Heligoland

Heligoland is a small archipelago in the North Sea, administratively part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The islands are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea and are the only German islands not in the vicinity of the mainland: they lie approximately 69 kilometres (37+1⁄2 nautical miles) by sea from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, they have been part of Germany, although after World War II they along with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein were administered by the United Kingdom as part of the British occupation zone in Germany. British control of Heligoland lasted until 1952, when it was turned over to the control of West Germany. Heligoland had a population of 1,127 at the end of 2016. In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder. The islands are known for being the place where, in 1841, August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to the "Deutschlandlied", which became the national anthem of Germany.

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