The surrounding areas around the city of Groningen are called "ommelanden". Nowadays the "Ommelanden" cover a large area in the Dutch provinces Groningen and Friesland. The origin of the term is unknown. It has been in use for centuries. It might be that the term was first used during the battle of Groningen and its surrounding areas ("Stad en Ommelanden") against the bishop of Münster, Bernhard van Galen (also known as "Bommen Berend"), in 1672.