Køge Bay () is an approximately shallow Danish bay in the southern part of

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; ; ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Denmark–Sweden border, Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width var ...

, between the Greater Copenhagen area in the North (or more precisely the southernmost peak of

Amager Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...

) and Stevns Klint in the South, and as a part of

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

. It is named after the Danish town

Køge Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a Danish 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 (Zealand), Denmark. In 2025, the ...

, which is located towards its southern part. The area around the bay's shores are built-up from Copenhagen to Køge, including Copenhagen suburban areas like Brøndby Strand, Vallensbæk,

Ishøj Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 21,465 (1. January 2024). It is situated in the Region Hovedstaden, and is the seat of the Ishøj Municipality. Geography The town is located by the coast in the southwestern suburban area of Copen ...

, Hundige, Jersie and others. The seafloor is not located deeper than anywhere inside the bay. Due to its closeness to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, the average surface

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

is lower than elsewhere in Øresund, especially when compared to the northern parts of this sound. The landing approaches

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

runways 04L and 04R goes over the bay, it is used for approximately 30% of all landings. Koege-Bugt-beach-areas.jpg, Aerial photograph of a part of Køge Bay's shorelines Stevns Klint.jpg, Køge Bay's southern marker, Stevns Klint, is also one of the southern marker points of the boundary between

and the

History

In 1427, a

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret of Denmark. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then in ...

fleet was resoundingly victorious in a sea battle against the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. 1 July 1677, a sea battle between a

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian (Danish language, Danish and ) was a Koine language, koiné/mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Denmark–Norway, Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1 ...

and a slightly larger Swedish fleet occurred in the bay. The outcome was a Dano-Norwegian victory, led by Admiral

Niels Juel Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish naval officer. He served as supreme commander of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. Background Niels Juel was born ...

. An indecisive

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

between a Dano-Norwegian fleet and Sweden was fought in 1710. In August 2017, Swedish journalist Kim Wall was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

in the bay by entrepeuner

Peter Madsen Peter Langkjær Madsen (; born 12 January 1971) is a Danish convicted murderer and former entrepreneur. In April 2018, he was convicted of the August 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine, '' UC3 Nautilus'', and se ...

on board his submarine '' UC3 Nautilus''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Køge Bay Bays of Denmark Coastline of Zealand