Frisian Islands

The Frisian Islands, also known as the Wadden Islands, are a chain of barrier islands running along the eastern edge of the North Sea from the Netherlands through Germany to Denmark, covering about 1,047 square kilometers and home to roughly 81,000 people. They shelter the Wadden Sea mudflats from the open North Sea, with large tidal flats exposed at low tide, and most of the islands are protected as internationally coordinated wildlife reserves. The islands formed roughly 7,000 years ago as sea levels rose after the last ice age, when tidal currents built a long dune line of sand that later broke apart into separate islands and mudflats; the West and East Frisian Islands are true barrier islands formed this way, while the North Frisian Islands are largely remnants of older, higher Geestland. People have lived on the islands for centuries, historically on artificial mounds called terpen before systematic dike building began around 1000 AD.