holland

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This article is about a region in the Netherlands, not the country itself. For the country of the Netherlands as a whole, see Netherlands. For other uses of the word Holland, see Holland (disambiguation).

Holland

North and South Holland (dark yellow) shown together within the Netherlands

Area	5,488 square kilometres (2,119 sq mi)
Population	6,065,459 (2006 est.)
Density	1105.22/km2 (3032.72/sq mi)
Regions	North Holland South Holland
Demonym	Hollander
Languages	Dutch (mainly Hollandic dialects)
Largest cities (2010)	Amsterdam (739,290) Rotterdam (607,460) The Hague (473,940) Haarlem (151,853) Leiden (118,714)

Coat of arms of the former County of Holland

Holland is a region and former province located on the western coast of the Netherlands. The term Holland is also frequently used as a pars pro toto to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. This usage is generally accepted, but disliked by part of the Dutch population, especially in the other parts of the Netherlands.^[1]
From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the Counts of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the newly independent Dutch Republic.
Today, the former County of Holland roughly consists of the two Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland, which together include the Netherlands' three largest cities: the capital city of Amsterdam; the seat of government of The Hague; and Rotterdam