Provinces of the Netherlands Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gelderland

Operation Market Garden was a complex plan that called for paratroopers to occupy six bridges between Nijmegen and Arnhem, until relief by a tank division. Alas, the German troops had two Panzer divisions in the region, and the allied operation failed.
Gelderland has Arnhem as provincial capital and Nijmegen as its most populated city. The road connecting these two cities is a narrow one elevated above polder landscapes and crosses several main waterways.
Gelderland is the largest of the Dutch provinces, and includes the Veluwe landscape (woodland, heath, a few hills). The main tourist attraction is the Kröller-Müller museum in a park on the Veluwe.

Answer: North Brabant

The Dutch village of Baarle-Nassau presents all these peculiar situations. The origin is a vast number of medieval treaties and contracts. Baarle-Nassau is the Dutch village of roughly 76 km², Baarle-Hertog is the Belgian village of roughly 7 km². But these two villages overlap and partly surround each other.
Twenty-two strips of Belgian territory are identified within the Dutch borders, and in these Belgian exclaves (parts of Belgian territory outside Belgium itself) are seven Dutch enclaves. The intriguing frontier line has been marked with iron pins on the ground. This frontier passes next to houses and in some cases even through houses. One of the houses has the frontier running through the front door, resulting in the same house bearing two distinct addresses (one in Belgium, one in the Netherlands).
Also at least one shop and the cultural centre are divided between the two countries.
The capital of North Brabant is 's Hertogenbosch. Interesting cities are Eindhoven (the largest city in the province) and Breda.

Answer: Friesland

The Wadden islands, also known as the West Frisian islands, are a number of islands and sandbanks to the north of the Netherlands. Inhabited Wadden islands include Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. Of these five islands, four belong to the province of Friesland - only Texel is attributed to North Holland.

There are also the uninhabited islands of Noorderhaaks, Richel, Griend, Rif, Engelmansplaat, Simonszand (all belonging to Friesland), Rottumerplaat, Rottumeroog and Zuiderduintjes (the latter three belonging to the province of Groningen). Friesland is known for the West-Friesian language, the second official language of the Netherlands (after Dutch).

In harsh winters Friesland organizes the Elfstedentocht, a skating race starting in the capital Leeuwarden and visiting all eleven historic cities of Friesland, on a circuit of almost 200 km.

The main criterion to decide on the organizing of the race, is the thickness of the ice: it should be 15cm thick at all places, because otherwise it wouldn't be safe.

There is also a cycling tour around the eleven cities, held normally each Whit Sunday.

Answer: South Holland

Rotterdam is one of the main seaports in Europe. The annual numbers vary from year to year, but almost at any time Rotterdam, Antwerp (Belgium) and Hamburg (Germany) pop up as largest container ports and in total tonnage. For transhipment these three get competition from Gioia Tauro (Italy) and Algeciras (Spain).
For passengers, the rankings are very different, because neither Rotterdam nor Antwerp or Hamburg is known as major harbour for cruises or for the crossing to Great-Britain. Most ship passengers in Europe either cross the English Channel or embark on a cruise in the Mediterranean area.
The province of South Holland has as capital The Hague, where one can also find the International Court of Justice and many other international law organizations. The Hague also houses the Dutch parliament and the office of the Prime Minister.

Answer: North Holland

The Rijksmuseum (one of the most prestigious museums in the Netherlands), the zoo Artis, and the Achterhuis (where Anne Frank hid) are all in Amsterdam, the national capital.
The Rijksmuseum has over 8,000 objects on display, most famously Rembrandt's painting "The Night Watch". Other famous paintings include "Milkmaid" by Vermeer and "Portrait of a Young Couple" by Frans Hals.
The entrance to the Amsterdam zoo shows us the motto Natura Artis Magistra ("Nature is the teacher of art"), which also lent the nickname of the zoo. Artis was founded in 1838 and opened for the public in 1851, making it one of the oldest public zoos in continental Europe.
Anne Frank wrote the greatest part of her diary while hiding in the Achterhuis, a building in central Amsterdam next to one of the canals.
The cheese market in Alkmaar continues to use the rites and habits of the Seventeenth Century.
Haarlem, the provincial capital of North Holland, can also boast some interesting tourist attractions.
All in all North Holland has quite a lot to offer to international tourists.

Answer: Groningen

Groningen competes with Friesland for being the most northern province of the Netherlands. Including the Wadden islands would give the most northern point to Groningen. But the most northern inhabited village would be on the island of Schiermonnikoog, which belongs to Friesland.
The field of natural gas discovered in Slochteren (east of the capital city Groningen) was exploited since 1963 and has greatly contributed to the welfare of the Netherlands, especially in the seventies.
The province of Groningen has the city of Groningen as capital. The city of Groningen happens also to be the largest city in the province.

Answer: Limburg

Limburg is the province with two frontiers. To the east Limburg borders on Germany, while Belgium lies to the south and the west of Limburg. The capital city is Maastricht, also the largest city in the province.
As Belgium also has a province named Limburg, the province is frequently named Dutch Limburg (but that is not an official name).
Contrary to the rest of the country, Limburg has quite a few hills. Most of the rest of the Netherlands is on or partly below sea level, but Limburg contains the highest elevations: the Vaalserberg (1,019 feet, near the frontier with Belgium and Germany), Schimperbosch (1,019 feet, equally near the city of Vaals), Strijthagen (785 feet, near Kerkrade) and Klingeleberg (702 feet, in the community of Simpelveld near Kerkrade).
Limburg has been dominated by coal mining for several decades. But when the coal mines were almost depleted, an economic conversion took place. The holding company De Nederlandse Staatsmijnen that controlled the charcoal mines, is now better known as DSM - an international company that produces nutritional products and specialties, as well as chemical specialties (plastics, coatings...).

Answer: Zeeland

Zeeland is a small Dutch province, but several major rivers enter the North Sea in Zeeland: the Scheldt (Westerschelde), the Oosterschelde, and the Grevelingen - a division of the combined Rhine-Meuse rivers.
In 1953 a huge flood occurred, resulting in the loss of life of more than 1,800 people. And more than 10,000 families lost their homes that were damaged beyond repair. Most of the damage was done to Zeeland, some damage also spread out to neighbouring provinces.
The Dutch government reacted swiftly: they ordered a gigantic project protecting against flooding. There should in the future never be so many victims any more, they argued.
And Dutch engineers complied with the orders: they devised and implemented the Delta Works, a vast set of reinforced dykes, dams, sluices, locks, storm barriers... The most ingenious of these is the Oosterscheldekering: a dam with 4 km of open sluices, which can be shut tight when adverse weather is predicted. This dam contains 65 concrete pillars surrounding steel doors of 42m wide and 35m high.
The American society of civil engineers granted the Delta Works the title of one of the seven modern World Wonders.
The capital city of Zeeland is Middelburg, also the largest city in the province. Gourmands interested in crustaceans should certainly visit Yerseke, centre of the mussel trade.

Answer: Flevoland

Dutch engineers have developed the most specialized water workers worldwide. They are prolific in building dykes, and in winning land from the sea. Flevoland is one of their achievements: an area of more than 1,400 square kilometres has been closed off from the water, and made into an inhabitable polder landscape.
But Flevoland does not include the lowest point in the Netherlands: that is situated near Rotterdam.
Flevoland consists of six communities, including the capital Lelystad (named after engineer Lely who created the Afsluitdijk and thus transformed the Zuiderzee into a lake, part of which now has been reclaimed to form Flevoland.

Answer: Utrecht

Utrecht is a very central province. The Nederlandsche Spoorwegen has established its headquarters in the city of Utrecht, and hence trains connect to all major cities in the Netherlands.
Although Utrecht is the smallest in area of the Dutch provinces, it is quite populated, resulting in a population density of over 900 inhabitants per square kilometre.
The province of Utrecht overlaps with the archbishopric Utrecht, the see of the main Roman-Catholic clergy. Also the Old-Catholic church and the main protestant church in the Netherlands operate form Utrecht.