dutch-speaking (West Flemish), of which an estimated 20,000 are daily speakers. The cities of Dunkirk , Gravelines and Bourbourg only became predominantly French-speaking by
21210-506: The Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague and Utrecht . Amsterdam is the country's most populous city and the nominal capital , though the primary national political institutions are located in the Hague. The Netherlands has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. The country has a tradition of pillarisation (separation of citizens into groups by religion and political beliefs) and
21412-599: The Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy. However, the Cultivation System was introduced in 1830; in the Dutch East Indies, 20% of village land had to be devoted to government crops for export. The policy brought the Dutch enormous wealth and made the colony self-sufficient. The Netherlands abolished slavery in its colonies in 1863. Enslaved people in Suriname would be fully free only in 1873. The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, in part because
21614-475: The Netherlands) and upstream Germania Superior . Thus, in the case of the Low Countries and the Netherlands, the geographical location of this lower region is more or less downstream and near the sea, compared to that of the upper region of Germania Superior. The designation 'Low' returned in the 10th-century Duchy of Lower Lorraine , which covered much of the Low Countries. The Dukes of Burgundy used
21816-539: The Netherlands, although there are recognisable differences in pronunciation, comparable to the pronunciation differences between standard British and standard American English. In 1980 the Netherlands and Belgium concluded the Language Union Treaty . This treaty lays down the principle that the two countries must gear their language policy to each other, among other things, for a common system of spelling. Dutch belongs to its own West Germanic sub-group,
22018-625: The Netherlands. Selected police officers may also be deployed in a riot police mobile unit. Mobile units are called in to deal with serious public order offences. Each police region has one or more units on stand-by for a total of 45 mobile units nationwide, each of which has about 50 members (including middle-ranking and senior officers). Nine units have also been trained to respond to incidents on maritime vessels. The mobile unit also incorporates plain clothes units known as 'aanhoudingseenheden'. These groups target specific suspects of public order offenses. The National Expertise and Operations Unit builds
22220-498: The Netherlands. However, Holland is a region within the Netherlands that consists of the two provinces of North and South Holland . Formerly these were a single province, and earlier the County of Holland , which included parts of present-day Utrecht . The emphasis on Holland during the formation of the Dutch Republic , the Eighty Years' War , and the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, made Holland
22422-534: The Northern Netherlands in 1839 as the Kingdom of the Netherlands was created by decree), while the personal union between Luxembourg and the Netherlands was severed in 1890, when William III died with no surviving male heirs. Ascendancy laws prevented his daughter Queen Wilhelmina from becoming the next Grand Duchess. The Belgian Revolution and the Java War in the Dutch East Indies brought
22624-583: The Operational Center permanently has a complete and up-to-date operational picture: what is going on in society and what people and resources do the police have available? This way, the Operational Center can make adjustments if necessary and tailor the police force to the security situation at that time. The intelligence department performs specific, national tasks such as international information exchange and national information coordination. The departments also provide an overview and insight into
22826-732: The Republic, led by William III of Orange and Anthonie Heinsius would regularly clash with France in what some historians have come to call the Forty Years' War . In the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession , the Republic was at the centre of anti-French coalitions. The Dutch ultimately successfully defended the Spanish Netherlands , established a barrier there, and their troops proved central to
23028-686: The Silent in driving out Spanish troops and forming a new government for the Netherlands. Don Juan of Austria , the new Spanish governor, was forced to concede initially, but within months returned to active hostilities. The Dutch looked for help from the Protestant Elizabeth I of England, but she initially stood by her commitments to the Spanish in the Treaty of Bristol of 1574. When the next large-scale battle occurred at Gembloux in 1578,
23230-732: The Southwest Netherlands, they were raiding the English Channel . Roman forces pacified the region but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared at least until the time of Julian the Apostate (358) when Salian Franks were allowed to settle as foederati in Texandria . After the Roman government in the area collapsed in roughly the year 406, the Franks expanded their territories into numerous kingdoms. By
23432-528: The Spanish forces won easily. In light of the defeat at Gembloux , the southern states of the Seventeen Provinces distanced themselves from the rebels in the north with the 1579 Union of Arras . Opposing them, the northern half of the Seventeen Provinces forged the Union of Utrecht in which they committed to support each other against the Spanish. The Union of Utrecht is seen as the foundation of
23634-532: The Spanish in the Netherlands under the Duke of Parma in a series of largely indecisive actions that tied down significant numbers of Spanish troops and bought time for the Dutch to reorganise their defences. The war continued until 1648, when Spain under King Philip IV recognised the independence of the seven north-western provinces in the Peace of Münster . Parts of the southern provinces became de facto colonies of
23836-543: The United Kingdom (5 universities). Despite the Dutch presence in Indonesia for almost 350 years, as the Asian bulk of the Dutch East Indies , the Dutch language has no official status there and the small minority that can speak the language fluently are either educated members of the oldest generation, or employed in the legal profession such as historians, diplomats, lawyers, jurists and linguists/polyglots, as certain law codes are still only available in Dutch. Dutch
24038-545: The United Provinces consistently possessed one of Europe's largest and most capable armies. However, following the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession , other major powers such as Prussia, Austria, Britain, and Russia significantly expanded their military forces. The Republic struggled to match these developments, and gradually assumed the status of a mid-tier power. However, historians have sometimes overstated
24240-842: The VIP Security system, the Rijksrecherche (internal investigations department), the Royal Marechaussee , the RST (kingdom investigations cooperation) and the BODs (special enforcement agencies). In addition, Hidden Operations collaborates with intelligence services and international partners. The Special Intervention Service combats all forms of serious violence and terrorism. The Police Arrest and Support Teams are part of this service. They act if it can reasonably be assumed that there are circumstances that are life-threatening for
24442-621: The West Indies, slaves were forbidden to speak Dutch, with the effect that local creoles such as Papiamento and Sranan Tongo which were based not on Dutch but rather other European languages, became common in the Dutch West Indies. However, as most of the people in the Colony of Surinam (now Suriname ) worked on Dutch plantations, this reinforced the use of Dutch as a means for direct communication. In Suriname today, Dutch
24644-542: The alliance which halted French territorial expansion in Europe until a new cycle began in 1792 with the French Revolutionary Wars . However, the wars left them effectively bankrupt, and inflicted permanent damage on the Dutch merchant navy; while they remained the dominant economic power in the Far East, Britain took over as the pre-eminent global commercial and maritime power. Between 1590 and 1713,
24846-661: The area known as the Low Countries goes back further in time, with the Romans referring to the region as Germania Inferior ("Lower" Germania). It is a reference to the Low Countries' downriver location at the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta near the North Sea . From 1551, the designation Nederlands received strong competition from the name Nederduytsch (literally "Low Dutch", Dutch being used in its archaic sense covering all continental West Germanic languages). It
25048-685: The armed support of revolutionary France , Dutch republicans proclaimed the Batavian Republic , modelled after the French Republic and rendering the Netherlands a unitary state on 19 January 1795. The stadtholder William V of Orange had fled to England. From 1806 to 1810, the Kingdom of Holland was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom governed by his brother Louis Bonaparte . However, King Louis Bonaparte tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's, and he
25250-478: The authority to carry and use handcuffs which can only be issued to officers who have the power to use force. A few councils also issue their officers, with permission from the Ministry of Justice and Security, police batons, pepper spray and occasionally firearms. Their task depends on their area of operation. A game warden enforces nature laws, while a local enforcement officer enforces local ordinances and municipal code infractions. In 2018 unions were concerned with
25452-513: The borders of other standard language areas. In most cases, the heavy influence of the standard language has broken the dialect continuum . Examples are the Gronings dialect spoken in Groningen as well as the closely related varieties in adjacent East Frisia (Germany). Kleverlandish is a dialect spoken in southern Gelderland , the northern tip of Limburg , and northeast of North Brabant (Netherlands), but also in adjacent parts of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Limburgish ( Limburgs )
25654-415: The case with the Gronings dialect , which is considered a variety of the Dutch Low Saxon regional language, but it is relatively distinct from other Dutch Low Saxon varieties. Also, some Dutch dialects are more remote from the Dutch standard language than some varieties of a regional language are. Within the Netherlands, a further distinction is made between a regional language and a separate language, which
25856-418: The centuries, the Dutch coastline has changed considerably as a result of natural disasters and human intervention. On 14 December 1287, St. Lucia's flood affected the Netherlands and Germany, killing more than 50,000 people in one of the most destructive floods in recorded history. The St. Elizabeth flood of 1421 and the mismanagement in its aftermath destroyed a newly reclaimed polder , replacing it with
26058-553: The close of the 18th century, with (Hoog)Duytsch establishing itself as the Dutch exonym for German during this same period. In the 19th century Germany saw the rise of the categorisation of dialects, with German dialectologists terming the German dialects spoken in the mountainous south of Germany as Hochdeutsch ("High German"). Subsequently, German dialects spoken in the north were designated as Niederdeutsch ("Low German"). The names for these dialects were calqued by Dutch linguists as Nederduits and Hoogduits . As
26260-487: The country is for the most part flat, with the exception of foothills in the far southeast, up to a height of no more than 322 m (1,056 ft) at the Vaalserberg , and some low hill ranges in the central parts. Most of the areas below sea level are caused by peat extraction or achieved through land reclamation . Since the late 16th century, large polder areas are preserved through elaborate drainage systems that include dikes , canals and pumping stations. Much of
26462-424: The country was originally formed by the estuaries of three large European rivers: the Rhine ( Rijn ), the Meuse ( Maas ) and the Scheldt ( Schelde ), as well as their tributaries . The south-western part of the Netherlands is a river delta of these rivers, the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta . The European Netherlands is divided into north and south parts by the Rhine, the Waal , its main tributary branch, and
26664-415: The countryside was plundered for food. Although there were thousands of Dutch who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Germans, over 20,000 Dutch fascists joined the Waffen SS . Political collaborators were members of the fascist NSB , the only legal political party in the occupied Netherlands. On 8 December 1941, the Dutch government-in-exile in London declared war on Japan, but could not prevent
26866-413: The course of fifteen centuries. During that period, they forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, and influenced or even replaced Old Saxon spoken in the east (contiguous with the Low German area). On the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in present-day France and Germany. The division into Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, since
27068-459: The day-to-day police force management. Decisions about the principal law enforcement policies are made by a regional board, the so-called Driehoek (triangle) whose chairman is the eenheidsbeheerder (unit manager). The eenheidsbeheerder is usually the mayor of the largest municipality in the region. The other board members of the Driehoek are the unit chief and the local chief prosecutor . A region consists of several districts, each having
27270-483: The declaration of independence of Indonesia, Western New Guinea , the "wild east" of the Dutch East Indies , remained a Dutch colony until 1962, known as Netherlands New Guinea . Despite prolonged Dutch presence, the Dutch language is not spoken by many Papuans, the colony having been ceded to Indonesia in 1963. Dutch-speaking immigrant communities can also be found in Australia and New Zealand. The 2011 Australian census showed 37,248 people speaking Dutch at home. At
27472-428: The development of a separate Dutch language. It was spoken by the descendants of the Salian Franks who occupied what is now the southern Netherlands , northern Belgium , part of northern France, and parts of the Lower Rhine regions of Germany. The High German consonant shift, moving over Western Europe from south to west, caused a differentiation with the Central and High Franconian in Germany. The latter would as
27674-418: The devil? ... I forsake the devil"). If only for its poetic content, the most famous Old Dutch sentence is probably Hebban olla vogala nestas hagunnan, hinase hic enda tu, wat unbidan we nu ("All birds have started making nests, except me and you, what are we waiting for"), is dated to around the year 1100, written by a Flemish monk in a convent in Rochester , England . Since the sentence speaks to
27876-446: The effectiveness of the police. The police monitor and protect people, objects and services (ex: Dutch royal family , other dignitaries assigned by the authorized minister ) at a national, regional, and local level. These security measures are well coordinated. As the threat increases or the security task becomes more complex, the measures to be taken also increase. In such situations, the Royal and Diplomatic Protection Service takes on
28078-432: The end of the Ice Age , the nomadic late Upper Palaeolithic Hamburg culture (13,000–10,000 BC) hunted reindeer in the area, using spears. The later Ahrensburg culture (11,200–9,500 BC) used bow and arrow . From Mesolithic Maglemosian-like tribes (c. 8000 BC), the world's oldest canoe was found in Drenthe . Indigenous late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from the Swifterbant culture (c. 5600 BC), related to
28280-424: The end of the 19th century. In the countryside, until World War I , many elementary schools continued to teach in Dutch, and the Catholic Church continued to preach and teach the catechism in Dutch in many parishes. During the second half of the 19th century, Dutch was banned from all levels of education by both Prussia and France and lost most of its functions as a cultural language. In both Germany and France,
28482-409: The extent of this decline, especially when considering the period up to the 1750s. In the 18th century the Dutch Republic had seen a state of a general decline, with economic competition from England and long-standing rivalries between the two main factions in Dutch society, the republican Staatsgezinden and the supporters of the stadtholder the Prinsgezinden as main political factions. With
28684-714: The field. Business operations provide the products and services that operational officers need to be able to work. By taking care of business operations, officers within the units have more time for actual police work. The Police services center has three locations in Rotterdam , Zwolle , and Eindhoven . The Landelijke Meldkamer Samenwerking or LMS is a relatively independent division of the police. The LMS manages and operates 10 shared regional dispatch centers. Each dispatch center houses police , ambulance services, fire brigade , and military police operators. If one center cannot operate another center can take over. These centers receive calls to 112 that automatically get directed to
28886-415: The imagination, it is often erroneously stated as the oldest Dutch sentence. Old Dutch naturally evolved into Middle Dutch . The year 1150 is often cited as the time of the discontinuity, but it actually marks a time of profuse Dutch writing; during this period a rich Medieval Dutch literature developed. There was at that time no overarching standard language ; Middle Dutch is rather a collective name for
29088-552: The import of goods through the Netherlands proved essential to German survival until the blockade by the British Royal Navy in 1916. That changed in World War II, when Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The Rotterdam Blitz forced most of the Dutch army to surrender. During the occupation, over 100,000 Dutch Jews were transported to Nazi extermination camps ; only a few survived. Dutch workers were conscripted for forced labour in Germany, civilians who resisted were killed in reprisal for attacks on German soldiers, and
29290-446: The increase of violence against these officers and had decided to make the consideration towards whether they would equip all these officers with the less-lethal weapons, batons and pepper spray, or make them part of the national police force. The Dutch National Police has a long and diverse history, having undertaken many major reforms in its history, the latest being in 2012 with the introduction of one police force. Below, you will find
29492-467: The influence of the Burgundian Ducal Court in Dijon ( Brussels after 1477). The dialects of Flanders and Brabant were the most influential around this time. The process of standardisation became much stronger at the start of the 16th century, mainly based on the urban dialect of Antwerp . The 1585 fall of Antwerp to the Spanish army led to a flight to the northern Netherlands, where the Dutch Republic declared its independence from Spain. This influenced
29694-410: The intelligence LO fulfils the intelligence function within domains such as the intelligence service , secret operations and other partnerships (ex: National cooperation against undermining crime). Hidden Operations carries out shielded, covert operations in support of criminal investigations and provides (security) advice for criminal investigations. various teams carry out work for the regional units,
29896-415: The land area is 33,500 km (12,900 sq mi)—the Netherlands is the 33rd most densely populated country, with a density of 535 people per square kilometre (1,390 people/sq mi). Nevertheless, it is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its fertile soil , mild climate, intensive agriculture , and inventiveness . The four largest cities in
30098-432: The language now known as Dutch. In the Low Countries Dietsch or its Early Modern Dutch form Duytsch as an endonym for Dutch gradually went out of common use and was gradually replaced by the Dutch endonym Nederlands . This designation (first attested in 1482) started at the Burgundian court in the 15th century, although the use of neder , laag , bas , and inferior ("nether" or "low") to refer to
30300-442: The large spread of tasks made some services not get along, creating a negative work environment, the Schneiders Committee reported this decision because it would create clear separation and space to focus on specialized tasks. In 2013 the police in the Netherlands was reorganized into its current structure with only minor changes since. The structure contains ten regional units, two national units (one for expertise & operations,
30502-512: The least (adults 15%, children 1%). The decline of the West Frisian language in Friesland occupies a middle position (adults 44%, children 22%). Dialects are most often spoken in rural areas, but many cities have a distinct city dialect. For example, the city of Ghent has very distinct "g", "e" and "r" sounds that greatly differ from its surrounding villages. The Brussels dialect combines Brabantian with words adopted from Walloon and French . Some dialects had, until recently, extensions across
30704-415: The main infrastructure, with specialist animals, and in the domain of VIP protection. This is done in consultation with the regional units. The police chief is Inge Godthelp. She is supported by the unit leadership and a staff. The LX has five services listed below. The National Operational Center Service is the heart of the management of all current operations and ensures overview and coherence. To this end,
30906-427: The migration of Germanic tribes from the North. By the time this migration was complete, around 250 BC, a few general cultural and linguistic groups had emerged. The North Sea Germanic Ingaevones inhabited the northern part of the Low Countries . They would later develop into the Frisii and the early Saxons . The Weser–Rhine Germanic (or Istvaeones ) extended along the middle Rhine and Weser and inhabited
31108-437: The modern standard languages . In this age no standard languages had yet developed, while a perfect West Germanic dialect continuum remained present; the division reflects the contingent future contribution dialect groups would have to the later languages. The early form of Dutch was a set of Franconian dialects spoken by the Salian Franks in the 5th century. These happened to develop through Middle Dutch to Modern Dutch over
31310-450: The modern Netherlands. Spanish troops sacked Maastricht in 1579, killing over 10,000 civilians. In 1581, the northern provinces adopted the Act of Abjuration , the declaration of independence in which the provinces officially deposed Philip II. Against the rebels Philip could draw on the resources of the Spanish Empire . Elizabeth I sympathised with the Dutch struggle and sent an army of 7,600 soldiers to aid them. English forces faced
31512-409: The most powerful and influential in Europe and the world; this period is known as the Dutch Golden Age . During this time, its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company , established colonies and trading posts all over the world. With a population of over 18 million people, all living within a total area of 41,850 km (16,160 sq mi)—of which
31714-403: The national dispatch center, then they get put through to the right region. From there an operator asks and puts you through to the right service section in the building, the operator of that service directs the units to the location and gives them details as they come in, the operator also sees the units locations to be able to choose the closest units. The operator also determines if the situation
31916-465: The national police number 0900-8844 come in around the clock. For a number of years, the communications centers have used the Gemeenschappelijk Meldkamer Systeem (Common Communications Center System, GMS). This system has a lot of functions. In the first place it functions as a plotting screen which displays every unit logged in. It also has a database function for procedures and phone numbers necessary for correctly executing police work and it links to
32118-423: The new republican-mercantile empire. Following the declaration of independence, the provinces of Holland , Zeeland , Groningen , Friesland , Utrecht , Overijssel , and Gelderland entered into a confederation . All these duchies, lordships and counties enjoyed a significant degree of autonomy and was governed by its own administrative body known as the States-Provincial . The confederal government, known as
32320-571: The north (i.e. the southern Netherlands and Flanders), who kept on speaking Old Frankish , which by the ninth century had evolved into Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch. A Dutch-French language boundary hence came into existence. To the north of the Franks, climatic conditions improved, and during the Migration Period Saxons , the closely related Angles , Jutes , and Frisii settled the coast. Many moved on to England and came to be known as Anglo-Saxons , but those who stayed would be referred to as Frisians and their language as Frisian . Frisian
32522-464: The north to create a strong country on the northern border of France. William Frederick raised this United Netherlands to the status of a kingdom and proclaimed himself as King William I in 1815. William became hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in exchange for his German possessions. However, the Southern Netherlands had been culturally separate from the north since 1581, and rebelled . The south gained independence in 1830 as Belgium (recognised by
32724-470: The original Dutch language version dating from colonial times remains the authoritative version. 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. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English, and is colloquially said to be "roughly in between" them. Dutch, like English, has not undergone
32926-426: The other for investigation and interventions), the police academy, the police services center, and the national dispatch center cooperation, all under one national police. Additionally, the police leadership has a small council and staff. Below, you find a list of all the units in detail. Every regionale eenheid (regional unit) is led by a unitchef (unit chief), a Hoofdcommissaris (Chief Commissioner) who conducts
33128-449: The people", akin to Old Dutch Dietsch or Old English þeodisc , meaning "(of) the common ( Germanic ) people". At first, the English language used Dutch to refer to any or all speakers of West Germanic languages . Gradually its meaning shifted to the West Germanic people they had the most contact with. The oldest human ( Neanderthal ) traces in the Netherlands, believed to be about 250,000 years old, were found near Maastricht . At
33330-402: The police have been one organization, the Korps Nationale Politie (national police corps), divided into ten Regionale Eenheden (regional units), a Landelijke Eenheid (national unit), a Politieacademie (police academy), and the Politiedienstencentrum (police services center) that handles personnel. From then on, one Commissioner of police has directed police in the Netherlands. Since then,
33532-486: The police have started a new temporary branch for a joint dispatch center transition to one national system, known as the Landelijke Meldkamer Samenwerking (national dispatch center cooperation), and also split the Landelijke Eenheid (national unit) into two national units on January 1, 2024, one for expertise and operations, and one for investigation and interventions. The split was due to the unit being too big and diverse in its tasks for employees to progress, additionally
33734-413: The police or others. They are the counterterrorism unit of the country. The operational management of the police: finances, facility maintenance, information management, IT, communication, and human resources are organized nationally in the Police Services Center (PDC). It supports operational police work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Business operations staff do this from the PDC or, where necessary, in
33936-406: The population into submission. Alba boasted of having executed 18,600; this figure does not include those who perished by war and famine. The first great siege was Alba's effort to capture Haarlem and thereby cut Holland in half. It dragged on from December 1572 to the next summer, when Haarlemers finally surrendered on 13 July upon the promise that the city would be spared from being sacked. It
34138-415: The predominant colloquial language out of the area's 22 million Dutch-speakers. Limburgish , spoken in both Belgian Limburg and Netherlands Limburg and in adjacent parts in Germany, is considered a dialect in Belgium, while having obtained the official status of regional language in the Netherlands. Limburgish has been influenced by the Ripuarian varieties like the Colognian dialect , and has had
34340-402: The previous, this river forms a linguistic divide: people to the northeast of this river speak Dutch Low Saxon dialects (except for the province of Friesland , which has its own language). The Netherlands is mostly composed of deltaic , coastal and aeolian derived sediments during the Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods. Almost the entire west Netherlands is composed of
34542-411: The provinces of Gelderland , Flevoland , Friesland and Utrecht . This group, which is not Low Franconian but instead Low Saxon and close to neighbouring Low German, has been elevated by the Netherlands (and by Germany) to the legal status of streektaal ( regional language ) according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . It is regarded as Dutch for a number of reasons. From
34744-473: The region called the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium , and Luxembourg ) all have comparatively the same toponymy . Place names with Neder , Nieder , Nedre , Nether , Lage(r) or Low(er) (in Germanic languages ) and Bas or Inferior (in Romance languages ) are in use in low-lying places all over Europe. The Romans made a distinction between the Roman provinces of downstream Germania Inferior (nowadays part of Belgium and
34946-455: The rest of the text lack any consensus. The Franks emerged in the southern Netherlands ( Salian Franks ) and central Germany ( Ripuarian Franks ), and later descended into Gaul . The name of their kingdom survives in that of France. Although they ruled the Gallo-Romans for nearly 300 years, their language, Frankish , became extinct in most of France and was replaced by later forms of the language throughout Luxembourg and Germany in around
35148-423: The rights of Dutch speakers, mostly referred to as "Flemish". However, the dialect variation was a serious disadvantage in the face of the standardised francophony . Since standardisation is a lengthy process, Dutch-speaking Belgium associated itself with the standard language that had already developed in the Netherlands over the centuries. Therefore, the situation in Belgium is essentially no different from that in
35350-491: The rivers Rhine and Meuse ) to refer to the Northern Dutch (Dutch living North of these rivers). In the Southern province of Limburg, the term is used for the Dutch from the other 11 provinces. The use of the term in this context by the Southern Dutch is in a derogatory fashion. Dutch is used as the adjective for the Netherlands, as well as the demonym . The origins of the word go back to Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz , Latinised into Theodiscus , meaning "popular" or "of
35552-462: The same branch of the West Germanic languages as Old English (i.e. Anglo-Frisian ) and are therefore genetically more closely related to English and Scots than to Dutch. The different influences on the respective languages, however, particularly that of Norman French on English and Dutch on West Frisian, have rendered English quite distinct from West Frisian, and West Frisian less distinct from Dutch than from English. Although under heavy influence of
35754-421: The service is the official national investigative agency if Dutch people, or Dutch property outside of national borders become involved in or are the target of attacks or serious, organized crime activities. The intelligence service contributes to the management and enrichment of criminal investigations, priorities and choices within the unit. They also enrich insight into phenomena and forms of crime. In addition,
35956-402: The set of Franconian dialects (i.e. West Germanic varieties that are assumed to have evolved from Frankish ) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages , from around the 5th to the 12th century. Old Dutch is mostly recorded on fragmentary relics, and words have been reconstructed from Middle Dutch and Old Dutch loanwords in French. Old Dutch is regarded as the primary stage in
36158-405: The southern Scandinavian Ertebølle culture , were strongly linked to rivers and open water. Between 4800 and 4500 BC, the Swifterbant people started to adopt from the neighbouring Linear Pottery culture the practice of animal husbandry , and between 4300 and 4000 BC agriculture. The Funnelbeaker culture (4300–2800 BC) erected the dolmens , large stone grave monuments found in Drenthe . There
36360-567: The street have to permanently "keep their eyes open" to spot suspicious behaviour, such as someone walking around looking inside parked cars, cars without working lights or drunken cyclists. Car owners are told that their lights are broken and why this is dangerous. A constable on foot may tell shop owners to put locks on their shelves outside to prevent shoplifting. If you report on a stolen bike, you will be told what kind of bike locks are most effective. Dutch language Dutch ( endonym : Nederlands [ˈneːdərlɑnts] )
36562-419: The term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries. Under Habsburg rule , this became pays d'embas ("lands down-here"). This was translated as Neder-landen in contemporary Dutch official documents. From a regional point of view, Niderlant was also the area between the Meuse and the lower Rhine in the late Middle Ages. From the mid-sixteenth century, the "Low Countries" and
36764-430: The time are generally split into three dialect groups: Ingvaeonic (North Sea Germanic), Istvaeonic (Weser–Rhine Germanic) and Irminonic (Elbe Germanic). It appears that the Frankish tribes fit primarily into the Istvaeonic dialect group with certain Ingvaeonic influences towards the northwest, which are still seen in modern Dutch. The Frankish language itself is not directly attested, the only possible exception being
36966-417: The transition between them was very gradual. One of the few moments when linguists can detect something of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. The development of the Dutch language is illustrated by the following sentence in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch: Among the Indo-European languages , Dutch is grouped within the Germanic languages , meaning it shares
37168-509: The unit supports the police throughout the Netherlands with special interventions ( DSI ) and secret operations (AO). The unit does this in close cooperation with the regional units and partners. The police chief is Rob van Bree. He is supported by the unit leadership and a staff. The LO has four services listed below. The National Criminal Investigation Service combats serious and organized crime. But also, specific phenomena such as environmental crime , terrorism, and high-tech crime. In addition,
37370-420: The urban dialects of the province of Holland . In 1637, a further important step was made towards a unified language, when the Statenvertaling , the first major Bible translation into Dutch, was created that people from all over the new republic could understand. It used elements from various, even Dutch Low Saxon , dialects but was predominantly based on the urban dialects of Holland of post 16th century. In
37572-408: The use of ICT will have to be improved so that constables do not lose a lot of time noting all their observations on paper for later use. The uniformed policemen on the street are those of the patrol service. Sometimes police patrols drive directly from the communications center to the location where someone requested assistance. This can be a simple case of someone locking their keys inside their car,
37774-409: The wealthiest trading city in Amsterdam , and the first full-time stock exchange . The inventiveness of the traders led to insurance and retirement funds as well as phenomena such as the boom-bust cycle , the world's first asset-inflation bubble , the tulip mania of 1636–1637, and the world's first bear raider , Isaac le Maire . In 1672 – known in Dutch history as the Rampjaar (Disaster Year) –
37976-438: Was Gerolf of Holland , who assumed lordship in Frisia, and Viking rule came to an end. The Holy Roman Empire ruled much of the Low Countries in the 10th and 11th century but was not able to maintain political unity. Powerful local nobles turned their cities, counties and duchies into private kingdoms that felt little sense of obligation to the emperor. Holland , Hainaut , Flanders , Gelre , Brabant , and Utrecht were in
38178-399: Was a Reichskommissar fur die Niederlande , Arthur Seyss-Inquart . The entire police force numbered about twenty thousand employees. After the war, this service is disbanded. To restore and control public order, the government decided to set up a new police organization in November 1945. A distinction was made between the Gemeentepolitie (municipal police) for designated municipalities, and
38380-401: Was a Veldwachter ( constable ). The Netherlands regained its independence in 1813 and a year later King William I established the Corps de Marechaussee . The corps had twelve hundred employees and was a branch of the armed forces . It performs military tasks for the armed forces and non-military tasks for the Rijkspolitie (national police). In 1858, in addition to the Marechaussee,
38582-562: Was a quick transition from the Funnelbeaker farming culture to the pan-European Corded Ware pastoralist culture (c. 2950 BC). In the southwest, the Seine-Oise-Marne culture —related to the Vlaardingen culture (c. 2600 BC)—survived well into the Neolithic period, until it too was succeeded by the Corded Ware culture. The subsequent Bell Beaker culture (2700–2100 BC) introduced metalwork in copper, gold and later bronze and opened new international trade routes, reflected in copper artefacts . Finds of rare bronze objects suggest that Drenthe
38784-516: Was a stipulation Don Fadrique was unable to honour, when his soldiers mutinied, angered over pay owed and the miserable conditions of the campaign. On 4 November 1576, Spanish tercios seized Antwerp and subjected it to the worst pillage in the Netherlands' history. The citizens resisted but were overcome; seven thousand were killed and a thousand buildings were torched. Following the sack of Antwerp , delegates from Catholic Brabant, Protestant Holland and Zeeland agreed to join Utrecht and William
38986-433: Was a trading centre in the Bronze Age (2000–800 BC). The Bell Beaker culture developed locally into the Barbed-Wire Beaker culture (2100–1800 BC) and later the Elp culture (1800–800 BC), a Middle Bronze Age culture marked by earthenware pottery. The southern region became dominated by the related Hilversum culture (1800–800 BC). From 800 BC onwards, the Iron Age Celtic Hallstatt culture became influential, replacing
39188-500: Was a weak kingdom and subject to numerous partitions and annexation attempts by its stronger neighbours. It comprised territories from Frisia in the north to the Kingdom of Italy in the south. Around 850, Lothair I of Middle Francia acknowledged the Viking Rorik of Dorestad as ruler of most of Frisia. When the kingdom of Middle Francia was partitioned in 855, the lands north of the Alps passed to Lothair II and subsequently were named Lotharingia . After he died in 869, Lotharingia
39390-405: Was forced to abdicate on 1 July 1810. The Emperor sent in an army and the Netherlands became part of the French Empire until November 1813, when Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig . William Frederick , son of the last stadtholder, returned to the Netherlands in 1813 and proclaimed himself Sovereign Prince . Two years later, the Congress of Vienna added the southern Netherlands to
39592-483: Was fought over in the Hook and Cod Wars between 1350 and 1490. The Cod faction consisted of the more progressive cities, while the Hook faction consisted of the conservative noblemen. These noblemen invited Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy to conquer Holland. Most of the Imperial and French fiefs in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium were united in a personal union by Philip the Good in 1433. The House of Valois-Burgundy and their Habsburg heirs would rule
39794-453: Was partitioned, into Upper and Lower Lotharingia , the latter comprising the Low Countries that became part of East Francia in 870. Around 879, another Viking expedition led by Godfrid, Duke of Frisia , raided the Frisian lands. Resistance to the Vikings, if any, came from local nobles, who gained in stature as a result, and that laid the basis for the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia into semi-independent states. One of these local nobles
39996-440: Was replaced by Afrikaans , a separate but partially mutually intelligible daughter language of Dutch. Afrikaans, depending on the definition used, may be considered a sister language , spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia , and evolving from Cape Dutch dialects. In South America, it is the native language of the majority of the population of Suriname , and spoken as
40198-399: Was spoken along the entire southern North Sea coast. By the seventh century, a Frisian Kingdom (650–734) under King Aldegisel and King Redbad emerged with Traiectum ( Utrecht ) as its centre of power, while Dorestad was a flourishing trading place. Between 600 and around 719 the cities were often fought over between the Frisians and the Franks. In 734, at the Battle of the Boarn ,
40400-417: Was under foreign control. In the 19th century, the East Indies trade started to dwindle, and with it the importance of Malacca as a trading post. The Dutch state officially ceded Malacca to the British in 1825. It took until 1957 for Malaya to gain its independence. Despite this, the Dutch language is rarely spoken in Malacca or Malaysia and only limited to foreign nationals able to speak the language. After
40602-403: Was used in the Dutch East Indies (now mostly Indonesia ) by a limited educated elite of around 2% of the total population, including over 1 million indigenous Indonesians, until it was banned in 1957, but the ban was lifted afterwards. About a fifth of the Indonesian language can be traced to Dutch, including many loan words . Indonesia's Civil Code has not been officially translated, and
40804-443: Was vital because Holland could no longer produce enough grain to feed itself. Land drainage had caused the peat of the former wetlands to reduce to a level that was too low for drainage to be maintained. Under Habsburg Charles V , all fiefs in the current Netherlands region were united into the Seventeen Provinces , which included most of present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of France and Germany. In 1568, under Phillip II,
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