Netherlands County

The country is divided into two main parts by three large rivers, the Rhine (Rijn) and its main distributary Waal, as well as the Meuse (Maas). These rivers function as a natural barrier between earlier fiefdoms, and hence created traditionally a cultural divide, as is evident in some phonetic traits that are recognisable north and south of these Large Rivers. In addition to this, there was, until quite recently, a clear religious dominance of Catholics in the south and of Protestants in the north.