ArubaFlagiconBelgium BelgiumFlagiconNetherlands NetherlandsFlagiconNetherlands Antilles Netherlands AntillesFlagiconSuriname SurinameFlagiconBenelux BeneluxFlagiconEU European UnionFlagiconUSAN Union of South American Nations Countries and territories with a significant number of speakers: AUS CAN FRA GER NZL USA UK agency = Nederlandse Taalunie(Dutch Language Union) iso1=nl iso2b=dut iso2t=nld iso3=nld map = Dutch-speaking world. Dutch is also one of the official languages of the European Union and the Union of South American Nations.
wiktDutch wiktCategory:Dutch language Dutch (Audionl-Nederlands.oggNederlands) is a West Germanic language (West Germanic languages) spoken by over 22 million people as a native language (first language) and over 5 million people as a second language. Most native speakers live in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, with smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies (Dutch Empire). It is closely related to other West Germanic languages (e.g., English (English language), West Frisian (West Frisian language) and German (German language)) and somewhat more remotely to the North Germanic languages.
Dutch is the parent language of Afrikaans and of several creole languages (Dutch-based creole languages). The Dutch Language Union coordinates actions of the Dutch, Flemish and Surinamese authorities in linguistic issues, language policy, language teaching and literature.
Nativename: Nederlands
Pronunciation: IPA-nl?ne?d?rl?ntsnl-Nederlands.ogg
States: * as native language in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders and Brussels (Brussels Capital Region)), Suriname, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, French Flanders (France) (French Flanders), Lower Rhine (Germany) (Low Rhenish) and in Dutch diaspora.
Region: originally Western Europe, today also in the Caribbean.
Speakers: *Native: +22 million *Total: +27 million
Rank: 37 (according to the Nederlandse Taalunie), 40, 43, 46 (ranking by SIL estimate (List of languages by number of native speakers#10 to 60 million native speakers))
Familycolor: Indo-European
Fam2: Germanic (Germanic languages)
Fam3: West Germanic (West Germanic languages)
Fam4: Low Franconian (Low Franconian languages)
Script: Latin alphabet (Dutch variant (Dutch alphabet))
Nation: FlagiconAruba