''Allochtoon'' (plural: allochtonen) is a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
word (from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
ἀλλόχθων, from ἄλλος
'allos''other and χθών
'chthōn''soil/earth/land), literally meaning "emerging from another soil". It is the opposite of the word ''autochtoon'' (in English "autochthonous" or "autochthon"; from Greek αὐτόχθων, from αὐτός
'autos''self/same and again χθών
hthōnsoil/earth/land), literally meaning "emerging from this soil".
In the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(and
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
), the term ''allochtoon'' is widely used to refer to immigrants and their descendants. Officially the term ''allochtoon'' is much more specific and referred to anyone who had at least one parent born outside the Netherlands. The
antonym
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
''autochtoon'' is less widely used, but it roughly corresponded to ''ethnic Dutch''. Among a number of immigrant groups living in the Netherlands, a "''Dutch''" person (though they are themselves Dutch citizens) usually refers to the ethnic Dutch.
In 1950, Dutch descent, Dutch nationality, and Dutch citizenship were in practice identical. Dutch society consisted mostly of
ethnic Dutch
The Dutch (Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Arub ...
, with some colonial influences and sizeable minorities of German and Flemish heritage. In 1950, most Dutch were either Catholic or Protestant, with some atheists. Decolonisation and
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from the 1960s on altered the ethnic and religious composition of the country. That development has made the ethnicity and the national identity of the Dutch political issues.
Dutch nationality law
Dutch nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Dutch nationality. The primary law governing these requirements is the Dutch Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1985. Regulations apply to the entire Kingdom o ...
is based primarily on the principle of
jus sanguinis
( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...
("right of blood"). In other words, citizenship is conferred primarily by birth to a Dutch parent, irrespective of place of birth. A child born in the Netherlands to at least one parent residing in the Netherlands is also considered as Dutch.
Definitions
The Dutch
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often ...
(CBS) used the definition that at least one of the parents is not born in the Netherlands.
A first distinction was made between first-generation and second-generation newcomers.
*A first-generation ''allochtoon'' was a person living in the Netherlands but born in a foreign country and who had at least one parent also born abroad. The 'country of origin' was the country in which that person was born.
*A second-generation ''allochtoon'' was a person born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born in a foreign country. When both parents were born abroad, the 'country of origin' was taken to be that of the mother. If one parent was born in the Netherlands, the 'country of origin' was the other parent's country of birth.
Note that someone who was born abroad, but with both parents born in the Netherlands, was an ''autochtoon''.
A further distinction was made between "Western" and "non-Western" ''allochtoon'' people. A non-Western ''allochtoon'' was someone whose 'country of origin' was or lied in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, with the exception of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
(or the former
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
) and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
This last distinction was made because the official definition of ''allochtoon'' deviated from the common use in popular speech, where people referred to someone as ''allochtoon'' only when that person was an immigrant or an asylum seeker who was clearly distinct in
ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
(i.e. physical appearance or skin colour), clothing or behaviour from the traditional Dutch society. However, in the official sense, the largest group of ''allochtoon'' people were of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
ancestry. The groups that people usually thought of when they heard the word ''allochtoon'' were those of
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
,
Moroccan,
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
se and Dutch-Antillean ancestry. As of 2006, the first three groups comprise roughly 350,000 people each, together constituting just over 6% of the population. So a new term was introduced that lied closer to that meaning, "niet-westers ''allochtoon''", which excluded ''allochtoon'' people from Europe, Japan (a developed high income country) and Indonesia (a former colony), but not those from the
Netherlands Antilles
nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom"
, national_anthem =
, common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento
, demonym = Netherlands Antillean
, capital = Willemstad
, year_start = 1954
, year_end = 2010
, date_start = 15 December
, ...
and Suriname, even though the Netherlands Antilles are part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
, national_anthem = )
, image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg
, map_width = 250px
, image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png
, map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale
, capital = ...
and those from Suriname immigrated when that country was still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This definition coincided better with the popular conception of the word as signifying people of low socio-economic status who are "different from us".
Although some viewed the usage of ''allochtoon'' as a stigma, several members of the
Dutch Royal Family
The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
and all past monarchs were officially ''allochtoon'' people, as one of the parents was foreign-born. This included 'western-allochtoon' current monarch
Willem Alexander, as well as his 'non-western allochtoon' wife
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
Máxima (born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; 17 May 1971) is Queen of the Netherlands as the wife of King Willem-Alexander.
Argentine by birth, she worked in marketing when she met Willem-Alexander, eldest son and heir apparent of Queen Beatrix, ...
and their children.
As of November 1, 2016, the Statistics Netherlands stopped using the terms ''allochtoon'' and ''autochtoon''. Instead, it distinguishes people with a migrant background and people with a Dutch background.
Criticism
Originally proposed as a neutral term, the use of the term ''allochtoon'' has been criticized as being stigmatizing. There is a regular stream of newspaper articles reporting statistics that unfavourably distinguish ''allochtoon'' people from the rest of the Dutch, in terms of general health, involvement in crime, level of education or perceived loyalty to the host country.
In 2013, the city council of
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
decided to stop using the term because of its divisive effect.
As of 2016, the term ''allochtoon'' is no longer used by the Dutch government, being replaced "persoon met migratieachtergrond" (''person with immigrant background''),
an expression borrowed from German ("Person mit
Migrationshintergrund"). The definition, however, has not been affected.
See also
*
Demographics of the Netherlands
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
*
Human migration
Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another (ex ...
References
{{reflist
Related concepts in other languages
*
Gaikokujin
is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens. The word is composed of two kanji: and ...
(also "Gaijin") from
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
.
*
Farangi
Farang ( fa, فرنگ) is a Persian (and Southeast Asian) word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic tribe) and later came to refer to White Europeans in general. The word "Farang" is a cognate and originates from Old F ...
,
Firang
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
and
Farang
Farang ( fa, فرنگ) is a Persian (and Southeast Asian) word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic tribe) and later came to refer to White Europeans in general. The word "Farang" is a cognate and originates from Old F ...
- various forms used to refer to Westerners/foreigners in the East
Human migration
Society of the Netherlands
Dutch words and phrases
Ethno-cultural designations