Ærø Municipality () is a '' kommune'' occupying the 88 km² island of

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Denmark, Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Region of Southern Denmark, Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 all of Ærø has constituted a single Municipalities of Denmark, municipality, known as Ærø M ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in the

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark (, ; , ; ) is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regions ...

as of 1 January 2007, and in 2006 in Funen County. The municipality also encompasses Birkholm and the uninhabited islands Lilleø, Dejrø and Halmø. The first mayor of Ærø (2006-09;2014-17) was Jørgen Otto Jørgensen (born 21 December 1950, Marstal) a member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(''Socialdemokraterne'')

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, until 2005 mayor of Ærøskøbing Municipality. As of 1 January 2022 the mayor is Peter Hansted (born 12 January 1956, Lyngby) representing the Social Democrats. The most populous town is Marstal and the seat of the municipal council is

Ærøskøbing Ærøskøbing () is a town on the island of Ærø, Denmark. The suffix -købing means a trade town in the languages that derive from Old Norse. Ærøskøbing's houses and streets are delicately restored to retain the character of the olden days ...

. The municipality was created 1 January 2006 as a result of the municipal reform of 2007 (approved by the lawmakers of the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

16 June 2005 with elections for the new municipal and regional board members in the 98 municipalities and 5 regions taking place 15 November 2005, once every 4 years), through a merger of Marstal and

municipalities. However, the new municipality nonetheless agreed to enter into a "municipal cooperation agreement" with

Svendborg Municipality Svendborg Municipality () is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Region of Southern Denmark on the southeast coast of the island of Funen, as well as on the islands of Drejø, Hjortø, Skarø, Thurø, and Tåsinge off Funen's southeast ...

. The Danish municipal reform was implemented Monday 1 January 2007, but politicians on Ærø were given permission to unify the island one year ahead of the rest of the municipalities that were merged as a result of the reform. From 1 January 2006 until 31 December 2006 Ærø Municipality belonged to Funen County. The result is a municipality with an area of 91 km² and a population today of 5,881 (1. January 2025). In January 1985 8,429 people lived on the area of the present municipality, and in January 2006 6,873 people. The new municipality belonged to Funen County in 2006 and became part of the new

on 1 January 2007.

Locations

Politics

Ærø's municipal council consists of 15 members, elected every four years.

Municipal council

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

References

External links

Official website
Municipalities of the Region of Southern Denmark Municipalities of Denmark Populated places established in 2006 Ærø {{SouthernDK-stub