What country are the Dutch from?
Dutch people
Dutch people (Dutch: Nederlanders) or the Dutch are a Germanic ethnic group native to the Netherlands.[12][13][14] They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Aruba, Suriname, Guyana, Curaçao, Argentina, Brazil, Canada,[15] Australia,[16] South Africa,[2] New Zealand, and the United States.[17] The Low Countries were situated around the border of France and the Holy Roman Empire, forming a part of their respective peripheries, and the various territories of which they consisted had become virtually autonomous by the 13th century.[18] Under the Habsburgs, the Netherlands were organised into a single administrative unit, and in the 16th and 17th centuries the Northern Netherlands gained independence from Spain as the Dutch Republic.[19] The high degree of urbanization characteristic of Dutch society was attained at a relatively early date.[20] During the Republic the first series of large-scale Dutch migrations outside of Europe took place.
Dutch people
Afrikaners are dominated by two main groups, the Cape Dutch and Boers, which are partly defined by different traditions of society, law, and historical economic bases.[87] Although their language (Afrikaans) and religion remain undeniably linked to that of the Netherlands,[94] Afrikaner culture has been strongly shaped by three centuries in South Africa.[93] Afrikaans, which developed from Middle Dutch, has been influenced by English, Malay-Portuguese creole, and various African tongues. Dutch was taught to South African students as late as 1914 and a few upper-class Afrikaners used it in polite society, but the first Afrikaans literature had already appeared in 1861.[87] The Union of South Africa granted Dutch official status upon its inception, but in 1925 Parliament openly recognised Afrikaans as a separate language.[87] It differs from Standard Dutch by several pronunciations borrowed from Malay, German, or English, the loss of case and gender distinctions, and in the extreme simplification of grammar (e.g. voël becomes vogel, and reën becomes regen).[95] The dialects are no longer considered quite mutually intelligible.[96]