Why is Holland's capital called THE Hague & not simply Hague , similarly why is it THE Netherlands?

Answer 1

There are a lot of questions about this, so I guess it must be very important :)
Some really good answers came up - I think this covers most of it:

They use two names for the country, Holland and the Netherlands. Actually, originally 'Holland' was used as a name for only a region of the Netherlands. So that must be historical...
It is like saying England for Great Britain, the United Kingdom, except that the Dutch don't get cross.

You also say United States when you talk about America, and the Americans speak English.

Oh, a big part of the country lays so low it is below sea level. Low='neder' thus Netherlands as 'the low lands' - also use 'hollow'th explain how low the land is: 'Holland'.
This also explains all the canals and the boating, and I suppose that explains the trade history.

And, the cultural history, or maybe having been invaded so many times in history (just like any other part in europe) must account for the different ways of naming cities.
We call The Hague 'Den Haag' or 's'Graven Hage' to name one of the cities. This is rooted in old use of the language. The 'Den'or the 's' part translates to 'The', english does not have variations for 'the' as the old dutch language has.
A 'the' in 'the netherlands' must originate from the times of 'De republiek der Nederlanden', beeing more than one single Netherland'.

Still interested? Have a look
http://www.thenetherlands.com/index.php
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=52.288323,5.537109&spn=2.923282,5.328369

Answer 2

Because The Hague means Den Haag..

And the city name is not only Haag

So, in english Den Haag = The Hague

Answer 3

I believe The Hague means the castle and it is the old walled city sorounded by the newer parts of the city.

Answer 4

Its called the Netherlands, which means the low lands, because its below sea level

Answer 5

arbitrary assignation I suppose like
The United States of America
or The United Kingdom or
The Vatican State or
Los Angeles (the Angels)