Dutch in Belgium the Brabantic dialects. It is often called ("in-between-language" or "intermediate language", intermediate between dialects and standard Dutch). Dutch in Belgium The Dutch language used in Belgium can also be referred to as Flemish Dutch ("Vlaams-Nederlands"), Belgian Dutch ("Belgisch-Nederlands" ), or Southern Dutch ("Zuid-Nederlands"). Dutch is the mother tongue of about 60% of the population in Belgium, or by approximately 6.5 million people.(over 11 million inhabitants). It is the only official language in the Flemish Region (Flanders) (which consists of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, and Limburg) and, in addition to French, the official language in
Dutch colonization of the Americas independence prompted many to migrate to the Netherlands. Political instability and economic decline after independence resulted in even more migration to the Netherlands. The Surinamese community in the Netherlands is now almost as large as half of the population in the country itself (about 350,000). Dutch colonization of the Americas The Dutch colonization of the Americas began with the establishment of Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas, which preceded the much wider known colonisation activities of the Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 (in present-day Indonesia), the first forts and