Frisian

Frisian has about 450,000 speakers¹. According to surveys by the Fryske Akademy and the Province of Fryslân, in 2020 84% of the province's residents understood Frisian well or very well, 64% spoke it, 52% read it and 16% wrote it; in 2018 the shares were 89%, 69%, 58% and 18%¹.

The 2014 Act on the Use of the Frisian Language (Wet gebruik Friese taal) makes Frisian and Dutch the official languages of the province of Fryslân¹. An administrative agreement between the State and the province (BFTK), renewed every four years, covers 2024–2028¹. The Netherlands has ratified Part III provisions of the European Charter for Frisian in pre-school, primary, secondary, higher and adult education, but not in vocational education¹.

Germany: North Frisian (Schleswig-Holstein) and Saterland Frisian (Lower Saxony) are protected under the European Charter; since 2022 the Federation has contributed €50,000 to fund the post of scientific officer for the Saterland Frisian language².

Frisian may be used in dealings with the province's administrative and judicial authorities¹.

Frisian has been compulsory in primary school since 1980 and in the first two years of secondary school since 1993¹. In 2018 only 27.4% of primary schools (113 of 412) and 39.4% of secondary schools (28 of 71) met all attainment targets; in 2019 the Inspectorate found that 34.9% of primary and 22% of secondary teachers lacked a Frisian qualification¹. A network of trilingual schools (Frisian, Dutch, English) exists in primary and secondary education¹.

Germany: in 2025–26, Frisian is taught in 10 schools in Schleswig-Holstein, two of them Danish-minority schools, to 740 pupils².

Omrop Fryslân is the regional public broadcaster in Frisian (news, radio, television, educational programmes)¹.