The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperson is Lars Gaardhøj, who is a member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

party of Denmark. The Capital Region was established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform. This reform abolished the traditional

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(Danish plural: , singular: ) and created five regions. As part of this reform 271 smaller

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

were merged into larger units reducing the number of municipalities to 98. The reform dramatically diminished the power of regional governments while enhancing that of local government and that of the central government in Copenhagen. It was implemented on 1 January 2007. Unlike the former counties (1970–2006) (Danish ', literally 'county municipality') the regions are not municipalities and are thus not allowed to have a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, only

logotype A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordm ...

s. The regions do not collect taxes and are financed primarily through block grants, they are unable to transfer money from one area of expenditure to another, and they must return any unused money to the central government. This makes the regions more like departments or agencies of the central government. The main industries in the region are hospitals and healthcare. The Capital Region is not to be confused with the

Copenhagen Metropolitan Area The Copenhagen metropolitan area or Metropolitan Copenhagen ( da, Hovedstadsområdet, , literally "The Capital Area") is a large commuter belt (the area in which it is practical to commute to work) surrounding Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark ...

or the

Øresund Region The Øresund Region ( da, Øresundsregionen ; sv, Öresundsregionen ), also known as Greater Copenhagen for marketing purposes, is a metropolitan region that comprises eastern Denmark and Skåne in southern Sweden. Centred around the Øresund ...

Overview

The Capital Region of Denmark is one of five regions in

and consists of the municipalities of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

, the former counties of

and Frederiksborg, and the regional municipality of Bornholm. The Danish name for this region is . It borders

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

and Sweden's Skåne County via the

Øresund Bridge The Öresund or Øresund Bridge ( da, Øresundsbroen ; sv, Öresundsbron ; hybrid name: ) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the longest in Europe with both roadway and rai ...

. Denmark's largest lake (Danish ),

Arresø Arresø () is the largest lake, by area, in Denmark. It covers 40,72 km² (15.39 sq mi) and is situated on the island of Zealand 43 kilometers (27 miles) northwest of Copenhagen as the crow flies. Arresø is located in the northern parts of Z ...

, lies 43 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Copenhagen. There are several other lakes, the deepest in Denmark being Furesø, 14.5 km (9 miles) northwest of Copenhagen, which is the namesake of the

Furesø Municipality Furesø could refer to: * Furesø municipality, Denmark * Furesø (lake) Furesø is a lake in Northeastern Zealand, Denmark and the deepest lake in Denmark. It defined Farum municipality's southeast border and is the site of Nicolai Eigtved's 1 ...

. Among several forests, the region also has the Gribskov forest, which is the namesake of the

Gribskov Municipality Gribskov Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden ("Capital Region"). The municipality covers an area of 278 km², and has a total population of 40,850 (1 April 2014). The municipality was created on 1 January ...

. The Dyrehaven forest park is just north of Copenhagen (and east of Furesø) in the

Gentofte Municipality Gentofte Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark (''Region Hovedstaden'') on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covers an area of , and has a total population ...

and the

Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality (occasionally spelled Lyngby-Tårbæk) is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark near Copenhagen on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand (Danish: ''Sjælland''). It is part of the ...

. Geologically, the region lies in the northern part of

, which is rising because of

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

, making lakes out of former inlets and bays.

is one example, having extended in a northwesterly direction as a part of Brødemose Sund into

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

. (The land is rising by 9 millimeters every year in , the northeastern part of

Skellefteå Municipality Skellefteå Municipality () is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Skellefteå. History Most of the amalgamations leading to the present municipality took place in 1967 when the then "City of Skelle ...

, north of

Kvarken Kvarken ( sv, Kvarken, Norra Kvarken (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Swedish mainland to the Finn ...

.) Because of the mobility of the sand dunes, forests have been planted along the coast of

in the municipalities of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

, Gribskov, and Halsnæs. For the purpose of a road and rail connection to

, land has been added to the island of Amager, which has a tunnel connecting it with the artificial island Peberholm just south of the island of

Saltholm Saltholm (; ''Salt Islet'') is a Danish island in the Øresund, the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden. It is located to the east of the Danish island of Amager in Tårnby municipality and lies just to the west of the sea border between D ...

. The land area of east Denmark (east of the

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great B ...

strait) is approximately 9,622 km² (3,715 sq mi), which is set to increase due to housing projects in the north of

Copenhagen Municipality Copenhagen Municipality ( da, Københavns Kommune), also known in English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the othe ...

, and also due to new bridges and tunnels being added, including the

Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link The Fehmarn Belt fixed link ( da, Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, german: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, cros ...

and other traffic infrastructure projects. A new high-speed train line called the Copenhagen-Ringsted Line came into operation on 1 June 2019 to increase transport capacity and relieve congestion in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and the narrow 9-9.5 mile

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

between

Roskilde Fjord Roskilde Fjord is the fjord north of Roskilde, Denmark. It is a long branch of the Isefjord. Cities The cities Frederiksværk, Frederikssund, Jægerspris, Jyllinge and Roskilde (including Himmelev), (home to the famous Roskilde Festival), all ...

and the bay of

Køge Bugt Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland, Denmark. In 2022, the urban area had a ...

. It does this by moving international and national train traffic to the new train line and only keeping local and regional traffic. The primary function and largest expenditure, which takes up around 90% of the budget of the Capital Region, is owning and operating the hospitals and health services of the region. In the east of Denmark, there is one traffic region covered by the public transport agency Movia, which is owned by the Capital Region of Denmark and

Region Zealand Region Zealand ( da, Region Sjælland) is the southernmost administrative region of Denmark, established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regi ...

, and operates in 45 of the 46 municipalities. Because of its remote location, Bornholm has its own traffic company, , also known as

BAT Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

. Likewise, in the east of Denmark, the two regions and 45 of the 46 municipalities make up one sole employment region, with Bornholm being its own employment region. Bornholm also performs other tasks that are normally performed by the regions in the rest of Denmark. The municipality of Bornholm is therefore called ''Bornholm Regional Municipality''. In some respects, the island forms a region of its own. As Denmark is a

unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only ...

, its "capital region" is not a

capital district A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

, but merely one among several regions of Denmark that happens to contain the national capital. The region does not include the

Ertholmene Ertholmene (formerly spelled ''Ærtholmene)'' is a small archipelago in Denmark. The largest island is Christiansø, and its name often refers to the entire archipelago. Ertholmene is situated northeast of Gudhjem, Bornholm, and contains De ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

which is situated to the northeast of Bornholm.

Economy

The

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

(GDP) of the region was €122.2 billion in 2018, accounting for 40.6% of Denmark's economic output. GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power, was €50,000 or 166% of the EU27 average in the same year. GDP per person employed was 130% of the EU27 average. The Capital Region is the wealthiest region in Denmark.

Hospitals

The Capital Region of Denmark also manages several hospitals: *

Amager Hospital Amager Hospital is located in Denmark on the island of Amager in Copenhagen. It was founded on 1 April 1997 with the merger of Skt. Elisabeth Hospital and Sundby Hospital. Administratively, Amager Hospital is maintained by Region Hovedstaden a ...

on the island of Amager,

* Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen * Bornholms Hospital on the island of Bornholm * Frederiksberg Hospital (closing in 2025, moving to Bispebjerg) in

* Gentofte Hospital in

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

Glostrup Hospital Rigshospitalet Glostrup is located in the township of Glostrup 8 km from the center of Copenhagen in Denmark. It is owned and managed by the regional health authority of the Greater Copenhagen region, Region Hovedstaden. The hospital was fo ...

in Glostrup *

Herlev Hospital Herlev Hospital (former da, Amtssygehuset i Herlev) is a hospital in Herlev, Denmark, close to Copenhagen. The building is tall and has 25 floors. It is famous for being Denmark's tallest building. Its modern, functional architecture in bright ...

Herlev Herlev is a suburb about 9 km northwest of Copenhagen city centre. It is the site of the municipal council of Herlev Municipality, Denmark. Sports Herlev is the hometown of former Vancouver Canuck Jannik Hansen. Herlev is known for its ...

* Hvidovre Hospital in

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

* Nordsjællands Hospital in Esbønderup,

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden with a population of 16,850 (1 January 2022).Hillerød Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)Elsinore, and

Hørsholm Hørsholm () is an urban area on the Øresund coast approximately north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers most of Hørsholm Municipality and straddles the borders neighbouring Fredensborg Municipality and Rudersdal Municipality. Hørsholm prop ...

Region Hovedstadens Psykiatri Region Hovedstadens Psykiatri ( en, Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark) is a psychiatric hospital with centers spread all around the capital region (Region Hovedstaden) of Denmark, mainly consisting of Copenhagen, northern Ze ...

–

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

with many centers around the region *

Rigshospitalet Rigshospitalet (meaning ''The National'', ''State'' or ''Hospital of the Realm'', but not usually translated) is the largest public and teaching hospital in Copenhagen and the most highly specialised hospital in Denmark. The hospital's main buildi ...

in Copenhagen * Sct. Hans Hospital in

Municipalities of the Capital Region

There are 29 municipalities in the Capital Region of Denmark. *

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The s ...

* Allerød Municipality, Allerød * Ballerup Municipality, Ballerup * Bornholm Municipality, Bornholm * Brøndby Municipality, Brøndby * Dragør Municipality, Dragør * Egedal Municipality, Egedal * Fredensborg Municipality, Fredensborg * Frederikssund Municipality, Frederikssund * Furesø Municipality, Furesø * Gentofte Municipality, Gentofte * Gladsaxe Municipality, Gladsaxe * Glostrup Municipality, Glostrup * Gribskov * Halsnæs *

* Herlev Municipality, Herlev * Hillerød Municipality, Hillerød * Hørsholm Municipality, Hørsholm * Høje-Taastrup Municipality, Høje-Taastrup * Hvidovre Municipality, Hvidovre * Ishøj Municipality, Ishøj * Lyngby-Taarbæk * Rudersdal Municipality, Rudersdal * Rødovre Municipality, Rødovre * Tårnby Municipality, Tårnby * Vallensbæk Municipality, Vallensbæk

Regional council

The five regions of Denmark each have a regional council of 41 members. Members are elected every four years during local elections.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 55, 56.39, N, 12, 18, E, region:DK_type:adm1st, display=title Capital Region of Denmark, States and territories established in 2007 Regions of Denmark 2007 establishments in Denmark