Native name: Waddeneilanden | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Location | Wadden Sea |
Total islands | 14 |
Major islands | Texel, Terschelling, Ameland, Schiermonnikoog, Vlieland [1] |
Administration | |
Netherlands | |
Provinces | North Holland Friesland Groningen |
Demographics | |
Population | 23,872 |
Ethnic groups | Frisians, Dutch |
The West Frisian Islands (Dutch : Waddeneilanden; West Frisian : Waadeilannen) are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, along the edge of the Wadden Sea. They continue further east as the German East Frisian Islands and are part of the Frisian Islands.
From west to east the islands are: Noorderhaaks, Texel, Vlieland, Richel, Griend, Terschelling, Ameland, Rif, Engelsmanplaat, Schiermonnikoog, Simonszand, Rottumerplaat, Rottumeroog, and Zuiderduintjes.
The islands Noorderhaaks and Texel are part of the province of North Holland. The islands Vlieland, Richel, Griend, Terschelling, Ameland, Rif, Engelsmanplaat, and Schiermonnikoog are part of the province of Friesland. The small islands Simonszand, Rottumerplaat, Rottumeroog, and Zuiderduintjes belong to the province of Groningen.
The Frisian Islands are nowadays mostly famous as a holiday destination. Island hopping is possible by regular ferries from the mainland and by specialised tour operators. Cycling is the most favourable means of transport on most of the islands. On Vlieland and Schiermonnikoog cars are allowed only for regular inhabitants.
The island chain represents the remains of a glacially formed sandbank, and may have once been the former coastline of the Netherlands, before it was breached and flooded to form the Waddenzee many thousands of years ago. [2]
Friesland, historically and traditionally known as Frisia, named after the Frisians, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, and south of the Wadden Sea. As of January 2020, the province had a population of 649,944 and a total area of 5,749 km2 (2,220 sq mi).
North Holland is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In 2023, it had an estimated population of 2,956,223 and a total area of 4,092 km2 (1,580 sq mi), of which 1,430 km2 (550 sq mi) is water.
Ameland is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes and is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Terschelling to the west and Schiermonnikoog to the east. This includes the small Engelsmanplaat and Rif sandbanks to the east.
Schiermonnikoog is an island, a municipality and national park in the Northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland. It is situated between the islands of Ameland and Rottumerplaat.
Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland.
Vlieland is a municipality and island in the northern Netherlands. The municipality of Vlieland is the second most sparsely populated municipality in the Netherlands, after Schiermonnikoog.
Texel is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den Helder, northeast of Noorderhaaks, and southwest of Vlieland.
The Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are located along the German Bight of the North Sea. In Germany and Denmark they also mark the area of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wadden Sea. Divided from each other by administrative borders, they form a single ecological entity. The purpose of the national parks is the protection of the Wadden Sea ecoregion.
The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands or the Wadden Sea Islands, form an archipelago at the eastern edge of the North Sea in northwestern Europe, stretching from the northwest of the Netherlands through Germany to the west of Denmark. The islands shield the mudflat region of the Wadden Sea from the North Sea.
Rottumeroog is an uninhabited island in the Wadden Sea and is part of the Netherlands. The island is one of three West Frisian Islands in the province of Groningen. It is situated between the islands of Rottumerplaat and Borkum.
Rottumerplaat is one of the three islands that make up Rottum in the West Frisian Islands. The island is located in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. It is situated between the shoal Simonszand and the island Rottumeroog. Rottumerplaat started as a shoal in the 1830. It continued to grow into an island after 1950, when a stuifdijk, a wind-blown dike, was constructed by Rijkswaterstaat, because there were plans to use Rottumerplaat as a work island for the reclamation of the Wadden Sea.
Zuiderduintjes is an uninhabited island in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands. It is situated south of Rottumeroog, east of Rottumerplaat, and west of Borkum. The island is one of the three West Frisian Islands in the municipality of Het Hogeland and in the province of Groningen.
Mudflat hiking is a recreation enjoyed in the Netherlands, northwest Germany, Denmark, England and France. Mudflat hikers are people who, with the aid of a tide table, use a period of low water to walk and wade on the watershed of the mudflats, especially from the Frisian mainland coast to the Frisian islands.
Rottum is a nature reserve in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands. It consists of the three West Frisian Islands Rottumerplaat, Rottumeroog, and Zuiderduintjes. As a nature reserve, Rottum receives highest protection status under Dutch law; admission to the islands is restricted. The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the government organisations Rijkswaterstaat and Staatsbosbeheer share responsibility for the nature reserve.
Rif is a sandbank in the Dutch Wadden Sea, lying between Ameland and Schiermonnikoog, north of Engelsmanplaat. The sandbank has an area of 0.9 square kilometres (0.35 sq mi) at high tide and is popular as a high-tide resting area for birds as well as for seals. Additionally, the sandbank is a breeding place for birds and seals use it to give birth on.
Bosch was a West Frisian island in the Wadden Sea. It was situated off the coast of present-day Groningen in the Netherlands, between the islands of Schiermonnikoog and Rottumeroog.
Noardeast-Fryslân is a municipality of Friesland in the northern Netherlands. It was established 1 January 2019 and consists of the former municipalities of Dongeradeel, Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland, all three of which dissolved on the same day.