Friesland

This article is about the Dutch province. For the cultural region, see Frisia. For other uses, see Friesland (disambiguation).

Province of Friesland
Provinsje Fryslân (West Frisian)
Provincie Friesland (Dutch)
Province of the Netherlands
Flag of Province of Friesland
Flag
Coat of arms of Province of Friesland
Coat of arms
Official logo of Province of Friesland
Brandmark
Anthem: "De Alde Friezen"
"The Old Frisians"
Location of Friesland in the Netherlands
Location of Friesland in the Netherlands
Topography map of Friesland
Topography map of Friesland
Coordinates: 53°12′5″N 5°48′0″E / 53.20139°N 5.80000°E / 53.20139; 5.80000
CountryNetherlands
Capital
(and largest city)		Leeuwarden (Ljouwert)
Government
 • King's CommissionerArno Brok (VVD)
 • CouncilProvincial Council of Friesland
Area
 (2023)[1]
 • Total
5,753 km2 (2,221 sq mi)
 • Land3,340 km2 (1,290 sq mi)
 • Water2,413 km2 (932 sq mi)
 • Rank1st
Population
 (1 January 2023)[2]
 • Total
659,551
 • Rank8th
 • Density197/km2 (510/sq mi)
  • Rank11th
Languages
 • OfficialWest Frisian • Dutch
GDP
[3]
 • Total€22.633 billion
 • Per capita€35,000
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNL-FR
Religion (2015)[needs update]No religion 57.2%
Protestant 28.5%
Roman Catholic 6.6%
Other 6.5%[4]
HDI (2021)0.916[5]
very high · 12th
Websitewww.fryslan.frl

Friesland (/ˈfriːzlənd/ FREEZ-lənd, Dutch: [ˈfrislɑnt] ⓘ; official West Frisian: Fryslân [ˈfrislɔ̃ːn] ⓘ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, named after the Frisians, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, and south of the Wadden Sea. As of January 2023, the province had a population of about 660,000,[6] and a total area of 5,753 km2 (2,221 sq mi).

The province is divided into 18 municipalities. The capital and seat of the provincial government is the city of Leeuwarden (West Frisian: Ljouwert, Liwwaddes: Liwwadde), a city with 123,107[7] inhabitants. Other large municipalities in Friesland are Sneek (pop. 33,512), Heerenveen (pop. 50,257), and Smallingerland (includes town of Drachten, 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, which gave the province its name. The land is mostly made up of grassland and it has numerous lakes. The official languages of Friesland are West Frisian and Dutch.

  1. ^ Statistieken provincie Friesland - Gegevens over meer dan 100 onderwerpen! Archived 23 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine, AlleCijfers.nl
  2. ^ "CBS Statline". Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat". Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  4. ^ "CBS Statline". Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  6. ^ "CBS Statline". opendata.cbs.nl. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  7. ^ "CBS Statline". Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.