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Allochtoon (plural: allochtonen) is a Dutch word (from Greek: 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 chthōn 'soil, earth, land', literally meaning "emerging from this soil".
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 referred to anyone who had at least one parent born outside the Netherlands.[1] The antonym 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, with some colonial influences and sizeable minorities of Jewish, German and Flemish heritage. In 1950, most Dutch were either Catholic or Protestant, with some Jews and atheists. Decolonisation and immigration 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 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. A child born in the Netherlands to at least one parent residing in the Netherlands is also considered as Dutch.
- ^ "allochtoon". Central Bureau of Statistics (in Dutch).