Netherlands vs Luxembourg

Why people mix them up

The flags are almost identical: three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue. The only differences are that Luxembourg's blue is a lighter sky blue and its flag is slightly longer and narrower. Both countries are founding members of the EU and of the Benelux union, both are small, prosperous and close together, and both have a grand duke or a monarch at the top. In flag quizzes they are one of the most common wrong answers for each other.

How to tell them apart

• The Netherlands has a long North Sea coast; Luxembourg is landlocked, wedged between Belgium, Germany and France.
• Luxembourg's flag blue is light sky blue; the Dutch flag uses a darker cobalt blue.
• The Netherlands is about 16 times bigger, roughly 41,500 km² against 2,586 km², with about 18 million people against 670,000.
• The Netherlands speaks Dutch; Luxembourg has three official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German.
• The Dutch capital is Amsterdam (with the government in The Hague); Luxembourg's capital is Luxembourg City.
• The Netherlands borders only Belgium and Germany; Luxembourg borders Belgium, Germany and France but never touches the Netherlands.

Memory hook

Luxembourg is "light": light blue flag, lightweight country. The Netherlands is the "nether" (low) land by the sea, with the darker, deeper blue of the water.

On the map

For the Netherlands, find the North Sea coast between Germany and Belgium and tap the flat country with the big inland bays at the top. For Luxembourg, start from Belgium and tap the tiny country on its south-eastern corner, where Belgium, Germany and France meet; it does not touch the Netherlands at all, so zoom in if needed. Anything with a coastline here is the Netherlands.