History and geography in the KNM exam
Geschiedenis en geografie (history and geography) is one of the eight official themes of the KNM exam. The questions are short facts: where a city lies, why something was built, when an event happened, what a symbol means. You do not need long theory or exact dates. You need to link one fact to the right place, period or meaning.
In DUO's 2025 example exam, this theme came first, with 5 of the 40 questions. Since 1 July 2025 the theme puts more weight on the Second World War and the Holocaust, and adds recognising antisemitism.
Geography of the Netherlands: provinces and cities
The Netherlands has twelve provinces:
- in the north: Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe
- in the east and middle: Overijssel, Flevoland, Gelderland and Utrecht
- in the west: Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland
- in the south: Zeeland, Noord-Brabant and Limburg
The Netherlands lies on the North Sea in north-west Europe, with Germany to the east and Belgium to the south, and it is a kingdom whose head of state is King Willem-Alexander. Amsterdam is the capital and lies in Noord-Holland. The government and parliament sit in The Hague (Den Haag), in Zuid-Holland. Rotterdam, with its large port, is also in Zuid-Holland.
A geography question can show three maps of the Netherlands, each with one province in yellow:
Waar ligt Amsterdam, de hoofdstad van Nederland?
Where is Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands? The three maps show Noord-Holland, Utrecht and Zuid-Holland. The answer is the map of Noord-Holland. The wrong maps are often provinces next to the right one, so practise with a map, not only with a list of names.
Water and the Deltawerken
A large part of the Netherlands lies below sea level, so dikes, dunes and water boards (waterschappen) keep the land dry. In the night of 31 January to 1 February 1953, a storm flood broke the dikes in the south-west, and 1,836 people in the Netherlands died in what is called the watersnoodramp.
After 1953 the country built the Deltawerken (Delta Works): dams, sluices and storm surge barriers in Zeeland and Zuid-Holland.
A question from DUO's 2025 example exam, with options like these:
Waarom zijn de Deltawerken gebouwd?
- A. Om vis te vangen
- B. Om Nederland te beschermen tegen de zee
- C. Om steden te bouwen
Why were the Delta Works built? The answer is B: to protect the Netherlands from the sea. The photo of the dam does not give you the answer; you need to know why it is there.
History of the Netherlands: the Second World War
Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. The country was occupied for five years. The Netherlands was liberated on 5 May 1945.
During the war the Nazis murdered six million Jews in Europe. This is called the Holocaust. More than 100,000 Jews from the Netherlands were murdered. Anne Frank, who wrote her diary while she hid in Amsterdam, was one of them.
A question from DUO's 2025 example exam, with options like these:
Wanneer was de Holocaust?
- A. Tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog
- B. Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog
- C. Tijdens de Koude Oorlog
When was the Holocaust? The answer is B: during the Second World War. The wrong answers are other periods, so link each event to the right war.
The theme also asks you to recognise antisemitism: hate or discrimination against Jews. In the Netherlands, discrimination is against the law.
Remembrance and national symbols
Two days in May are about the war:
- 4 May, Dodenherdenking: the country remembers the victims of war with two minutes of silence at 20:00.
- 5 May, Bevrijdingsdag: Liberation Day, a celebration of freedom.
The national anthem is the Wilhelmus. A symbol question can show only the word on a plain background:
Wat is het Wilhelmus?
What is the Wilhelmus? The answer: het Nederlandse volkslied (the Dutch national anthem). Our blog post on the Dutch flag and the Wilhelmus has more about these symbols.
Common mistakes on this theme
- Mixing up neighbouring provinces. Practise with a blank map and fill in the twelve provinces from memory.
- Answering from the photo. The picture shows a dam, but the question asks why it was built.
- Mixing up wars. Link the Holocaust, 4 May and 5 May to the Second World War, not to the First World War or the Cold War.
- Memorising exact dates. You need the right period or the right meaning more than the exact day.
How to remember the facts
Pairs are easier to remember than lists. Link each province to its main city: Noord-Holland with Amsterdam, Zuid-Holland with The Hague and Rotterdam. Link the flood of 1953 with the Deltawerken, because one is the reason for the other. Link the two May days in order: on 4 May the country remembers the victims, and on 5 May it celebrates liberation, one day later. With a few such pairs per session, the whole theme fits in a week of short study sessions.
KNM exam preparation for this theme
The KNM exam has 40 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes. Each question has three options, and you pass with at least 28 correct. The questions in this theme use short stems:
- Waar ...? for a place or province
- Waarom ...? for a reason, such as the Deltawerken
- Wanneer ...? for a period, such as the war
- Wat is ...? for a symbol
A simple plan for KNM exam preparation:
- Learn the twelve provinces on a map, with Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.
- Know why the Deltawerken were built and what happened in 1953.
- Link the Holocaust and 4 and 5 May to the Second World War.
- Learn the national symbols, such as the Wilhelmus.
KNM is part of the civic integration exam at A2 and B1, so these facts help you at both levels. For the KNM A2 exam as a whole, read how the KNM exam works. Then try questions in this format in our free KNM practice.
