Indians in the Netherlands are residents of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

origin 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 ...

. The majority of the people of Indian descent in the Netherlands are of

Indo-Surinamese Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and t ...

origin. More recently the flow of emigrants from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

has increased, especially information technology professionals.

History

In 2017, 8,630 Indians immigrated to the Netherlands, making them the second largest recent immigrant group after the

Syrians Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both ind ...

. Most of them were highly skilled migrants working in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

and information services. Moreover, the number of Indians who came to study in the Netherlands has more than tripled: from 425 migrant students in 2012 to 1,400 migrant students in 2017. Between January and November 2019, 6,322 Indians immigrated to the Netherlands. Nevertheless, Indian migrants often stay in the Netherlands temporarily, as about 45% leave the country within six years. As of 2019, about 48,724 people of Indian immigrant descent lived in the Netherlands. Most of them live in the provinces of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

and

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to t ...

Indo-Surinamese

After the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colony of

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 nor ...

, the Dutch government signed a treaty with the United Kingdom on the recruitment of contract workers. Indians began migrating to Suriname in 1873 from what was then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

indentured labourers Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...

, mostly from the modern-day Indian states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and the surrounding regions. Up until the independence of Suriname in 1975, all the Indo-Surinamese were formally 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 thus owned a Dutch passport. After the independence a significant portion of the Indo-Surinamese population migrated to the Netherlands, thereby retaining their Dutch passport. Currently there are more than 120,000 Indo-Surinamese living in the Netherlands, of which the majority, about 50,000, in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and surroundings. Indo-Surinamese are also known in both the Netherlands and Suriname by the

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 ...

term ''Hindoestanen'', derived from the word '' Hindustani'', lit., "someone from

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used b ...

". Hence, when Indians migrated to Suriname they were referred to as Hindustanis, people of Indian origin.

Statistics

In December 2001 the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora estimated the population of PIOs and Indian citizens at 215,000. According to the Dutch governmental institution

Statistics Netherlands 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), in January 2016, 32,682 people had their origin from immigrants from India. The Embassy of India states that the Netherlands has the "second largest population of people of Indian origin in Europe (next only to UK)" and that it is "home to about 220,000 Indian and Surinamese Hindustani Diaspora." The Netherlands India Chamber of Commerce & Trade (NICCT) states that there are about 25,000 Indians or persons of Indian origin, excluding the Surinamese Hindustanis.NICCT: Growing Indian Community in The Netherlands

Notable people

* Rattan Chadha, businessman * Anice Das, speed skater *

Tanja Jadnanansing Tanja Malti Jadnanansing (born 26 April 1967) is a Dutch politician and former television presenter and communication employee. As a member of the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid), she was an MP from 17 June 2010 to 7 September 2016. She was ...

, politician * Ram Labhaya Lakhina, entrepreneur and community leader * Vinoodh Matadin, fashion photographer *

Mangesh Panchal Mangesh Panchal (born 27 December 1973) is an Indian-born Dutch One Day International cricketer. He made his debut for the Netherlands against Bermuda in August 2007. External links * 1973 births Living people Dutch cricketers Netherlan ...

, cricketer *

Anil Ramdas Anil Ramdas (Paramaribo, 16 February 1958 – Loenen aan de Vecht, 16 February 2012) was a Dutch-Surinamese columnist, correspondent, essayist, journalist, and TV and radio host. He was generally considered the V.S.Naipaul specialist of The Neth ...

, columnist *

Tara Singh Varma Tarapatie "Tara" Oedayraj Singh Varma (born August 29, 1948) is a former Dutch politician and former member of the House of Representatives for the GreenLeft party. Life before politics Although Tarapatie "Tara" Oedayraj (Udairaj) Singh Varma ...

, politician *

Ricardo Kishna Ricardo Kishna (born 4 January 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Ajax Born in The Hague, Kishna joined Ajax in 2010 from ADO Den Haag at 15 years old, where he had been active in the youth ranks from ...

, Football * Furdjel Narsingh, football *

Luciano Narsingh Luciano Narsingh (born 13 September 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Ekstraklasa club Miedź Legnica. He is right-footed and usually plays as a right winger but can also play as a left winger, and both side of attackin ...

* Kiran Bechan

References

External links

Indian Diaspora in Netherlands
{{Ethnic groups in the Netherlands Asian diaspora in the Netherlands Ethnic groups in the Netherlands Indian diaspora in the Netherlands