Frisians

The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to Frisia, a coastal region along the North Sea divided today among the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, historically renowned as seafarers and traders and, from the early medieval period, as fiercely independent communities that long resisted incorporation into neighboring feudal states under the tradition of Frisian freedom. The West Frisian language, spoken chiefly in the Dutch province of Friesland, is recognized as an official minority language in the Netherlands and is considered the closest living linguistic relative of English among the continental Germanic languages, alongside the related but distinct North Frisian and Saterland Frisian languages spoken in Germany. Traditional Frisian culture is closely tied to dairy farming, distinctive black-and-white livestock breeds, and sports unique to the region, including the pole-vaulting sport of fierljeppen.