West Friesland (region)

For the historical region also named West Friesland, see West Friesland (historical region)

The contemporary region of West Friesland highlighted on a map of the Netherlands

West Friesland (also West Frisia; Dutch: West-Friesland; West Frisian: West-Fryslân) is a contemporary region in the northwestern Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

History

West Friesland in the 17th century.

The river Vlie (or Fli), an extension of the IJssel branch of the Rhine, divided the northern Netherlands, which at the time was part of Western Frisia, into a western and eastern part. In the eleventh century, after heavy rainfalls, the river flooded and inundated large parts of the land. Not long after, the Zuiderzee bay (previously a lake) was formed, separating West Friesland from the contemporary Province of Friesland. In the Middle Ages, the Westflinge area of West Friesland practically became an island, bordered on the north by the Medem and Zijpe inlets, and to the south by various interconnecting lakes (now polder land) that were connected with the Zuiderzee. Because of this, the toponym "West Friesland" was applied more to the Westflinge area than the original West Friesland.

For about 300 years, West Friesland operated as an autonomous area as the West Frisians did not want to be subjected to authorities from Holland. Floris V, Count of Holland attempted to unite Holland and West Friesland during his reign, and he succeeded in annexing West Frisia. But it was his successor John I who finally defeated the West Frisians in 1297. However, even though West Friesland formed a united province with Holland in the Dutch Republic, it was recognized a separate region and the parliament of said province, commonly known as Holland, was formally known as the States of Holland and West Friesland, showing that West Friesland was still recognized in its own right. During the time of the United Provinces, West Friesland had its own independent Admiralty of the Northern Quarter and any admiral serving with that admiralty or the two other Hollandic admiralties, those of Amsterdam and the Admiralty of de Maze), had the title of Admiral of Holland and West Frisia.

The West Frisian language has disappeared from the region and the later West Frisian dialects are now slowly disappearing. Although these dialects are subdialects of Hollandic Dutch, they were strongly influenced in vocabulary and grammar by a West Frisian substratum.

Geography

Its exact location is not clearly defined but it has been suggested that West Friesland comprised the area north of an imaginary line through Hoorn and Alkmaar. Within this historical region is the contemporary region of West Friesland, which is a smaller area based on the Westfriese Omringdijk, a dyke system that lay in West Friesian district (gouw) of Westflinge.

The area between the rivers Vlie and IJ consists of the present-day municipalities of Alkmaar, Amsterdam (Landelijk Noord), Beemster, Bergen, Castricum, Den Helder, Drechterland, Edam-Volendam, Enkhuizen, Heerhugowaard, Heiloo, Hollands Kroon, Hoorn, Koggenland, Landsmeer, Langedijk, Medemblik, Purmerend, Oostzaan, Opmeer, Schagen, Stede Broec, Texel, Uitgeest, Vlieland, Waterland, Wognum, Wormerland, and Zaanstad.

(Former) municipalities

The region covers an area of about 800 km² (309 sq mi), delineated by the Westfriese Omringdijk. It consists of the (former) municipalities of:

Dutch name	West Frisian Name
Alkmaar	Alkmar
Andijk	Andoik
Drechterland	Drechterland
Enkhuizen	Henkhúze
Harenkarspel	Harenkarspel
Heerhugowaard	Heerhugoweerd or Heregeweerd
Hoorn	Hoorn
Koggenland	Koggeland
Langedijk	Lengedoik
Medemblik	Memeloik
Niedorp	Nierup
Opmeer	Obmar or Opmar
Schagen	Skagen
Stede Broec	Stee Broek
Venhuizen	Venhûze
Wervershoof	Wurrevershouf

Major cities include Hoorn (which the capital of West-Friesland) and Alkmaar.

Dialect

The traditional dialect of the region is the West Frisian dialect of Hollandic Dutch. The contemporary region is similar in size and location to the historical district (gouw) of Westflinge which itself was a part of a much larger historical region of West Friesland.

• 

  Westfrisian flag

See also

• Frisia
• Frisian Islands

External links

• The region website (in Dutch and partly Westfrisian)