More than 31 thousand Americans in the Netherlands

More than 31 thousand Americans were living in the Netherlands op 1 January 2008. Many more Dutch people live in the United States: according to the US Bureau of the Census, over 100 thousand Dutch people lived there in 2001. 

Most Americans live in North Holland

The largest number of Americans in the Netherlands live in the west of the country. Nearly 70 percent live in the provinces Utrecht, South Holland and North Holland. Twice as many Americans as average for the whole country live in North Holland. Wassenaar beats the lot: nearly twenty times the average number of Americans live there. 

Concentration index Americans in the Netherlands, 1 January 2008

Many young Americans

Americans who live in the Netherlands are relatively young. More than half are under thirty. In the Dutch population as a whole, 35 percent are younger than thirty. On the other hand, only 4 percent of Americans are over 65, while the national percentage is nearly 15 percent.

Age composition of Americans in the Netherlands, 1 January 2008

Most Americans moved to the Netherlands for reasons of work or family migration. In recent years, however, more and more Americans are coming here to study.

Immigration of Americans by reason, 1995-2005

Four-hundred year relationship

Relations between the Netherlands and the United States go back nearly 400 years. As early as in 1624 the Netherlands founded a settlement on the east coast of America, calling it New Amsterdam. The surrounding territory was called New Netherland.

Following the independence of the United States in 1776, the flow of emigrants started in earnest. Between 1820 and 1910 some 220 thousand Dutch people ventured the crossing to the new country. Many of them were land labourers who left the Netherlands for economic or religious reasons.

Second emigration wave in the 1950s

A new emigration wave was observed in the second half of the twentieth century. Most emigrants travelled to Australia and Canada, but in the fifties more than 50 thousand Dutch people moved to the United States. And America is still attracting Dutch emigrants. Every year an average 3 thousand people move from the Netherlands to America, nearly three times the number of people who opt for Canada or Australia.

Immigration from and emigration to the United States, 1948-2007

Han Nicolaas