Useless But Fun Dutch trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Because of the house of Orange

Orange is the Netherlands' national colour because of the house of Orange, the Dutch royal line. William of Orange (William I, prince of Orange 1533-84) was the principal founder of Dutch independence in 1597. The Dutch royal family belongs to the house of Orange, and the Dutch flag, which is red, white and blue (like the French but turned 90 degrees), has an orange banner. King Willem-Alexander became the reigning monarch of the Netherlands in 2013 when his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated.

Answer: Tuborg

Tuborg is Danish. Other well-known Dutch beers include Grolsch, Oranjeboom and Bavaria.

Answer: bike

Bike is short for bicycle, which comes from Latin (bi = two, cyclus = wheels or circle). Cole slaw comes from the Dutch kool sla, freight from vracht, landscape from landschap.

Answer: Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital, but the Hague is the seat of government. In most countries the government is seated in the capital, but in Holland it is not, which has been a source of confusion for many non-Dutch.

Answer: the CD

A Dutchman came up with the idea of the compact disc in 1969 and developed it with the Dutch electronics multinational Philips

Answer: False

The possession of ALL drugs is illegal in the Netherlands and punishable by law. Possession of a small amount of grass is a misdemeanour. The import, export, production, sale and transportation of all drugs is illegal as well. The cultivation of hemp (the plant from which marihuana and hashis are made), for example, has a maximum sentence of four years jail.

However, the prosecution policy of the Dutch Ministry of Justice distinguishes between drugs that have unacceptable health risks (hard drugs), including heroine, cocaine and XTC, and drugs that are known to be unaddictive and far less damaging (soft drugs), like hashish and marihuana (soft drugs). Under the prosecution policy, the sale of soft drugs in coffeeshops is therefore 'tolerated', meaning it is illegal, but not prosecuted - so long as the coffeeshop owner does not sell to minors, sell hard drugs, sell more than five grammes per person, advertise drugs or cause a nuisance to neighbours.

The policy's aim is to seperate the soft and hard drugs markets and enable police supervision, so that young people who want to experiment with soft drugs do not get dragged into the underworld and end up being addicted to hard drugs.

Answer: False

Prostitution itself is legal in most countries. People are free to do what they want with their own bodies so long as it is in a private home. But soliciting in a public place ('street prostitution'), running a brothel, being a pimp or exploiting prostitution by taking money from prostitutes as a third person, is illegal.

However, the Dutch act prohibiting brothels was abolished in October 2000. The Dutch government saw the existence of brothels as a given fact and decided therefore on a practical, realistic approach. If brothels are taken out of the underworld, they can be under supervision, they have to pay taxes, they have to accept regular visits by health inspectors and they can lose their permits if they employ minors. Holland may therefore be one of the only countries where brothels are legal. By making them legal, the municipality also has control over the number of brothels in Amsterdam's so-called Red Light District.

Answer: True

Some 40 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level, guarded by dikes and dunes. Drainage canals all over the country lead away the rain water. Some 27 per cent of the country has been reclaimed from the sea.

Answer: False

Amsterdam and Venice have an equal number of bridges. Venice has some 400 bridges, crossing some 150 canals. Amsterdam has some 400 bridges, but they cross about 40 canals. Like Venice, Amsterdam is built on piles, because of the soft underlying ground.

Answer: Emmental

Emmental is the best-known cheese from Switzerland.