a historical region on the North Sea. Initially the term “Friesland” was used to designate the entire territory populated by Frisians; however, individual territories were gradually lost. In the west the region of Kennemerland was lost, and in the 11th century it became part of the county of Holland. In 1287 the counts of Holland acquired West Friesland, the territory to the west of the Zuider Zee basically corresponding to the modern province of North Holland.
Central Friesland, or Friesland proper, remained independent until the early 16th century. It also retained its unique sociopolitical structure. Characteristics of feudal structure were weakly expressed; most of the peasantry remained free and lived in autonomous rural communes, and there was no central power. Friesland proper was constantly subjected to the aggression of its neighbors. In the early 16th century the power of the Hapsburgs was consolidated, and in 1524, Friesland proper became a seigniory in the Netherlands holdings of the Hapsburgs. In the 16th century, during the Netherlands bourgeois revolution, it became a part of the Republic of the United Provinces. Friesland proper now constitutes the province of Friesland in The Netherlands.
East Friesland, the region to the east of the Ems River, was an independent county ruled by the House of Kirksen from 1454 until 1744, when it was captured by Prussia. At present the territory of East Friesland is located within the Land of Lower Saxony, Federal Republic of Germany. Its principal city is Emden.
a province in The Netherlands, on the North Sea. Area, 3,400 sq km. Population, 553,700 (1975). The capital is the city of Leeuwarden. Friesland is an important region for the raising of dairy livestock, and sheep are raised on the coast and on the islands. Agricultural products are processed. The province produces ceramics, ships, radio equipment, and instruments.