Frisian flag Friesland Holland Postcard

Friesland is a province in the North of the Netherlands. Up until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân. Nevertheless, Friesland remains in common usage, being the Dutch (and English) name for the province. Friesland has 646,000 inhabitants (2010) and its capital is Leeuwarden (W.Frisian: Ljouwert), with 91,817 inhabitants, in the centre of the province. Fryslân distinguishes itself from the other eleven provinces by having its own language, West Frisian, which is also spoken in a small adjacent part of the province of Groningen, to the east. Closely related languages, East Frisian ("Seeltersk", which is different from "East Frisian (Ostfriesisch)", a collection of Low German dialects of East Frisia) and North Frisian, are spoken in the Saterland and in North Friesland areas in Germany, respectively.