Westerkwartier

The Westerkwartier (; ; ; ) is a historical region in the Dutch province of

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, at the border with the provinces of

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

and

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. In the past the area was part of the historical region of

Frisia Frisia () is a Cross-border region, cross-border Cultural area, cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. Wider definitions of "Frisia" ...

. The

West Frisian language West Frisian (; ), or simply Frisian ( ; ), is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland () in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisians, Frisian ancestry. It is the most widely spoken of the Frisian ...

is still spoken in the western parts of the area (the villages Marum, De Wilp and Opende). In the rest of the Westerkwartier, "Westerkertiersk", a local variant of Low Saxon, is spoken. The biggest town in the Westerkwartier is Leek. At January 1st 2019, the four municipalities Leek, Zuidhorn, Marum, and Grootegast have merged to become the municipality of Westerkwartier. Also the villages Garnwerd, Feerwerd and Ezinge (municipality of Winsum) have been added to this new municipality. Regions of Groningen (province) {{Groningen-geo-stub