Dutch Language Miscellaneous Facts

Dutch is spoken by about 26 million people in a number of old Dutch colonies and countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Philippines, UAE and the USA. It is the official language in countries such as the Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, parts of Belgium and Suriname. Dutch is classified as a West Germanic language and is made up of a couple varieties including one called Flemish, spoken by about 8 million people in Belgium. The Dutch language itself, is also said to be one of the closest related languages to English in the world. In addition, the Dutch speaking population is Internet friendly with about 12.5 million Dutch speakers online worldwide and 10 million Internet users in the Netherlands itself (about 65.9% of the population accesses the Internet).

Although Dutch is spoken worldwide, it exists primarily in the Netherlands and neighboring European countries. The Netherlands is situated directly next to Germany and above Belgium, where there are a good number of Dutch speakers as well. With a population of 16.5 million people, the Netherlands is considered to be one of the most densely populated countries in the world when compared to the size of the country.

The Netherlands itself is involved in European business affairs, the United Nations, the European Union and receives a fair amount of business from tourists, international organizations and foreign direct investments. Representing an important part of the European Union, the Dutch-speaking markets are essential to fully access the online European market.

Dutch search engines directory:
	1 Stekeuze: http://www.1stekeuze.nl (Netherland) Altavista in Dutch: http://be-nl.altavista.com (Belgium/Flemish) Altavista in Dutch: http://nl.altavista.com (Netherland) DeBeste: http://www.debeste.be (Belgium/Flemish) Eli: http://www.eli.nl (Netherland) Gevonden: http://www.gevonden.cc/ (Belgium/Flemish) Google in Dutch http://www.goegel.be (Belgium/Flemish) Google in Dutch: http://www.google.nl (Netherland) Google in Dutch http://www.google.be (Belgium/Flemish) Ilse: http://www.ilse.nl (Netherland) Kobala in Dutch: http://www.kobala.nl) (Netherland) Kobala: http://www.kobala.be (Belgium/Flemish) Kobala: http://www.kobala.nl (Netherland) Jaan.org: http://www.jaan.be/ (Belgium/Flemish) Jongerenweb: http://www.jongerenweb.nl (Netherland) Lapoo in Dutch: http://www.lapoo.nl/ (Belgium/Flemish) Lycos in Dutch: http://www.lycos.nl (Netherland) Metaspider: http://www.metaspider.nl (Netherland) MSN in Dutch: http://be.msn.com/ (Belgium/Flemish) MSN in Dutch: http://www.msn.nl (Netherland) Netmenu: http://www.netmenu.nl (Netherland) Rubrieken: http://www.rubrieken.com (Netherland) Track: http://www.track.nl (Netherland) Vinden: http://www.vinden.nl (Netherland) Web: http://www.web.nl (Netherland) WWWGids: http://www.wwwgids.nl Zoek: http://www.wwwgids.nl (Netherland)