Dutchspeakers

Dutchspeakers are people who speak Dutch, a West Germanic language spoken primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium, with smaller communities elsewhere. The term covers native speakers as well as those who use Dutch as a second language. Globally, there are roughly 23 to 25 million native Dutch speakers, concentrated in the Netherlands (about 17 million) and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (about 5–6 million). Smaller communities in Suriname and the Caribbean—Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba)—also use Dutch as an official or common language.

Dutch belongs to the West Germanic branch of Indo-European. It developed from Old Dutch in the Early Middle Ages and has two major standard varieties: Algemeen Nederlands (General Dutch), used in education and formal contexts, and Flemish Dutch, used in Flanders and Brussels. Numerous regional dialects exist, including Hollandic, Brabantian, and Limburgish; Frisian is a separate official language in Friesland and is not considered a Dutch dialect.

As an official language in the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, and several Caribbean territories, Dutch functions as a lingua franca in administration, media, education, and business within the Dutch-speaking world. It is taught as a foreign language in many countries and is known for a relatively high level of English proficiency among its speakers. The Dutch-speaking world maintains a rich literary heritage and an active contemporary media and academic sphere.