New Holland Trivia Quiz

Answer: Australia

The discovery of the island continent of Australia was documented by the Netherlands (Willem Janszoon in 1606), but there are also claims by Portugal, China, France, Spain, and India that may precede that date. Documentation, however, is the key determining factor to this point.

The whole of the continent was called New Holland until the establishment of New South Wales on the eastern portion of the island. From then on, the western portion was referred to as New Holland.

The name Australia was suggested in 1804 by British navigator Matthew Flinders, but it would be another twenty years before it came into common use, and even then, both names continued to be used for some time.

Answer: False

New Amsterdam (not New Holland) was established on Manhattan Island in 1625 as the governmental seat of the New Netherland territory. The colony was captured by the British in 1664, after which New Amsterdam was renamed New York, in honour of the Duke of York.

In Dutch, the names were Nieuw-Amsterdam and Nieuw-Nederland.

Answer: Brazil

The Dutch captured Recife in 1630 and established New Holland (claiming half of present-day Brazil), which lasted until the Portuguese recaptured their lost territories in 1654. The Dutch demanded the return of their colony, but ceded their claim in the 1661 Treaty of The Hague in exchange for 4 million réis (paid over 16 years).

Answer: Pennsylvania

There are actually six places in the United States named New Holland, although the Pennsylvania one is the only one with a significant population (by significant, I mean over 5,000). The others are in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Dakota.

New Holland in Lancaster County was settled in the 1700s by German settlers seeking the advertised freedoms of America. While the settlement went through a few name changes, the name New Holland was chosen to honour the kindness of the people of the Netherlands when they traveled through Rotterdam on the way to the United States. (source newhollandborough.org)

Answer: Jamaica

The Saint Elizabeth Parish is a primarily rural region of Jamaica on the southwest coast of the island. The YS River was named for the YS Estate, a sugarcane plantation. The YS Falls have seven levels that cascade down with a pool on each level in which visitors may swim.

Answer: Maine, USA

Fort Pentagouet was the capital of Acadia between 1670 and 1674 and is located in present-day Castine, Maine.

Aernoutsz's hold on Acadia did not last long as he took over a couple of forts and then sailed on to Nassau, leaving men behind to hold the territory. Within a year, the French had recaptured their forts and reestablished their government. Regardless, the Dutch still made a formal claim to the region, naming a Dutch merchant the governor of the "coasts and countries of Nova Scotia and Acadie". The claim was abandoned with the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678) that ended the Franco-Dutch war.

Answer: Saint Petersburg

New Holland Island has changed a lot over the years, including the addition of a large Neoclassical arch over the canal leading to the island (called the New Holland Arch, appropriately). A naval prison was constructed on the island in the 1800s, and a radio station in 1915.

After the Russian Revolution, the buildings on the island saw many different uses, from warehousing to military barracks and business offices. In the early 2000s, a new plan to turn the island into a hotel and club district was launched.

Answer: Holland's Gin

Holland's Gin is also known as Jenever, and is the juniper-flavoured alcohol from which gin developed. It is a traditional liquor of both the Netherlands and of Belgium.

Answer: False

The group (Teejay Terblanche (vocals and guitar), Gerdus Oosthuizen (vocals and guitar), Reyno Buckle (bass and vocals) and Odendaal Esterhuyse (drums)) formed in 2007. They came up with the name New Holland when they drove past a New Holland tractor. That's right - the same New Holland I mentioned in question 4.

They are actually from Bellville, a city in the greater Cape Town metropolitan area.

Answer: Burbank, California

Growing up in Burbank, just northeast of Hollywood, Tim Burton definitely had access to the world that would one day be his chosen profession. Yet life in suburban Burbank was living in "a world without history, without culture, without passion". Is it any wonder that he let his imagination run wild?

(Quote taken from a French article entitled "La géographie imaginaire des films de Tim Burton : de Burbank à New Holland.", translated with Google Translate.)