Dear visitor to the Digital Region Friesland, we would like to welcome you by saying: 'Jimme
binne tige wolkom!'
You have arrived at a place in Cyberspace where one of the most beautiful parts of the
Netherlands presents itself to you. It is a place where Frisians meet Frisians,
non-Frisians meet non-Frisians, and every possibility inbetween. It is a place where those
of you who do not know anything about our province can find the necessary information.
Friesland is one of the Netherlands' provinces, with its own history, culture and
landscape, which is unique in Europe, even in the world!
But, because of an economic recession in the 19th century, a lot of Frisians nowadays live
in Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia. Somehow, these Frisians still feel very
attached to their homeland ('it Heitelān). One of the main reasons is their common
language (Frisian).
The development of Internet in the Netherlands and Friesland is 'booming business'. The
Dutch government is playing an important role in making a big success of the founding and
development of the 'Electronic Highway'. The Netherlands want to have a leading position
in Europe in the use of Internet. The Department of Economics of the Dutch government has
made it their goal to establish one million accounts before the end of 1997.
There is still a lot of work to be done, however. Companies and local authorities aren't
yet fully aware of the massive importance and capabilities of the Internet, but even this
changes rapidly, now that the more traditional means of communication (newspapers,
television) spend more and more attention to the Internet, every day.
In Friesland, the Internet became 'public' in february 1995. We now estimate, that there
are 500 up to 1,000 private accounts in Friesland, but still, there are hardly any
companies or other organisations in Friesland, that communicate through the Internet.(dec.
1995) So far, the only ones known to us, are to be found on this site. This could change
quite progressively, since the growth of the Internet in The Netherlands is estimated to
be 200 to 600 percent every year.
Our main objective in the english version of the DRF is to select information on
Friesland with from an international point of view. This makes, that the english version
differs quite a lot from the dutch and frisian version, with regards to both contents and
appearance. Visitors who are more interrested in more locally oriented events, might
prefer our dutch or frisian version. We assume that there are still a lot of ex Frisians,
who, although it might take some effort, still speak or understand the dutch-or frisian
language. You will find a lot of locally interesting information on these pages.
In this english version, however, we concentrate mainly on those of you who have been away
too long or have never been here at all. We would like to offer you those 'facts and
figures', that are of interest from an international point of view, not to give you an
overload of information. Our goal is to create a site which is outstanding in quality and
exclusiveness, which is very clear and to the point. Of course, Friesland should always be
the 'guideline'.
Images
We hope to show you what Friesland is all about by publishing some images of our beautiful
province and all that it has to offer.
They say that pictures express more than a thousand words, so this gives you an
opportunity to get a clearer view on Friesland. Although there are quite a few photographs
already, due to the diversity in cities, villages and landscapes, most of the pictures
still have to be made.
People
In the chapter about the Frisian people, we try to make a bit clearer what kind of people
the Frisians are, and what moves them. We also try to put some of the more famous
Frisians, whom you may already know from history books, tales or television, into the
spotlights. We will finally mention some 'local' heroes, that have become in some way
important to Friesland.
History
In the part of the Frisian History, we will tell you about the history of Friesland. Some
background information will be given, which has been important to the establishment of our
culture. Because of the fact that Frisian history dates from long before the birth of
Christ, we will only mention the most important happenings.
Business
In this part we will make a selection of what's happening in Friesland, especially
concerning business. As we are the only supplier of general information in the north of
The Netherlands, at least until now, this site is the place to establish
your commercial contacts or to spread your information. Frisian companies who want to
expand their marketing activities by the Internet can for the best results, rent a link or
present a home page in 'The Friesland World Wide Business Center'.
Guestbook
When you read our guestbook, you'll find out that this is the place to meet (ex)
Frisians and other visitors all over the world. This is where Internet is meant
for, and we think this is one of the most hartwarming sites in the DRF! This place is also
a way for our visitors to get in touch with their 'roots' again.
Events
On our 'events' page, we select some internationally oriented events regarding Friesland.
These events will mainly concern sports or culture. Although Frisland is just a small part
of the world, relatively many international events take place. Perhaps the best known is
the ice skating in Thialf, Heerenveen.
Tourism
The Frisian landscape and the climate make that tourism is one of the main sources of
income to Friesland. On these pages you will find some brief information about Friesland
from a tourist point of view.
These pages have been made to inform you on some major issues about Friesland. We hope
we have succeeded in doing so. Of course, we are always open for suggestions. You can send
these to Freescape . We hope you will enjoy your
stay in our digital region, and we hope to welcome you again! Thank you for visiting us!
Greetings, Freescape
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European Union - The Netherlands - Friesland
© Digitale Region Friesland August 1995
We much appreciate comments, suggestions and bug-reports.
Please send these to Freescape
