Name of the language: Frysk

Other names	Freesk (in Saterland), Frasch, Freesk, Fräisch (on the North Frisian Mainland), Fresk, Friisk (on the North Frisian Islands), Friisk (an artificial name to refer to all North Frisian dialects as a whole). In English and German ‘Frysk’, Frisian spoken in the Netherlands, is referred to as: West Frisian, Westfriesisch.
Spoken in ...	The Netherlands, Germany
Number of speakers	West Frisian: 300.000 East Frisian: 2.000 North Frisian: 8.000
Legal status	West Frisian is the second official language in the province of Fryslân in the Netherlands. There is legislation on the use of West Frisian in education and in legal and offical transactions. In the Schleswig-Holstein constitution it is stated that North Frisian should be suported by the country government. The use of North Frisian in official transactions is laid down in a special ‘Friisk-gesäts’ (Frisian law).
Source(s)	Horst H. Munske et. al. Handbuch des Friesischen/Handbook of Frisian Studies. Niemeyer, Tübingen 2001.
Short explanation about the history	In the Middle Ages (Old) Frisian was spoken along the North sea coast from the present Dutch province of North Holland up to the Weser. In this period Saterland and North Frisia were colonized. The Frisian language area was considerably reduced at the end of the Middle Ages due to the growing importance of Low German: in the course of time Frisian was lost in East Frisia and the present Dutch province of Groningen.
For more information (other web sites)	www.fryskeakademy.nl www.frysk.startkabel.nl www.tresoar.nl www.nordfriiskinstituut.de www.friiskportaal.de