Is it correct to write THE Netherlands, or is it ok to write Netherlands, without THE?

Question

Hypothetically, if a Swiss bank wishes to deal with a Dutch company, how should they write on the envelope, if they write in English, not in German or Dutch? The Netherlands?

Answer 1

Always with "The" in English,,,

Answer 2

Swiss Banks can normally cope with foreign names. In the case of the Netherlands, they might possibly write 'Pays Bas', knowing that the Dutch aren't too keen on the Germans.
They would almost certainly not write in English.
They would probably write 'Nederland', which is Dutch for 'the Netherlands', because they respect other languages.
Anyway, why bring the Swiss into the question?
It's 'the Netherlands'. Just like it used to be 'the Lebanon' and 'the Sudan.

I've just had a thought! Eureka! When you are writing to someone in a foreign country, it is important that the inland postal service knows where to send the letter - so the Swiss would then write 'die Niederlande', ' Les Pays Bas', or 'i Paesi Bassi' depending on what part of Switzerland they were in.

Answer 3

The formal country name is the Kingdom of the Netherlands, usually abbreviated to The Netherlands. Strangely enough, the Dutch themselves say 'Nederland' without the plural suffix s and without the article 'de' (the). Holland is widely used as an alternative, but strictly speaking, this refers only to two of its western provinces, North and South Holland.

Historically, there once were several 'Netherlands', autonomous regions and provinces which were united in the 16th century, hence The Netherlands (plural). And until the early 19th century, 'De Nederlanden' (Dutch plural form; The Netherlands) was the preferred term but has since been replaced in modern Dutch by 'Nederland' (singular, no article), which would suggest that the Dutch people have, over time, come to accept their country as a single nation rather than a politically inspired combination of loosely related regions.

Answer 4

Originally part of the Spanish empire and consisting of a number of separate self governing states (staats - in Dutch) they were jointly known as 'the Netherlands' meaning to be distant and at the edge of acceptable knowledge (consider the modern expression 'your nether regions' - that area of your anatomy that should be considered beyond general knowledge)
upon gaining independence the Staats (amongst which is Holland) retained the name of "The Netherlands" and consequently people from that country should be called Netherlanders .. the word Dutch came about as a misunderstanding by the English seamen during the 1600's when they heard the Netherlanders speaking and thought it was German (Deutsch), this became common as Dutch.
Most of my friends from that part of the world prefer Dutch to Hollanders

Answer 5

The Netherlands.
One of my brothers lives there and when I write I always put The Netherlands.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

Always use The Netherlands, or of course, you could simply use the name Holland.

Answer 8

The word ''THE'' is used when you emphasize a thing. Therefore the proper way of writing is '' The Netherlands''.

Answer 9

You need a the!

Answer 10

Happy Murcia is right...you use 'The'