sozlukten sevistigim sikidikle olan hikayem capsli

the official language is dutch, which is spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants.
another official language is frisian, which is spoken in the northern province of friesland, called fryslân in that language. a dialect of frisian and dutch is spoken in most villages in the west of the province of groningen.[68] frisian is co-official only in the province of friesland, although with a few restrictions. several dialects of low saxon (nedersaksisch in dutch) are spoken in much of the north and east, like the tweants in the twente region, and are recognised by the netherlands as regional languages according to the european charter for regional or minority languages, as well as the meuse-rhenish franconian varieties in the southeastern province of limburg, here called limburgish language.[31] english is an official language in the special municipalities of bonaire, saba and sint eustatius (bes islands). it is widely spoken on saba and sint eustatius. papiamento is an official language in the special municipality of bonaire.
there is a tradition of learning foreign languages in the netherlands: about 70% of the total population have good knowledge of conversational english, 55– 59% of german, and 19% of french. english is a mandatory course in all secondary schools.[69] in most lower level secondary school educations (vmbo), one additional modern foreign language is mandatory during the first two years. in higher level secondary schools, two additional modern foreign languages are mandatory during the first three (havo) or four (vwo) years. the standard modern languages are french and german, although schools can change one of these modern languages with spanish, turkish, arabic, or russian.[70] additionally, schools in the frisia region teach and have exams in frisian, and schools across the country teach and have exams in ancient greek and latin for vwo.
[edit]religion
main article: religion in the netherlands

dom tower of utrecht.
the netherlands is one of the most secular countries in western europe, with only 39% being religiously affiliated (31% for those aged under 35), and fewer than 20% visiting church regularly.[71]
currently, roman catholicism is the single largest religion of the netherlands, forming the religious home of some 26.3% of the dutch people, down from 40% in the 1970s. the protestant church of the netherlands follows with 11.4% of the population.[citation needed] it was formed in 2004 as a merger of the two major strands of calvinism: the dutch reformed church (which represented roughly 8.5% of the population), the reformed churches in the netherlands (3.7% of the population), and a smaller lutheran church. other protestant churches, mostly orthodox calvinist splits, represent 6% of the population.
in 2006, there were 850,000 muslims (5% of the total dutch population).[72] the netherlands has an estimated 250,000 buddhists or people who feel strongly attracted by this religion, largely ethnic dutch people. there are approximately 200,000 hindus, most of them are of surinamese origin. gibhs are another religious minority numbering around 12,000, mainly located in or around amsterdam. there are five gurudwaras in the netherlands. the association of religion data archives (relying on world christian encyclopedia) estimated some 6,400 bahá'ís in 2005.[73]
although the holocaust deeply affected the jewish community (killing about 75% of its 140,000 members at the time[citation needed]), it has managed to rebuild a vibrant and lively jewish life for its approximately 45,000 current members. before world war ii, 10% of the amsterdam population was jewish.[74]
according to the most recent eurobarometer poll 2005,[75] 34% of the dutch citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 37% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force", and 27% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
in 1947, before major secularisations in europe and the large settlement of non-europeans in the netherlands, most dutch citizens identified themselves as christians. in the same year, 44.3% belonged to protestant denominations, 38.7% belonged to the roman catholic church, and 17.1% were unaffiliated.[76] since then, the general collapse in religiosity has struck protestants somewhat harder than catholics, which partly explains why the catholic church has a larger percentage than the protestants nowadays. in 2003, those percentages were approximately: protestant 20, catholic 30 and unaffiliated 41.[citation needed]
freedom of education has been guaranteed by the dutch constitution since 1917, and schools run by religious groups (especially christian and islam) are funded by the government. nevertheless, all schools must meet strict quality criteria.
three political parties in the dutch parliament (cda, christianunion, and sgp) base their policy on christian belief in varying degrees. although the netherlands is a secular state, in some municipalities where the christian parties have the majority, the council meetings are opened by prayer.
municipalities in general also give civil servants a day off on christian religious holidays, such as easter and the ascension of jesus.[77]
[edit]education
main article: education in the netherlands
the netherlands has compulsory education from age 4 to 18 (or 16 as a study is completed which has given the student adequate professional skills to start as a professional in the labour market).
pupils attend primary or elementary school from (on average) age 4 to age 12. the very first grade is not mandatory, the other 7 grades are. after that they continue their education at secondary school minimally until age 16; which indicates one of three tracks in the dutch educational system.
the vocational track starts with vmbo, which is seen as the lowest level of secondary education and lasts four years. successfully completing vmbo results in a low level vocational degree and/or gives access to higher (secondary) levels vocational education. completion of second level vocational education results in professional skills and gives access to further study a university of applied science.
the medium level havo lasts five years. after completion a student can attend a university of applied science, which award professional bachelor degrees. a degree at a university of applied science gives access to the university system.
the highest level of high school education is vwo, which lasts six years, completion of which allows students to attend a university. university consists of a three year bachelor's degrees, followed by one or two year master's degrees. a master's degree is required to start a four year doctoral degree. doctoral candidates in the netherlands are temporary employees of a university.
[edit]culture

main article: culture of the netherlands

the netherlands in a single image: flat, dense traffic, a big polder ('grote polder'), a canal, old and new windmills, and flowers
the netherlands has had many well-known painters. the 17th century, when the dutch republic was prosperous, was the age of the "dutch masters", such as rembrandt van rijn, johannes vermeer, jan steen, jacob van ruysdael and many others. famous dutch painters of the 19th and 20th century were vincent van gogh and piet mondriaan. m. c. escher is a well-known graphics artist. willem de kooning was born and trained in rotterdam, although he is considered to have reached acclaim as an american artist. the netherlands is the country of philosophers erasmus of rotterdam and spinoza. all of descartes' major work was done in the netherlands. the dutch scientist christiaan huygens (1629–1695) discovered saturn's moon titan and invented the pendulum clock. antonie van leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and describe single-celled organisms with a microscope.
in the dutch golden age, literature flourished as well, with joost van den vondel and p.c. hooft as the two most famous writers. in the 19th century, multatuli wrote about the poor treatment of the natives in dutch colonies. important 20th century authors include harry mulisch, jan wolkers, simon vestdijk, cees nooteboom, gerard (van het) reve and willem frederik hermans. anne frank's diary of a young girl was published after she died in the holocaust and translated from dutch to all major languages.
replicas of dutch buildings can be found in huis ten bosch, nagasaki, japan. a similar holland village is being built in shenyang, china. windmills, tulips, wooden shoes, cheese, delftware pottery, and cannabis are among the items associated with the netherlands by tourists.
[edit]sport
main article: sport in the netherlands
in the netherlands, football, speed skating, handball, cycling, field hockey, volleyball, equestrian sports, sailing, and tennis, are popular sports. a lot of amateurs enjoy themselves in these sports and the netherlands is a strong competitor in international tournaments for these sports. of the sports played in the netherlands, voetbal is most popular.
further information: netherlands national football team, netherlands women's national football team, netherlands national rugby union team, netherlands men's national volleyball team, netherlands women's national volleyball team, netherlands national baseball team, netherlands national field hockey team, netherlands women's national field hockey team, and netherlands national cricket team