Back Friese Afrikaans Frisons AN فريزيون Arabic فريزيون ARZ Frisones AST Фрызы Byelorussian Фризи Bulgarian Frisis Catalan Frísové Czech Ffrisiaid Welsh
| 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.
- ^ "Groep fan Auwerk". www.groepfanauwerk.com. 30 December 2023.
- ^ "Interfriesische Flagge". www.interfriesischerrat.de.
- ^ Gooskens, Charlotte; Heeringa, Wilbert. "The Position of Frisian in the Germanic Language Area". Researchgate. University of Groningen. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
- ^ Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.
- ^ "Die friesische Volksgruppe". Minderheitensekretariat der vier autochthonen nationalen Minderheiten und Volksgruppen (in German). Retrieved 6 January 2020.
Geschätzt 60.000 Menschen sind ihrem Selbstverständnis nach Friesen. [an estimated 60,000 people self identify as Frisian]
- ^ "Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables". www12.statcan.gc.ca/. Statistics Canada. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.
- ^ "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
- ^ Faber, Hans (8 August 2021). "A Frontier known as Watery Mess: the Coast of Flanders". Frisia Coast Trail.
- ^ "Herzlich Willkommen". interfriesischerrat.de.
- ^ Faber, Hans (14 August 2022). "A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe's name". Frisia Coast Trail.
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