Halligen
The Halligen (German, 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 hallig at the west coast of Denmark (Mandø). 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. The "halligen" have areas ranging from 7 to 956 ha, and are often former parts of the mainland, separated therefrom by storm tide erosion. Some are also parts of once much bigger islands sundered by the same forces. Sometimes, owing to sediment deposition, have actually grown together to form larger ones. Langeneß (or Langeness) includes a former island by that same name, and two others that were called Nordmarsch and Butwehl. Dwellings and commercial buildings are built upon metre-high, man-made mounds, called "Warften" in  German or "Værft" in Danish, to guard against storm tides. Some "halligen" also have overflow dikes. Not very many people live on the "halligen". Their livelihoods are mainly based on tourism, coastal protection, and agriculture. This last activity mainly involves raising cattle in the fertile, often flooded, salt meadows. The "halligen" are to be found in the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer National Park. The commercially developed "halligen" of Nordstrandischmoor, Gröde, Oland, Langeneß, and Hooge are surrounded by the protected area, but not an integral part of it. The smaller "halligen", Habel, Südfall, Süderoog, and Norderoog as well as the Hamburger "hallig  are parts of the national park. Walks on the tidal flats and informational meetings are offered by tourist boards and the park administration. In the west the German halligen" are protected from the open sea by the North Frisian Barrier Island. The island of Mandø in the Danish Wadden Sea Islands is also technically one of the "halligen", although it is far away from the other ten, which are quite near each other. Mandø can be reached from the mainland over the mudflats at low tide, when a tidal pathway ("ebbevej" in Danish, meaning "ebb-way") is above water. List  of Halligen. Currently, there are 10 "halligen" in Germany. The following list does not include formerly existing Halligen that have either vanished or merged with current "halligen" or the mainland: On the Danish side, three halliger are to be noted, current or past: The peninsula and former island of Großer Werder on the Baltic Sea coast is also nicknamed "Baltic Hallig" ("Ostsee-Hallig") due to its remote situation and appearance.