is chocolatey, the people industrious, and the sea tries to drown it all.

充滿巧克力的早餐、勤奮的人們以及試圖將其淹沒的海水

Except, this country isn't Holland. It's time for:

只是，這個國家不是 Holland。是時候來介紹：

The Difference Between Holland, the Netherlands (and a whole lot more)

Holland和Netherlands（尼德蘭）兩者的差異了（還有其他的）

The correct name for this tulip growing, windmill building hagelslag eating, container ship

這個種植鬱金香、建造風車、吃巧克力碎片、貨櫃船集散

moving, ocean conquering nation is the Netherlands.

征服海洋的國家正確名字叫尼德蘭

But confusion is understandable -- the general region been renamed a lot over a thousand

但混淆是可以被理解的 -- 一千多年以來一般地區歷經多次重新命名

including as: The Dutch Republic, The United States of Belgium, and The Kingdom of Hollande

包含：荷蘭共和國、比利時合眾國和荷蘭王國

But it's not just history that makes this country's name confusing because the Netherlands

但讓這個國家的名字令人困惑的原因不止是歷史因素

is divided into twelve provinces:

更是因為尼德蘭被劃分為十二個省份：

* Groningen * Drenthe

格羅寧根省、德倫特省

* Overijssel * Gelderland

上愛塞省、吉德蘭省

* Limburg * Brabant

林堡省、北布拉邦省

* Zeeland (Which, by the way, is the Zeeland that makes this Zeeland, new)

澤蘭省(順道一提，正是這個 Zeeland 使得這個變成新的紐西蘭)

* Friesland (With adorable little hearts on its flag)

菲仕蘭(國旗上有可愛的小愛心)

* Flevoland * Utrecht, and here's the confusion:

夫利佛蘭省、烏特勒之省，接著是令人困惑的地方：

* Noord (North) Holland and * Zuid (South) Holland

北荷蘭省及南荷蘭省

These provinces make calling the Netherlands 'Holland' like calling the United States 'Dakota'.

這些省份使尼德蘭被稱為「荷蘭」，好比把美國稱作「達科他州」一樣

Though unlike the Dakotas, which are mostly empty, save for the occasional Jackalope,

不過不像南北達科他州那樣人煙稀少，除了偶爾會出現的鹿角兔

the two Hollands are the most populated provinces and have some of the biggest attractions like,

這兩個荷蘭省是人口最多的省份，且擁有最熱門的觀光景點像是

Amsterdam and Keukenhof.

阿姆斯特丹和庫肯霍夫

Chances are if it's Dutch, and you've heard of it, it's in one of the Hollands.

如果名稱是荷蘭文，而且你也聽說過，那有可能它就在這兩個荷蘭省之中

Even the government's travel website for the country is Holland.com -- officially because

甚至連政府的國家觀光旅遊網站都寫 Holland.com -- 官方上是因為

it sounds friendlier, but unofficially it's probably what people are actually searching

聽起來比較親切，但非官方的原因可能是其為人們實際上所搜尋的

for.

Confusion continues because: People who live in the Hollands are called Hollanders, but

混淆持續因為：住在荷蘭省的人被稱作Hollanders

all citizens of the Netherlands are called Dutch as is their language. But in Dutch they

但所有尼德蘭的公民都同荷蘭文稱做Dutch。但當你用荷蘭文

say: Nederlands sprekende Nederlanders in Nederland which sounds like they'd rather

說：「尼德蘭人在尼德蘭說尼德蘭語」，聽起來好像他們寧願

we call them Netherlanders speaking Netherlandish. Meanwhile, next door in Germany, they're Deutsche

我們稱他們尼德蘭人說尼德蘭話。同時，在隔壁的德國，他們是

sprechen Deutsch in Deutschland. Which sounds like they'd rather be called Dutch.

「德國人在德國說德語」。這聽起來好像他們寧願被稱作荷蘭人（發音相似）

This linguistic confusion is why Americans call the Pennsylvania Dutch Dutch even though

這語言上的混淆正是美國人稱德裔賓州人荷蘭人（Dutch）的原因

they're Germans.

即便他們是德國人

To review: this country is the Netherlands, its people are Dutch, they speak Dutch. There

再次複習：這個國家是尼德蘭，這裡的人民是荷蘭人（Dutch），他們說荷蘭文（Dutch）

is no country called Holland, but there are provinces of North and South Holland.

沒有一個國家叫 Holland，但有北荷蘭省和南荷蘭省

Got it? Great, because it's about to get more complicated.

懂了嗎？很好，因為更複雜的部分要來了

The Netherlands is part of a Kingdom with the same name: The Kingdom of the Netherlands

尼德蘭為有著同樣名稱的王國：尼德蘭王國的一部分

-- which is headed by the Dutch Royal Family.

並由荷蘭皇室領導

The Kingdom of the Netherlands contains three more countries and to find them we must sail

尼德蘭王國還包含了另外三個國家，且要找到它們我們必須航行

from the icy North Sea to the Caribbean and Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten.

從冰封的北海航行到加勒比海和阿魯巴、庫拉索、荷屬聖馬丁

These are no territories, but self-governing countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands

這些都不是荷蘭領土，而是尼德蘭王國內的自治國

and as such they have their own governments, and their own currencies.

也因此，他們有自己的政府及自己的貨幣

Geography geek side note here:

為地理狂熱者加註：

While Aruba and Curaçao are islands, Sint Maarten is just the Southern Half of a tiny

雖然阿魯巴和庫拉索是島嶼，但Sint Maarten（荷屬聖馬丁）是一個也叫聖馬丁的小島的南半邊

island also named Saint Martin the other half of which is occupied by France and also named

小島另一半被法國人占領，名字也為Saint Martin（法屬聖馬丁）

Saint Martin. So despite being separated by Belgium on the European map, The Kingdom of

所以儘管在歐洲地圖上被比利時分隔兩側

the Netherlands and the French Republic share a border on the other side of the world on

尼德蘭王國和法蘭西共和國在世界另一頭仍共享邊界

an island so nice they named it thrice.

在一個太美好以至於將其命名三次的小島上

But why does the Kingdom of the Netherlands reach to the Caribbean anyway? Because, Empire.

不過為什麼尼德蘭王國會來到加勒比海呢？因為：帝國

In the 1600s the Dutch, always looking to expand business, laid their hands on every

在1600年間荷蘭人總是尋覓拓展貿易的機會，盡可能地緊握每一個有價值的港口

valuable port they could. For a time, America's East Coast was 'New Netherland' with its capital

有一度，美國東岸是「新尼德蘭」

city of New Amsterdam. There was New Zealand, as mentioned previously, and nearby, the king

有著「新阿姆斯特丹（紐約）」的首都。還有先前提到的紐西蘭，還有附近的

of the islands, New Holland. Though the empire is gone, these three Caribbean nations remain.

諸島之王，新荷蘭（澳洲）。雖然帝國已不復在，但這三個加勒比島國仍屹立著

And while four countries in one kingdom, isn't unheard of, it doesn't stop there, because

儘管四國一體的王國並非前所未有，但不止如此而已

the country of the Netherlands, also extends its borders to the Caribbean and three more

因為尼德蘭還將它的版圖延伸到加勒比海及另外三個島嶼上

islands: Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

波內赫、聖尤斯特歇斯和薩巴

These are not countries in a Kingdom, but are cities of the Country of the Netherlands

它們並非王國之中的國家，而是尼德蘭裡的城市

and they look the part. Residents of these far-flung cities vote in elections for the

他們看起來挺和諧的。這些遙遠城市的居民一樣在選舉中

Dutch government just as any Hollander would. Though, weirdly, they don't belong to any

如其它荷蘭人一般投票給荷蘭政府。然而，奇怪的是，他們不隸屬任何省份

province and they don't use the Dutch currency of Euros, they use Dollars instead. It's kind

也不使用荷蘭歐元貨幣，而是使用美金

of like if Hawaii wasn't a state, but technically part of the District of Columbia, all the

這有點像如果夏威夷不是一個州，理論上會是華盛頓特區的一部分

while using the Yen.

而大家都使用日幣一樣

These cities of the Country of the Netherlands and these countries in the Kingdom of the

這些尼德蘭的城市和尼德蘭王國中的國家

Netherlands, are together are known as the Dutch Caribbean. And their citizens are Dutch

合起來稱為荷屬加勒比海。他們的公民屬荷蘭人民

citizens. Which, because the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a member of the European Union,

也因為尼德蘭王國是歐盟的一員

means these Dutch Caribbeans are also Europeans.

意謂著這些荷屬加勒比海人也是歐洲人

So in the end, there are 6 Caribbean islands, four countries, twelve provinces, two Hollands,

所以最後，有六個加勒比海島嶼、四個國家、十二個省份、二個荷蘭省

two Netherlands and one kingdom, all Dutch.

二個尼德蘭和一個王國，全都是荷蘭人（Dutch）