Counties of Denmark
The Counties of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks amter) were former subdivisions of metropolitan Denmark and overseas territories, used primarily for administrative regions, with each county having its own council with substantial powers. Originally there had been twenty-four counties, but the number was reduced to roughly fourteen in 1970 – the number fluctuated slightly over the next three decades. In 2006 there were thirteen traditional counties as well as three municipalities with county status (the island of Bornholm, which was a county from 1660 until 2002, became a regional municipality with county powers, but only briefly from 2003 until 2006). On 1 January 2007 the counties were abolished and replaced by five larger regions which, unlike the counties, are not municipalities.
Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also part of the Danish Realm, but both enjoy internal autonomy. Both are largely self-governing, and each community sends two members to the Danish Parliament. The Faroe Islands obtained self-government in 1948; from 1816 to 1948 the islands had the status of a Danish county. Greenland changed from a colony to an overseas county in 1953, and subsequently gained home rule in 1979.[citation needed]
Abolition
A government proposal in 2004 called for the counties to be abolished and replaced by five large
The reform was confirmed by the Danish Parliament on 24 February 2005 and the counties were abolished on 1 January 2007.
List of counties (1970–2006)
The counties and county-level municipalities are listed below.
Name | Capital | Type of entity | Population (2006) | Total area (km2) | Pop. density (per km2) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | Greenland County (from 1953 to 1979) |
Nuuk | County | n/a | 2,166,000 (excluded from total) | n/a |
1 | Copenhagen Municipality | (Part of) Copenhagen | Municipality with county tasks | 501,158 | 91.3 | 5,489.1 |
2 | Frederiksberg Municipality | Frederiksberg | Municipality with county tasks | 91,855 | 8.7 | 10,560.5 |
3 | Copenhagen County | Glostrup | County | 618,529 | 526 | 1,175.9 |
4 | Frederiksborg County | Hillerød | County | 378,686 | 1,347 | 281.1 |
5 | Roskilde County | Roskilde | County | 241,523 | 891 | 271 |
6 | West Zealand County | Sorø | County | 307,207 | 2,984 | 103 |
7 | Storstrøm County | Nykøbing | County | 262,781 | 3,398 | 77.3 |
8 | Funen County | Odense | County | 478,347 | 3,485 | 137.2 |
9 | South Jutland County | Aabenraa | County | 252,433 | 3,939 | 64.1 |
10 | Ribe County | Ribe | County | 224,261 | 3,132 | 71.6 |
11 | Vejle County | Vejle | County | 360,921 | 2,997 | 120.4 |
12 | Ringkjøbing County | Ringkøbing | County | 275,065 | 4,854 | 56.7 |
13 | Viborg County | Viborg | County | 234,896 | 4,122 | 57 |
14 | North Jutland County | Aalborg | County | 495,090 | 6,173 | 80.2 |
15 | Aarhus County | Århus |
County | 661,370 | 4,561 | 145 |
16 | Bornholm | Rønne | county (1970-2002), regional municipality with county tasks (2003-2006) |
43,347 | 588 | 73.7 |
Denmark | Copenhagen | Entire country | 5,427,459 | 43,093 | 125.9 |
Ringkjøbing County used an old spelling of its name, while its capital city and state authorities used the modern Danish spelling, Ringkøbing.
The archipelago
See also
- ISO 3166-2:DK
- NUTS:DK
- Administrative divisions of Greenland
- List of municipalities of Denmark (1970-2006)