The following towns and villages within the municipality have populations in excess of 1,000 people: Leeuwarden, Stiens, Grou, Goutum, Wergea, Jirnsum, Reduzum, and Wirdum.

The municipality is governed by the mayor Sybrand van Haersma Buma and a coalition of the Labour Party, Christian Democratic Appeal, and GreenLeft.

Historian and archivist Wopke Eekhoff summed up a total of over 200 different spelling variants, of which Leeuwarden (Dutch), Liwwadden (Stadsfries), and Ljouwert (West Frisian) are still in use.

[7][8] The second part of the name is easily explained: Warden, West Frisian/Dutch/Low German for an artificial dwelling-hill, is a designation of terps, reflecting the historical situation.

Some scholars argue that the name of the city is derived from leeu-, a corruption of luw- (Dutch for 'sheltered from the wind', cf.

This suits the watery province of Friesland and the position of the original three villages at the end of an important estuary called Middelzee.

[8] The name is also similar to that of the French commune Lewarde, located in the Nord Department, an originally Flemish-speaking area annexed to France in the 17th century.

The oldest remains of houses date back to the 2nd century AD in the Roman era and were discovered during an excavation near the Oldehove.

This ended when elements of the Royal Canadian Dragoons seized the initiative and advanced into the heavily-defended city on 15 April 1945, ignoring direct orders to wait for supporting infantry.

The fire started late in the afternoon and burned through the night, destroying five shops and eleven flats.

[16] The birthplace of Mata Hari was at first thought to be destroyed, but survived, albeit with considerable smoke and water damage.

East of the city lies recreational area and nature reserve De Groene Ster.

The hamlets within the municipality are: Abbenwier, Angwier, Baarderbuorren, Bartlehiem (partially), De Him, De Hoek, De Trije Romers, Domwier, Finsterbuorren, Fûns, Groote Bontekoe, Goatum, Hesens, Hoarne, Hoptille, It Hoflân, It Wiel, Marwert, Midsbuorren, Narderbuorren, Noardein, Oude Schouw (partially), Poelhuzen, Rewert (partially), Skillaerd, Skrins, Suderbuorren, Suorein, Tichelwurk, Truerd, Tsienzerbuorren, Tsjaard, Tsjeintgum, Vierhuis, Vrouwbuurtstermolen (partially), Wammert and Wieuwens As of 2020, Leeuwarden had a total population of 124,084.

Other well-known buildings in the city centre include the Kanselarij (former chancellery), the Stadhouderlijk Hof (former residence of the stadtholders of Friesland), the city hall (1715), the Waag (old weigh house), the Saint Boniface church (an important part of the neogothic movement) and the Centraal Apotheek, a pharmacy in the Art Nouveau style.

[34] The Slauerhoffbrug is a fully automatic bascule bridge named after the poet Jan Jacob Slauerhoff.

The Love Fountain, located in front of the train station, was designed by artist Jaume Plensa.

The fountain is seven metres high and consists of two white heads of a boy and a girl, their eyes closed and dreaming.

[38] Annual music festivals are Cityrock, Dancetour, Welcome To The Village, Into the Grave, Explore the North[39] and Fries straatfestival.

Regional trains, served by Arriva, operate to Groningen in the east, Harlingen in the west and Stavoren in the southwest.

[53] Centre of Expertise Water Technology (CEW) is the knowledge and innovation centre for applied research and product development in the field of water technology[54] and the Wadden Academy to study and research the Wadden Sea.

[58] The city's local football team, SC Cambuur, are playing in the second tier Eerste Divisie.

[60] Leeuwarden is the starting and finishing point for the celebrated Elfstedentocht, a 200 km (120 mi) speed skating race over the Frisian waterways that is held when winter conditions in the province allow.

The Leeuwarder Courant[63] and Friesch Dagblad[64] are daily newspapers mainly written in Dutch (published by the NDC Mediagroep).

Omrop Fryslân is a public broadcaster with radio and TV programs mainly in Frisian.