The Netherlands is also called Holland, and a lot of people use these names interchangeably. To make matters easier to understand, let us trace the history of how the Netherlands and Holland came to be. Netherlands was part of the Republic of Seven United Netherlands from 1588 to 1795 until it was conquered by French troops in 1795 and turned the low-lying region or Netherlands into a kingdom.
After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, the Netherlands remained a kingdom and became independent. Now, Holland means wood-land in Old English and refers to people who are living in the northern part of the Netherlands. Holland was used to refer to the whole Netherlands because it made the biggest contribution to the economy and wealth of the entire nation.
