The 12 Provinces of the Netherlands: The Mix-Ups Everyone Makes
October 26, 2026 ยท 3 min read
The Netherlands has only 12 provinces, so you might think a map quiz would be easy. In Dutch schools the provinces are part of topography ("topo"), and our provinces of the Netherlands quiz is one of the most played games on DodoThinks: 2,729 answers since early October 2026, with 74% right.
That means one answer in four is wrong, on a map with only 12 places. The wrong answers turn out to follow very clear patterns.
All 12 provinces, hardest first
Each province was asked between 217 and 245 times.
| Province | Capital | Found |
|---|---|---|
| Drenthe | Assen | 63% |
| Overijssel | Zwolle | 64% |
| Zuid-Holland | The Hague | 68% |
| Gelderland | Arnhem | 68% |
| Noord-Holland | Haarlem | 70% |
| Flevoland | Lelystad | 74% |
| Friesland | Leeuwarden | 75% |
| Limburg | Maastricht | 76% |
| Zeeland | Middelburg | 77% |
| Noord-Brabant | 's-Hertogenbosch | 82% |
| Groningen | Groningen | 85% |
| Utrecht | Utrecht | 87% |
Utrecht is the easiest: it is right in the middle, and everyone knows the city. Groningen is easy because it is the top right corner.
The four big mix-ups
| Asked for | Clicked instead | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Noord-Holland | Zuid-Holland | 26 |
| Drenthe | Friesland | 22 |
| Overijssel | Gelderland | 21 |
| Zuid-Holland | Noord-Holland | 21 |
| Overijssel | Drenthe | 20 |
| Flevoland | Friesland | 19 |
| Gelderland | Overijssel | 16 |
| Zuid-Holland | Limburg | 16 |
| Gelderland | Groningen | 16 |
| Drenthe | Overijssel | 14 |
| Noord-Holland | Friesland | 13 |
| Groningen | Gelderland | 13 |
1. "Zuid" does not mean the south of the country
This is our favourite finding. Sixteen players looking for Zuid-Holland clicked Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. And 13 players looking for Noord-Holland clicked Friesland, in the north.
"Zuid" means south and "noord" means north, but only relative to each other. Both Hollands are on the west coast. Noord-Holland is the upper one, with Amsterdam, the peninsula between the North Sea and the IJsselmeer. Zuid-Holland is directly below it, with Rotterdam and The Hague. The two Hollands were also swapped with each other 47 times.
2. Same first letter
Gelderland and Groningen were confused 29 times, and Flevoland and Friesland 19 times. They are far apart (Gelderland and Groningen) or neighbours (Flevoland and Friesland), but when you are going fast, the first letter is what you grab. Groningen is the province in the far north-east. Gelderland is the big one in the east, with Arnhem and Nijmegen.
3. The eastern three
Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland sit in a column along the German border, from north to south. Most mistakes on these three are clicks on the neighbour above or below. The order to learn: Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland, going down the east side.
4. Flevoland is the new one
Flevoland is the newest province, created in 1986 on land reclaimed from the sea. It is the flat province in the middle of the map, in the IJsselmeer, just south of Friesland. Players often click Friesland instead.
A route through all 12
Start in the north-east and go round:
- Groningen, the top right corner
- Friesland, the top left, across the IJsselmeer
- Drenthe, below Groningen
- Overijssel, below Drenthe
- Flevoland, the reclaimed land west of Overijssel
- Gelderland, the big one below Overijssel
- Utrecht, the small one in the middle
- Noord-Holland and 9. Zuid-Holland on the coast
- Zeeland, the islands in the south-west
- Noord-Brabant, the wide one across the south
- Limburg, the narrow tail in the south-east
Then play the provinces quiz. It also has a round with the provincial capitals. The game page is in Dutch, but you only need to click the map. Next door, our provinces of Belgium quiz is the natural next step.
About this data
These are 2,729 answers on the DodoThinks provinces of the Netherlands map between 6 October and 26 October 2026.