Everything about Allochtoon totally explained
Allochtoon (plural: allochtonen) is a
Dutch word (derived from
Greek ἀλλος (allos), other, and χθον (chthon) earth/land), literally meaning "originating from another country". It is the opposite of the word
autochtoon (in English, "autochthonous" or "autochthone"; derived from
Greek αυτο (auto), self) literally meaning "originating from this country".
In the Netherlands (and Flanders), the term "
allochtoon" is widely used to refer to immigrants and their descendants. Officially the term allochtoon is much more specific and refers to anyone of whom one or both of his/her parents wasn't born in the Netherlands. Hence, third generation immigrants, are no longer considered allochtoon (if both their parents were born in the Netherlands), though this doesn't automatically make them ethnically Dutch. The corresponding
antonym autochtoon is less widely used, but it roughly corresponds to
ethnic Dutch. Among a number of immigrant groups living in the Netherlands, a "
Dutch" person (though they're themselves Dutch citizens) usually refers to the ethnic Dutch.
In 1950, Dutch descent, Dutch nationality, and Dutch citizenship were in practice identical. The Netherlands was largely a mono-ethnic society with some colonial influences (if the Frisians are considered part of the Dutch ethnic group). In 1950, most Dutch were either Catholic or Protestant, with some atheists. Decolonisation and immigration from the 1960s on, altered the ethnic and religious composition of the country - there are now about one million
Muslims. This development has made the 'ethnicity' and national identity of the Dutch a political issue.
Dutch nationality law is based primarily on the principle of
Jus sanguinis ("
Right of blood"). In other words, citizenship is conferred primarily by birth to a Dutch parent, irrespective of place of birth.
Definitions
The Dutch Government
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) uses the definition that at least one of the parents isn't born in the Netherlands.
A first distinction is made between first- and second-generation newcomers.
- A first-generation allochtoon is a person living in the Netherlands but born in a foreign country, and who has at least one parent who was also born abroad. The 'country of origin' is the country where that person is born.
- A second-generation allochtoon is a person born in the Netherlands with at least one parent born in a foreign country. When both parents are born abroad, the 'country of origin' is taken to be that of the mother. If she was born in the Netherlands, it's the father's country of birth.
Note that someone who is born abroad but of whom both parents were born in the Netherlands is an autochtoon.
A further distinction is made between 'western' and 'non-western' allochtonen. A
non-western allochtoon is someone whose 'country of origin' is or lies in
Turkey,
Africa,
Latin America and
Asia, with the exception of
Indonesia (or the former
Dutch East Indies) and
Japan.
This last distinction was made because the official definition of 'allochtoon' deviates from the common use in popular speech, where people refer to someone as
allochtoon only when that person is an immigrant or an asylum seeker who is clearly distinct in appearance (
race or clothing) or behaviour from the traditional Dutchman. However, in the official sense, the largest group of "allochtonen" are of
German ancestry. The groups that people usually think of when they hear the word 'allochtoon' are those of
Turkish,
Moroccan and
Surinamese ancestry. As of 2006, these groups comprise roughly 350,000 people each, together constituting just over 6% of the population.
(External Link
) So a new term was introduced that lies closer to that meaning, 'niet-westers allochtoon', which excludes 'allochtonen' from Europe, Japan (a westernised country) and Indonesia (a former colony), but not those from the
Netherlands Antilles and
Surinam, which seems odd because the Antilles are still part of the kingdom of the Netherlands (the inhabitants have a Dutch passport) and those from Surinam immigrated when that country was still part of the Netherlands. Hoewever, many Indonesian allochtones are
white (former colonists), while most Surinam and Antillian allochtones are
black (former slaves), so this definition coincides better with people's conception of the word.
Trivia
Most members of the
Dutch Royal Family are officially
allochtonen, one of their parents being a Royal and his or her spouse being of foreign extraction. The only exception are the children of
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and her commoner husband
Pieter van Vollenhoven.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Allochtoon'.
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