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Yeah, that part about the Dutch.. Unexplored territory, so far :-) However, I think that article made good and fair points. Holland may be
the commercial and most famous part of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands Bureau of Tourism is of course not helping things when they establish a site called Holland.com, etc. All explained in the article. I like the analogy that calling all of the Netherlands Holland, is like calling all of Great Britain England. The English may really like it, but the Scots and the Welsh, not so much.. 
The part about wrongful learning in schools (especially within Holland proper, I'm sure) is also covered by the eloquent article. Also, the English speaking Wikipedia, which is not a bad source at all, in most cases, points in the same direction. There seems little doubt that Holland is an unofficial name of the country officially known as The Netherlands.
This article also explains some points
"All these counties (called provinces today, together with some new ones) are now called "The Kingdom of the Netherlands." 
Today the province of Limburg still has a Governor and to say to someone from Limburg or Friesland that he or she is from Holland, is considered an insult. They are not! They consider themselves to be from the Netherlands. They even have their own language. People from other Provinces (except North and South Holland) will perhaps not consider it a real insult, but still they're not from Holland."
(I recommend reading through all of it - it's only 4 times more than the above.)
I also lived with two people from Holland proper until last christmas. They were from the Holland-region, and were university/academical students. They said Netherlands is the official name, but quickly changed to say that "no, strike that, say Holland!", laughing out loud. So it's quite clear that it's a matter of regional/nationalist pride, but not, for most, a serious matter - more like an in-joke. But for those who come from Limburg or Friesland, it seems it's not so much of a laughing matter.
Either way, there's no disputing that the official name of the country is The Netherlands. It's interesting to hear you've been taught otherwise, but not knowing much about you, other than that you are from the Holland-part of the country - the part that we hear by far the most about abroad, as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag are all there - it's hard for me to put this anecdotal piece of input into much context, so far.
Otherwise, thanks for your commendations on my research - and feel free to post an authoritative and credible article which cogently makes the case that Holland should be the official name for all of the country, and not The Netherlands 
Seems all the countries have their own national football teams - witness the Caribbean countries' membership in the CONCACAF Jul 09, 15:31
How many of you had thought that the EU (European Union) is well represented within the Americas? Well, seems it is: Jul 09, 16:21
I learned something else new from that link - Greece has an "autonomous monastic region" How cool is that. {nm} Jul 09, 16:24
Haven't checked it, but lemme guess - Macedonia? {nm} Jul 09, 16:32
Disregard that; it's Mount Athos, *within* the Greek region of Macedonia... {nm} Jul 09, 18:16
Holland and The Netherlands are both correct. The confusion is due to... Jul 10, 01:24
Or actually, in English it's called "The Flying Dutchman", but the original title seems to have been Der fliegende Hollânder. Jul 11, 02:33
And a powerful appeal is also found within the article I linked to above: Jul 11, 04:56
I stand in awe of all this fact-digging. Your name is aptly chosen. But... Jul 12, 04:16
Yeah, that part about the Dutch.. Unexplored territory, so far :-) However, I think that article made good and fair points. Holland may be Jul 12, 06:44
Haha... you are obsessed ! Thanks anyway. Good research {nm} Jul 12, 11:36
I love this kinda stuff :-) Jul 12, 12:56