Frisians
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, 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).
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 530,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Friesland | 350,000 |
| Netherlands (excluding Friesland) | 120,000 |
| Germany | 60,000 |
| Canada | 4,590 residents of Canada reported having Frisian ancestry in the 2016 Canadian Census. |
| United States | 2,145 (ancestry estimate) |
| 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 | |
There are many theories about the origin of the name of the Frisians, Frisii or Fresones in the Latin language as first documented in the first century AD. Most probably the name is derived from the verb fresare in the Vulgar Latin language in the meaning of 'milling, cutting, grooving, crushing, removing shells'. A name given to the Frisians because they 'cut the land': digging countless ditches and dykes to irrigate the wet marshlands they lived at. Compare fresar el paisaje in the Roman 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.