Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, northwest of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

and

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

, north of

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

, northeast of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, and south of the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

. As of January 2020, the province had a population of 649,944 and a total area of . The province is divided into 18 municipalities. The

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and seat of the provincial government is the city of Leeuwarden (West Frisian: ''Ljouwert'', Liwwaddes: ''Liwwadde''), a city with 123,107 inhabitants. Other large municipalities in Friesland are Sneek (pop. 33,512), Heerenveen (pop. 50,257), and Smallingerland (includes city of

Drachten Drachten () is a town in the northern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Smallingerland, Friesland. It had a population of around 45,186 in January 2017 and is the second largest town in the province of Friesland. History Begin ...

, pop. 55,938). Since 2017, Arno Brok is the King's Commissioner in the province. A coalition of the Christian Democratic Appeal, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the Labour Party, and the Frisian National Party forms the executive branch. The area of the province was once part of the ancient, larger region of

Frisia Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...

. The land is mostly made up of grassland and it has numerous lakes. The official languages of Friesland are West Frisian and Dutch. It was named after the region of

Toponymy

In 1996, the Provincial Council of Friesland resolved that the official name of the province should follow the West Frisian spelling rather than the Dutch spelling, resulting in "Friesland" being replaced by "Fryslân". In 2004, the Dutch government confirmed this resolution, putting in place a three-year scheme to oversee the name change and associated cultural programme. The province of Friesland is occasionally referred to as "Frisia" by, amongst others, Hanno Brand, head of the history and literature department at the Fryske Akademy since 2009. However, the English-language webpage of the Friesland Provincial Council refers to the province as "Fryslân".

History

Prehistory

The Frisii were among the migrating Germanic tribes that, following the breakup of Celtic Europe in the 4th century BC, settled along the North Sea. They came to control the area from roughly present-day

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

to Bruges, and conquered many of the smaller offshore islands. What little is known of the Frisii is provided by a few Roman accounts, most of them military. Pliny the Elder said their lands were forest-covered with tall trees growing up to the edge of the lakes. They lived by agriculture and raising cattle. In his ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

'', Tacitus described all the Germanic peoples of the region as having elected kings with limited powers and influential military leaders who led by example rather than by authority. The people lived in spread-out settlements. He specifically noted the weakness of Germanic political hierarchies in reference to the Frisii, when he mentioned the names of two kings of the 1st century Frisii and added that they were kings "as far as the Germans are under kings". In the 1st century BC, the Frisii halted a Roman advance and thus managed to maintain their independence. Some or all of the Frisii may have joined into the Frankish and Saxon peoples in late Roman times, but they would retain a separate identity in Roman eyes until at least 296, when they were forcibly resettled as '' laeti'' (Roman-era serfs) and thereafter disappear from recorded history. Their tentative existence in the 4th century is confirmed by archaeological discovery of a type of earthenware unique to 4th-century

, called '' terp Tritzum'', showing that an unknown number of Frisii were resettled in Flanders and Kent,. Looijenga cites Gerrets' ''The Anglo-Frisian Relationship Seen from an Archaeological Point of View'' (1995) for this contention. likely as ''laeti'' under the aforementioned Roman coercion. The lands of the Frisii were largely abandoned by c. 400 as a result of the conflicts of the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

, climate deterioration, and the flooding caused by a rise in the sea level.

Early Middle Ages

The area lay empty for one or two centuries, when changing environmental and political conditions made the region habitable again. At that time, during the Migration Period, "new"

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, ...

(probably descended from a merging of Frisii, Angles, Saxons and Jutes) repopulated the coastal regions., ''The case of the Frisians''. These Frisians consisted of tribes with loose bonds, centred on war bands but without great power. The earliest Frisian records name four social classes, the ('' nobiles'' in Latin documents; ''adel'' in Dutch and German) and (''vrijen'' in Dutch and ''Freien'' in German), who together made up the "Free Frisians" who might bring suit at court, and the ''laten'' or ''liten'' with the

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s, who were absorbed into the ''laten'' during the Early Middle Ages, as slavery was not so much formally abolished, as evaporated. The ''laten'' were tenants of lands they did not own and might be tied to it in the manner of

serf Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

s, but in later times might buy their freedom. Under the rule of King

Aldgisl Aldegisel, Aldegisl, Aldgillis, Aldgisl, Aldgils or Eadgils (fl. c. 678) was the ruler of Frisia (as king or duke) in the late seventh century contemporarily with Dagobert II and a very obscure figure. All that is known of him is in relation to th ...

, the Frisians came in conflict with the Frankish mayor of the palace

Ebroin Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the aut ...

, over the old Roman border fortifications. Aldgisl could keep the Franks at a distance with his army. During the reign of Redbad, however, the tide turned in favour of the Franks; in 690, the Franks were victorious in the

Battle of Dorestad The Battle of Dorestad was a 7th-century battle between the Franks and the Frisians. The battle took place around 695 by the capital city of the Frisians close to the Rhine. The Franks were victorious in the battle under the Austrasian mayor of ...

. In 733, Charles Martel sent an army against the Frisians. The Frisian army was pushed back to Eastergoa. The next year the

Battle of the Boarn The Battle of the Boarn ( fry, Slach oan de Boarn nl, Slag aan de Boorne) was an eighth century battle between the Franks and the Frisians near the mouth of the river Boarn in what is now the Dutch province of Friesland. Battle In 734 a Fran ...

took place. Charles ferried an army across the Almere with a fleet that enabled him to sail up to De Boarn. The Frisians were defeated in the ensuing battle, and their last king

Poppo Poppo can mean: * Bubo, Duke of the Frisians, also spelled Poppo (674–734), a king of Friesland * Poppo of Grapfeld (died 839/41), an early ninth-century ancestor of the Babenbergs * Poppo, Duke of Thuringia (died after 906), a margrave * Pop ...

was killed. The victors began plundering and burning heathen sanctuaries. Charles Martel returned with much loot, and broke the power of the Frisian kings for good. The Franks annexed the Frisian lands between the Vlie and the Lauwers. They conquered the area east of the Lauwers in 785, when Charlemagne defeated Widukind. The Carolingians laid Frisia under the rule of ''grewan'', a title that has been loosely related to count in its early sense of "governor" rather than " feudal overlord". About 100,000 Dutch drowned in a flood in 1228.

Frisian freedom

When, around 800, the Scandinavian Vikings first attacked

, which was still under

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

rule, the Frisians were released from military service on foreign territory in order to be able to defend themselves against the heathen Vikings. With their victory in the

Battle of Norditi The Battle of Norditi (german: Schlacht bei Norditi), Battle of Nordendi () or Battle of Hilgenried Bay () was a battle between a Frisian army under Archbishop Rimbert of Bremen-Hamburg and an army of Danish Vikings in 884, which resulted in the ...

in 884 they were able to drive the Vikings permanently out 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 ...

, although it remained under constant threat. Over the centuries, whilst feudal lords reigned in the rest of Europe, no aristocratic structures emerged in Frisia. This ' Frisian freedom' was represented abroad by ''redjeven'' who were elected from among the wealthier farmers or from elected representatives of the autonomous rural municipalities. Originally the ''redjeven'' were all judges, so-called ''Asega'', who were appointed by the territorial lords. After significant territories were lost to Holland in the

Friso-Hollandic Wars The Friso-Hollandic Wars, also called Frisian-Hollandic Wars ( nl, Fries-Hollandse Oorlogen; fy, Frysk-Hollânske oarloggen), were a series of short medieval wars (ranging from single battles to entire campaigns) consisting of the attempts mad ...

, Frisia saw an economic downturn in the mid-14th century. Accompanied by a decline in monasteries and other communal institutions, social discord led to the emergence of untitled nobles called ''haadlingen'' ("headmen"), wealthy landowners possessing large tracts of land and fortified homes who took over the role of the judiciary as well as offering protection to their local inhabitants. Internal struggles between regional leaders resulted in bloody conflicts and the alignment of regions along two opposing parties: the Fetkeapers and Skieringers. On 21 March 1498, a small group of Skieringers from Westergo secretly met with Albert III, Duke of Saxony, the

Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands The governor ( nl, landvoogd) or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administ ...

, in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

requesting his help. Albrecht, who had gained a reputation as a formidable military commander, accepted and soon conquered all Friesland. Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg appointed Albrecht hereditary potestate and gubernator of Friesland in 1499. In 1515, an army of haadlingen and peasants, with the help of mercenaries known as the Arumer Zwarte Hoop, started a fight for freedom from oppression by the Habsburg authorities. One of the leaders was Pier Gerlofs Donia, whose farm had been burned down and whose kinfolk had been killed by a marauding ''Landsknecht'' regiment. Since the regiment had been employed by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

authorities to suppress the civil war of the Fetkeapers and Skieringers, Donia put the blame on the authorities. After this he gathered angry peasants and some petty noblemen from Frisia and Gelderland and formed the ''Arumer Zwarte Hoop''.The rebels received financial support from Charles II, Duke of Guelders, who claimed the Duchy of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in pr ...

in opposition to the House of Habsburg. Charles also employed mercenaries under command of his military commander Maarten van Rossum in their support. However, when the tides turned against the rebels after the Donia's death in 1520, Charles withdrew his support, without which the rebels could no longer afford to pay their mercenary army. The revolt was put to an end in 1523 and Frisia was incorporated into the Habsburg Netherlands, bringing an end to the Frisian freedom.

Modern times

Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, became the first lord of the Lordship of Frisia. He appointed

Georg Schenck van Toutenburg Georg Schenck van Toutenburg (German - ''Georg Schenk von Tautenburg'') (1480 – 2 February 1540) was Stadhouder of Friesland (1521-1540). Later he was also Stadholder of Overijssel, Drenthe and Groningen. His son Frederick was the first ...

, who had crushed the peasants' revolt, as

Stadtholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

to rule over the province in his stead. When Charles abdicated in 1556, Frisia was inherited by

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

along with the rest of the Netherlands. In 1566, Frisia joined the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

against Spanish rule. In 1577, George de Lalaing, Count of Rennenberg was appointed Stadtholder of Frisia and other provinces. A moderate, trusted by both sides, he tried to reconcile the rebels with the Crown. But in 1580, Rennenburg declared for Spain. The States of Frisia raised troops and took his strongholds of Leeuwarden, Harlingen and Stavoren. Rennenburg was deposed and Frisia became the fifth Lordship to join the rebels' Union of Utrecht. From 1580 onward, all stadtholders were members of the

House of Orange-Nassau The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...

. With the

Peace of Münster The Peace of Münster was a treaty between the Lords States General of the Seven United Netherlands and the Spanish Crown, the terms of which were agreed on 30 January 1648. The treaty, parallelly negotiated to but not part of the Peace of We ...

in 1648, Frisia became a full member of the independent Dutch Republic, a federation of provincies. In economic and therefore also political importance, Friesland was next in rank to the provinces of Holland and Zeeland. In 1798, three years after the

Batavian Revolution The Batavian Revolution ( nl, De Bataafse Revolutie) was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The period of ...

, the provincial lordship of Frisia was abolished and its territory was divided between the Eems and Oude IJssel departments. This was short-lived, however, as Frisia was revived, however as a department in 1802. When the Netherlands were annexed by the First French Empire in 1810, the department was in French renamed Frise. After

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

was defeated in 1813 and a new constitution was introduced in 1814, Friesland became a province of the Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands, then of the unitary Kingdom of the Netherlands a year later.

Geography

Friesland is situated at in the northwest of the Netherlands, west of the province of

, northwest of

and

, north of

, northeast of the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

and

, and south of the North Sea. It is the largest province of the Netherlands if one includes areas of water; in terms of land area only, it is the third-largest province. Most of Friesland is on the mainland, but it also includes a number of

West Frisian Islands The West Frisian Islands (; fry, Waadeilannen) are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, along the edge of the Wadden Sea. They continue further east as the German East Frisian Islands and are part of the Frisian Islands. Fr ...

, including Vlieland,

Terschelling Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. Wadden Islanders are k ...

, Ameland and

Schiermonnikoog Schiermonnikoog (; fry, ) is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland. It is situated between the islands of Ameland a ...

, which are connected to the mainland by ferry. The province's highest point is a dune at above sea level, on the island of Vlieland. There are four national parks of the Netherlands located in Friesland:

, De Alde Feanen,

Lauwersmeer Lauwersmeer () is a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 23 May 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwers Sea and the Wadden Sea was closed. It is ...

(partially in Groningen), and Drents-Friese Wold (also partially situated in Drenthe).

Urban areas

The ten urban areas in Friesland with the largest population are:

Municipalities

The province is divided into 18 municipalities, each with local government (municipal council, mayor and aldermen).

Climate

The province of Friesland has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

( Köppen climate classification: Cfb).

Demography

In 2020, Friesland had a population of 649,944 and a population density of . The years 1880–1900 show slower

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

due to a farm crisis during which some 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States.

Anthropometry

Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland has been renowned for the exceptional height of its inhabitants. Even early Renaissance poet Dante Alighieri refers to the height of

in his '' Divine Comedy'' when, in the canticle about

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

, he talks about the magnitude of an infernal demon by stating that "not even three tall Frieslanders, were they set one upon the other, would have matched his height".

Religion

Economy

Friesland is mainly an agricultural province. The black and white Frisian cattle, black and white Stabyhoun and the black

Frisian horse The Friesian (also Frizian) is a horse breed originating in Friesland, in the Netherlands. Although the conformation of the breed resembles that of a light draught horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. It is believed tha ...

originated here. Tourism is another important source of income: the principal tourist destinations include the lakes in the southwest of the province and the islands in the

to the north. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, out of a total of about 1200 in the entire country. The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 19.8 billion € in 2018, accounting for 2.6% of the Netherlands economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 26,700 € or 89% of the EU27 average in the same year.

Culture

Languages

Friesland is one of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands to have its national language that is recognized as such, West Frisian. Before the 18th century, varieties of Frisian were also spoken in the provinces of

and

, and together with the Frisian speakers in East Friesland and North Friesland a continuous linguistic area existed between Amsterdam and the present day Danish-German border. The mutual intelligibility in reading between Dutch and Frisian is limited. A cloze test in 2005 revealed native Dutch speakers understood 31.9% of a West Frisian newspaper, 66.4% of an Afrikaans newspaper and 97.1% of a Dutch newspaper. In 2007, West Frisian is the native language of 54.3% of the inhabitants of the province of Friesland, followed by Dutch with 34.7%, and speakers of other regional languages, most of these restricted to Friesland, with 9.7%, and in the end other foreign languages with 1.4%. Frisian speakers are traditionally underrepresented in urban areas, and predominant in the countryside. West Frisian is also spoken in a small adjacent part of the province of

. Up to the 18th century Frisian was spoken in the, at that time Prussian and Hanoverian, lordships of East Friesland). Since then the East Frisian population switched to East Frisian (''Ostfriesisch''), a

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

dialect. Only in some, formerly remoted, East Frisian villages ( Saterland) a variety of historically East Frisian (''Seeltersk'') is still in use but by an older generation. A collection of dialects named North Frisian, is or was spoken in North Friesland, alongside the North Sea coast and on the islands of Schleswig-Holstein. The named Frisian languages are historically related to

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

, which points towards the fact that Angles and Saxons, eventually accompanied by Frisians, came from these areas. In Stellingwerf, in south-east Friesland, a dialect of Low Saxon is spoken. The language policy in Friesland is preservation. West Frisian is a mandatory subject in Friesland in primary and secondary schools of the Frisian speaking districts. Bilingual (Dutch–Frisian) and trilingual (Dutch–English–Frisian) schools in the province of Friesland use West Frisian as a language of instruction in some lessons, besides Dutch in most other lessons and alongside them English. Literacy in Frisian however, is not often a core aim and that makes the number of Frisians speakers able to write in Frisian only 12%. The provincial government takes various initiatives to preserve the West Frisian language. All parents in Friesland receive, at their children's birth, information about language and multilingualism (e.g. 'taaltaske'). To support the use of Frisian in public and at public events, the province also invests in the development of speech pathology materials and strives to create information technology devices for the West Frisian language. The Frisian government subsidizes the ''Afûk'' organization, which offers language courses and actively promotes Frisian in all sectors of society as well as the corporate domain which as a rule is dominated by Dutch and English. The province also promotes a wide range of art and entertainment in Frisian.

Sports

The province is famous for its speed skaters, with mass participation in cross-country ice skating when weather conditions permit. When winters are cold enough to allow the freshwater canals to freeze hard, the province holds its traditional Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour), a ice skating tour. A traditional sport is Frisian handball. Another Frisian practice is '' fierljeppen'', a sport with some similarities to pole vaulting. A jump consists of an intense sprint to the pole (''polsstok''), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top while trying to control the pole's forward and lateral movements over a body of water and finishing with a graceful landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point. Because of all the diverse skills required in fierljeppen, fierljeppers are considered to be very complete athletes with superbly developed strength and coordination. In the warmer months, many Frisians practice '' wadlopen'', the traditional art of wading across designated sections of the

at low tide. Friesland has lots of waterways and lake s there for Sailcontests with a Skutsje or frisian Tjalk is done during the summer on various lakes. There are currently two top level

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

clubs playing in Friesland: SC Cambuur from Leeuwarden (home stadium Cambuur Stadion) and SC Heerenveen (home stadium Abe Lenstra Stadion).

Politics

Leeuwarden Tweebaksmarkt 52 Provinsjehûs

The King's Commissioner of Friesland is Arno Brok. The Provincial Council of Friesland has 43 seats. The

Provincial Executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

is a coalition of the Christian Democratic Appeal, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, the Labour Party and the Frisian National Party (FNP). , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" !colspan="2" align="left", Party !Votes !Seats , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", Christian Democratic Appeal , 49.704 , 8 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", Forum for Democracy , 40.055 , 6 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", Labour Party , 39.976 , 6 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", People's Party for Freedom and Democracy , 28.073 , 4 , - , , align="left", Frisian National Party , 23.662 , 4 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", GreenLeft , 22.935 , 3 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", ChristianUnion , 19.673 , 3 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left",

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

, 17.287 , 3 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left", Socialist Party , 15.426 , 2 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left",

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

, 12.284 , 2 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left",

Party for the Animals The Party for the Animals ( nl, Partij voor de Dieren; PvdD) is a List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. Among its main goals are animal rights and animal welfare. Since 2019, the PvdD's political lead ...

, 9.618 , 1 , - , bgcolor="", , align="left",

50PLUS 50PLUS (; abbreviated 50+) is a political party in the Netherlands that advocates pensioners' interests. The party was founded in 2009 by Maurice Koopman, Alexander Münninghoff, and Jan Nagel. Henk Krol served as the party's leader from 2016 to ...

, 7.595 , 1 , - , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" !colspan="2" align="left", Total ! 298.241 !align="center" , 43

Transport

The four motorways in the province are A6, A7 ( E22), A31, and A32. The main railway station of Friesland is Leeuwarden, which connects the railways Arnhem–Leeuwarden, Harlingen–Nieuweschans, and Leeuwarden–Stavoren which are all (partially) located in the province.

Ameland Airport Ameland Airport ( nl, Vliegveld Ameland) , also known as Ameland Airport Ballum, is a small general aviation airport located near the town of Ballum on the western part of the island of Ameland, one of the West Frisian Islands in the Netherlan ...

near Ballum and Drachten Airfield near Drachten are the two small general aviation airports in the province. The

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

uses Vlieland Heliport and the Leeuwarden Air Base.

Literature

* Helma Erkelens,
Taal fen it hert. Language of the Heart. About Frisian Language and Culture
', Province of Fryslân, Leeuwarden 2004 * John Hines & Nelleke IJssennagger (eds.), ''Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours: From the Fifth Century to the Viking Age'', Boydell & Brewer, Woodbridge/Rochester 2017 * Goffe Jensma, 'Minorities and Kinships. The Case of Ethnolinguistic Nationalism in Friesland’, in: P. Broomans et al. (eds.), ''The Beloved Mothertongue. Ethnolinguistic Nationalism in Small Nations: Inventories and Reflections'', Peeters, Louvain-Paris-Dudley 2008, p. 63-78 * Horst Haider Munske (ed.), ''Handbuch des Friesischen / Handbook of Frisian Studies'', Max Niemeyer, Tübingen 2001 * Oebele Vries, 'Frisonica libertas: Frisian Freedom as an Instance of Medieval Liberty', in: ''Journal of Medieval History'' 41 (2015), nr. 2, p. 229-248

Media

Friesch Dagblad The ''Friesch Dagblad'' (; the first word is spelled ''Fries'' in modern Dutch) is a Dutch daily newspaper founded in 1903. It covers the region of Friesland with news reports written from a protestant perspective. ''Friesch Dagblad'' and its c ...

'' and ''

Leeuwarder Courant The ''Leeuwarder Courant'' is the oldest daily newspaper in the Netherlands. Founded by Abraham Ferwerda, it first appeared in 1752. The ''Leeuwarder Courant'' was the first paper in the Dutch province Friesland and its capital Leeuwarden. It is ...

'' are daily newspapers mainly written in Dutch. Omrop Fryslân is the public broadcaster with radio and TV programs mainly in Frisian.Oer de Omrop
, Omrop Fryslân. Retrieved on 27 April 2014.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Province of Fryslân
official government website
Provincial Tourist Board

Frisian Film Archive
* {{Authority control NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Provinces of the Netherlands Regions of Europe with multiple official languages