KNM 5: Geschiedenis en geografie

History and geography. This theme is about the history and geography that help you feel part of the country. The 2025 targets add knowledge of the Holocaust and of Dutch colonial history and slavery.

Practice this theme

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Practice questions
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Study notes

Trade, colonies and water

In the seventeenth century, often called the Golden Age (de Gouden Eeuw), shipping and trade brought the Netherlands wealth and culture. You still see it in the painting and architecture of that time.
The Netherlands founded colonies, enslaved people, traded them and made them work on plantations in the colonies.
The country has a long tradition of living with the threat of water. Polders, windmills, dikes and the Deltawerken (Delta Works) are the evidence.
The national anthem is the Wilhelmus. The flag is red, white and blue.

The Second World War and after

In the Second World War, Germany occupied the Netherlands.
The Holocaust was the persecution and murder of Jews by Nazi Germany. Many Dutch Jews were murdered. Antisemitism is forbidden by law.
The Netherlands was liberated in 1945. Every year on 4 May the dead are remembered, and on 5 May liberation is celebrated.
Since the war, people from former colonies, labor migrants and refugees have come to live in the Netherlands.
After the war the Netherlands began to work closely with other countries, in the European Union (EU), NATO (NAVO) and the United Nations (VN).
Especially since the 1960s, many Dutch people value individual freedom, emancipation, tolerance and self-determination. The right to abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia are set out in law.

Geography

Amsterdam is the capital; the government sits in The Hague (Den Haag).
There are 12 provinces: Groningen, Friesland (Fryslân), Drenthe, Overijssel, Flevoland, Gelderland, Utrecht, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland, Noord-Brabant and Limburg.
Know the main cities and areas in your own region, and what it offers for housing, work and study.
Public transport has several kinds of tickets. Learn to plan a trip and travel on your own.

Words to know

Dutch terms in this theme
Dutch	English
de Gouden Eeuw	the Golden Age
de kolonie	colony
de slavernij	slavery
de dijk	dike
de polder	polder, reclaimed land
de bezetting	the occupation
de bevrijding	the liberation
de Dodenherdenking	Remembrance of the Dead
de hoofdstad	capital
de provincie	province

Official sources

Rules and amounts change: your letter from DUO and Mijn Inburgering always win.

Checked on October 19, 2026.