There are six national parks in the
Kingdom of Denmark
The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar RÃki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of Denmark, metropolitan ...
; five in Denmark proper and one in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
.
The first national park in Denmark proper was
Thy National Park
Thy National Park ( da, Nationalpark Thy) is a national park area in Thy, Denmark, opened to the public on 22 August 2008. It is located in Northwest Jutland, along the coast from Hanstholm to Agger Tange and it spans north to south and east to ...
( da, Nationalpark Thy), created in 2008. It is located in
Thisted Municipality
Thisted municipality is a municipality (Danish: '' kommune'') in North Jutland Region, Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,072 km², and has a total population of 45,549 (2008). The main town and the site of its municipal council is ...
,
Nordjylland. The park is a narrow stretch of land along the
North Jutlandic Island
The North Jutlandic Island (), Vendsyssel-Thy, or Jutland north of the Limfjord (''Jylland nord for Limfjorden''), is the northernmost part of Denmark and of Jutland. It is more common to refer to the three traditional districts Vendsyssel, Han ...
's west coast from
Hanstholm
Hanstholm is a small town and a former island, now elevated area in Thisted municipality of Region Nordjylland, located in northern Denmark. The population of the town is 2,104 (1 January 2022). southward to
Agger Tange Agger may refer to:
* Agger (surname)
* Agger (ancient Rome), a type of ancient Roman rampart or embankment
* Agger (river), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
* Agger nasi, an anatomical feature of the nose
* Agger Rockshelter, in Wisconsi ...
, excluding Hanstholm, Klitmøller, Nørre Vorupør, Stenbjerg and Agger. Thy National Park is named after
Thy, an area that includes not only today's national park but also adjacent land further east. The park has dunes,
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
, forests and grassland and also covers several small lakes and a small part of the
Limfjord
The Limfjord (Danish language, common Danish: ''Limfjorden'' , in north Jutlandish dialect: ''Æ Limfjord'') is a shallow part of the sea, located in Denmark where it has been regarded as a fjord ever since Viking Age, Viking times. However, i ...
, which is the fjord that separates the North Jutlandic Island from the
Cimbrian Peninsula.
In August 2009, the second national park
Mols Bjerge National Park
Mols Bjerge National Park or Nationalpark Mols Bjerge is a Danish national park in the area known as ''Mols Bjerge'' (Mols Hills, lit.: Mols Mountains) in Syddjurs Municipality, Central Jutland, inaugurated on 29 August 2009. The protected area, me ...
was inaugurated, followed by
Wadden Sea National Park in October 2010, and
Land of the Scylding National Park
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various is ...
in 2015.
[ Two additional areas in mainland Denmark were proposed in 2008 and 2009 to become national parks. One of these plans, Skjern Å Nationalpark (after the river of the same name), was abandoned in 2012, but it was restarted in 2018 and is ongoing.] The other, Kongernes Nordsjælland National Park, was inaugurated in 2018.
Greenland has had its own national park since 1974. The Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th List of largest protected areas in the world, largest protected area (the only large ...
stretches across three fifths of the northern parts of Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
's east coast and, since its expansion in 1988, two thirds of the eastern parts of Greenland's north coast. Bounded by the coasts, the park covers the island's entire north-eastern quarter, all of which is almost uninhabited.map of Greenland's protected areas
Like Greenland, the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
forms another
autonomous region
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy†...
of the Kingdom of Denmark, but contains no national parks.
Footnotes
Notes
References
External links
Danish Forest and Nature Agency's website on the national parks of mainland Denmark*
Avatangiisinut Pinngortitamullu Aqutsisoqarfik' (Greenlandic) =
Miljø- og Naturstyrelsen' (Danish).
Operates unde
Greenland Home Rules new ministry for domestic affairs
GreenlandicÂ
Danish
* Faroes
Ministry of the Interior(Faroese)
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Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
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...
National parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...
National parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...