RE: the Netherlands vs. The Netherlands

["Andrew Warren" <awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com>]

T K wrote:

> I have a question in relation to the correct spelling of the term
> "The Netherlands". .... I am seeing conflicting opinions as to
> whether it should be "...of the Netherlands" or "...of The
> Netherlands".    
> ....
> I am unable to find a conclusive answer on sites such as the ISO
> list of country names
>
(http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-list
s/list-en1.html)

    Thomas:

    The reason that the list doesn't help you is that the official
    English (short) name of the country is neither "The Netherlands"
    nor "the Netherlands", but simply "Netherlands".  The US Board
    on Geographic Names and ISO agree on this.

    I suppose you could ask the Dutch Embassy(202 244-5300), too,
    although I wouldn't necessarily consider them an authoritative
    source.

> how authoritative a source is Wikipedia?

    Not.  Wikipedia is fun, but it isn't a serious research tool.

    If you make a mistake because the information you got from
    Brittanica or the OED was wrong, you have a reasonable defense;
    if you screw up something important because Wikipedia was
    wrong, you might be lucky to have a job the next day.

    -Andrew

=== Andrew Warren  - awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com
=== Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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