> >No, you are mistaken: eveything in The Netherlands ("The" should be
> >capitalized, as it is part of the name) lies near Utrecht.
>
> 4.35 The names of countries ... are always capitalised. Thus:
>    the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany)
>    the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)
>    Japan
>    the People's Republic of China (China)
>    the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
>
>  From that, it seems I'm right. At least for Australia.

I disagree. Compare: The Hague, Los Angeles, Las Palmas etc.
The Netherlands is actually short for:

"the Kingdom Of The Netherlands"

The whole term is one single singular noun phrase. You say

"I think The Netherlands is a beautiful country".

If "the" were a real article and not part of the name, you would say:

"I think the Netherlands are a beautiful country"

> >  Although, I live
> >in Krimpen aan den IJssel, which is near Rotterdam, which again is quite
> >near Den Haag (The Hague, we are so fond of using articles in geographic
> >names).
>
> 3.21 Accepted English forms should be used for foreign
> placenames. For example:
>     (examples ending with:)  The Hague
>
> So it seems that you write 'The Hague' (not 'Den Haag') but 'the
> Netherlands' ... although what's the Dutch name for the
> Netherlands?

The Hague is a more or less literal translation of "Den Haag", which again
is an abbreviation for "'s-Gravenhage", meaning "the Duke's hedge".

The Netherlands is called just Nederland (singular, as opposed to the
English plural form) or fully the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Koninkrijk der
Nederlanden).

> (I can also say that 'The Netherlands' and 'the Hague' just look broken,
> which implies that most other people do them like that.)

I see The Netherlands a lot... I have never seen the Hague though...

> Incidentally, my Oma and Opa are Dutch. Or at least, my Opa was before he
> died (right when I was printing something off the Net for him in 1996. How
> inconsiderate is that?).

My opa's (why the sudden capitalization?) all died while I was on
vacation... talking about inconsiderate! <pun intended>

> >We are proud to be the most densely populated country of Europe,
> besides teh
> >city-states of Vatican City and Monaco, with a proud 420 people
> per square
> >kilometer and a total population of over 16 million. And we cannot even
> >build skyscrapers because our soil is too damp.
>
> On the other hand, Australia is proud to have one of the lowest population
> densities in the world with a proud 1.5ish people per square kilometre and
> a total population of over 19 million.

And still making a fuss about taking in a few boat refugees? Hah!

Maarten van Beek