Language
The Netherlands has two official languages: Dutch and Frisian. The latter is spoken as a second language by some 600,000 people in the Northern province of Friesland. Nearly everyone also speaks English, especially in the larger cities and towns.
The Dutch language is being spoken by 22 million people all over the world. It is one of the official languages in Belgium and it is used widely in government and education in the former colony of Suriname and in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Afrikaans, which is spoken in South Africa, is an offshoot of the Dutch language.