Languages of the Netherlands
The predominant language of the Netherlands is Dutch, spoken and written by almost all people in the Netherlands. Dutch is also spoken and official in Aruba, Bonaire, Belgium, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Suriname. It is a West Germanic, Low Franconian language that originated in the Early Middle Ages (c. 470) and was standardised in the 16th century.
- West Frisian is a co-official language in the province of Friesland. West Frisian is spoken by 453,000 speakers.
- English is an official language in the special municipalities of Saba and Sint Eustatius (BES Islands), as well as the autonomous states of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. It is widely spoken on Saba and Sint Eustatius. On Saba and St. Eustatius, the majority of the education is in English only, with some bilingual English-Dutch schools. 90-93% of the Dutch people can also speak English as a foreign language. (see also: English language in the Netherlands)
- Papiamento is an official language in the special municipality of Bonaire. It is also the native language in the autonomous states of Curaçao and Aruba.
- Several dialects of Dutch Low Saxon are spoken in much of the north-east of the country and are recognised as regional languages according to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Low Saxon is spoken by 1,798,000 speakers.
- Another Low Franconian dialect is Limburgish, which is spoken in the south-eastern province of Limburg. Limburgish is spoken by 825,000 speakers. Though there are movements to have Limburgish recognised as an official language (meeting with varying amounts of success, having previously been recognised as a regional language) Limburgish consists of many differing dialects that share some common aspects, but are quite different.
| Languages of Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| Official | Dutch |
| Regional | Frisian (2.50%), English (BES Islands), Papiamento (Bonaire); Dutch Low Saxon (10.9%) Limburgish (4.50%) |
| Minority | Yiddish, Romani |
| Immigrant | See further: Immigration to the Netherlands |
| Foreign | English (90%-93%) (excluding the BES Islands) German (71%), French (29%), Portuguese (5%) |
| Signed | Dutch Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | US international QWERTY |
| This article is a part of a series on |
| Dutch |
|---|
| Low Saxon dialects |
| West Low Franconian dialects |
| East Low Franconian dialects |
However, both Low Saxon and Limburgish spread across the Dutch-German border and belong to a common Dutch-German dialect continuum.
The Netherlands also has its separate Dutch Sign Language, called Nederlandse Gebarentaal (NGT). It has 17,500 users, and in 2021 received the status of recognised language.
Between 90% and 93% of the total population are able to converse in English, 71% in German, 29% in French and 5% in Spanish.