buitenlands

Buitenlands is a Dutch adjective meaning foreign or relating to other countries. It describes things that originate outside one's own country or that concern international relations and events. In everyday and formal usage, buitenlands appears in phrases that refer to other nations or international affairs.

Common usages include buitenlands beleid (foreign policy), buitenlandse zaken (foreign affairs), buitenlandse handel (foreign trade), en buitenlandse investeringen (foreign investments). The term also occurs in fixed expressions such as in het buitenland, which means abroad. In many contexts buitenlands adds a sense of external origin or international scope to the noun it accompanies.

The opposite concept is often conveyed with binnenlands, meaning domestic or internal to the country. Dutch speakers distinguish between the international and the national sphere by using buitenlands or binnenlands in combination with other nouns, or by using het buitenland to denote the foreign country or the abroad in general.

Etymologically, buitenlands derives from buiten (outside) and land (land), indicating links to lands beyond one’s own country. The word is widely used in government, diplomacy, business, and media to discuss relations with other nations, international markets, or cross-border issues. Its usage emphasizes the external, cross-border dimension of a subject, as opposed to domestic concerns.