Halligen

The Halligen (; singular Hallig ) or the halliger (Danish, singular hallig) are small islands without protective dikes. They are variously pluralized in English as the Halligen, Halligs, Hallig islands, or Halligen islands. There are ten German halligen in the North Frisian Islands on Schleswig-Holstein's Wadden Sea–North Sea coast in the district of Nordfriesland and one remaining hallig at the west coast of Denmark (Langli).

==Naming== The name is cognate to Old-English halh, meaning "slightly raised ground isolated by marsh". The very existence of the halligen is a result of frequent floods and poor coastal protection. The floods were much more common in the Middle Ages and coastal protection was much poorer.