Dutch is the main language of the Netherlands and one of Belgium’s three official languages.
Dutch belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family, which also includes English, German, and Frisian. Its earliest written records date from the early medieval period, and standardized written Dutch developed over many centuries.
In Belgium, Dutch is the official language of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. Belgian Dutch is often called Flemish in informal contexts, but it is not a separate standardized language from Dutch in the way the term may suggest.
Dutch was also carried overseas through trade and colonization. Afrikaans developed primarily from 17th-century Dutch spoken at the Cape, while Dutch remains an official language in Suriname and several Caribbean territories. The Dutch Language Union, founded in 1980, coordinates language policy between the Netherlands and the Dutch-speaking community in Belgium.