Total population | |
---|---|
c. 530,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Friesland | 350,000[3][a] |
Netherlands (excluding Friesland) | 120,000[4][b] |
Germany | 60,000[5][c] |
Canada | 4,590 residents of Canada reported having Frisian ancestry in the 2016 Canadian Census.[6][7] |
United States | 2,145 (ancestry estimate)[8] |
Languages | |
Frisian languages Low Saxon (Friso-Saxon dialects) Dutch (West Frisian Dutch and Stadsfries) German (Missingsch) Danish (Sønderjysk and Southern Schleswig Danish) | |
Religion | |
Protestant majority (Calvinists and Lutherans) Roman Catholic minority | |
Related ethnic groups | |
The Frisians are an ethnic group indigenous to the coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark, and during the Early Middle Ages in the north-western coastal zone of Flanders,[9] Belgium. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia (which was a part of Denmark until 1864).[10]
There are several theories about the origin of the name of the Frisians, which is derived from Frisii or Fresones, names used by the Romans to describe a Germanic tribe that inhabited the same region but disappeared during the 5th century before the appearance of the Frisians. Most probably the name is derived from the verb fresare in Vulgar Latin, meaning 'milling, cutting, grooving, crushing, removing shells'; this name may have been given to the Frisii because they 'cut the land': digging ditches and dykes to irrigate the wet marshlands where they lived.[11] Compare fresar el paisaje in the Romance language Spanish. Another theory is the name derives from frisselje (to braid, thus referring to braided hair).
The Frisian languages are spoken by more than 500,000 people; West Frisian is officially recognised in the Netherlands (in Friesland), and North Frisian and Saterland Frisian are recognised as regional languages in Germany.
Geschätzt 60.000 Menschen sind ihrem Selbstverständnis nach Friesen. [an estimated 60,000 people self identify as Frisian]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search