East Frisians (german: Ostfriesen, stq, Aastefräisen) are, in the wider sense, the inhabitants of

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

in the northwest of the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. In the narrower sense the East Frisians are the eastern branch of the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

, a distinct Germanic

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

, and are one of the nationally recognized ethnic minorities in Germany, along with the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenbu ...

Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...

and

Romanies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

. They are closely related to the

Saterland Frisians The Saterland Frisians (german: Saterfriesen, stq, Seelterfräisen) are one of the smallest language groups in Europe. They belong to the eastern branch of the Frisian people and are thus a recognised minority within Germany. They live in the Sa ...

, who come from East Frisia and moved from the coastal region to the interior. The East Frisians are also related to the

North Frisians North Frisians (german: Nordfriesen; da, Nordfrisere; frr, Nuurdfresen) are the inhabitants of the district of Nordfriesland in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Used in a narrower sense, the term also refers to an ethnic sub-group o ...

and the Westlauwers Frisians. Sometimes all Frisians from the eastern Frisian regions (East Frisians, Saterland Frisians, Oldenburg Frisians, Rüstringen Frisians, Wurtfrisians) are referred to as East Frisians, because all these Frisians form the eastern branch of the Frisians. In the eastern Frisian regions, in contrast to North and West Frisia, the Frisian language was gradually replaced by Low Saxon dialects very early. The local dialect is now

East Frisian Low Saxon East Frisian Low German or East Frisian Low Saxon is one of the Northern Low Saxon dialects, a West Low German dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. It is used quite frequently in everyday speech there. Ab ...

. Though not a Frisian language by linguistic classification, the language is a

Friso-Saxon Friso-Saxon ( nl, friso-saksisch) is a group of West Germanic dialects found around the North Sea coast of the Netherlands and Germany, in an area historically known as Frisia. They are dialects of Low German/Low Saxon which have experienced str ...

dialect of the

Low Saxon language Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

which is locally known as "East Frisian" ("Oostfreesk"), and has major influences in vocabulary and grammar from the original

East Frisian language East Frisian is one of the Frisian languages. Its last surviving dialect is spoken in Saterland in Germany. There were once two main dialects, ''Ems'' and ''Weser''. Weser, including the Wursten and Wangerooge dialects, held out until the 20 ...

. The only surviving dialect of the East Frisian language is the

Saterlandic Saterland Frisian, also known as Sater Frisian, Saterfrisian or Saterlandic (), is the last living dialect of the East Frisian language. It is closely related to the other Frisian languages: North Frisian, spoken in Germany as well, and West Fri ...

dialect. In the

Interfrisian Council The Interfrisian Council is a geopolitical organization that represents the common interests of the Frisians. The organization consists of three regional councils or "sections": North Frisia, East Frisia and West Frisia. Every three years, the ...

, they are included in the ''East'' section.

References

East Frisia {{EastFrisia-stub

See also

References