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 = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

is divided into five

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, which contain 98 municipalities ( da, kommuner , sing.: ). The

Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

has 29 municipalities,

Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative Regions of Denmark, region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Munici ...

22, Central Denmark 19,

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 ...

17 and North Denmark 11. This structure was established per an administrative reform (Danish: ''Strukturreformen''; English: (''The'') ''Structural Reform'') of the public sector of Denmark, effective 26 June 2005 (council elections 15 November 2005), which abolished the 13

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 ...

(; singular ) and created five

(; singular ) which unlike the counties (1970–2006) (Danish (singular) ''amtskommune'' ) are not

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 ...

. The 270 municipalities were consolidated into 98 larger units, most of which have at least 20,000 inhabitants. 67 of the present municipalities are mergers as a result of the administrative reform, with

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities o ...

being allowed to merge already on 1 January 2006, and one municipality,

Bornholm Regional Municipality Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, being a merger from 1 January 2003, before the reform, that is 68 merged municipalities in all. 238 municipalities were merged 1 January 2007 to form 66 municipalities for a total of 245 merged municipalities in 2003, 2006, and 2007. The 30 remaining municipalities have not merged. Before the merger on Bornholm there were 275 municipalities and 14 counties. Two ''

sui generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...

'' municipalities, namely

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 ...

, were never a part of a county, but were counties in their own right. Many of the responsibilities of the former counties were taken over by the 98 municipalities. With the increased responsibilities, the income tax rate that each of the 98 municipalities levies was raised by three percentage points on 1 January 2007. This tax had once been a part of the tax levied by the former counties. The archipelago of

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 D ...

is not part of any municipality, but is administered by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. The average ''land'' area of a Danish municipality is 432.59 km², 167.08 square miles. The area given in each article about municipalities – and regions – is the total area of land and water, of which the latter can make up a large part for instance in

Halsnæs Municipality Halsnæs Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden ("Capital Region"). The municipality covers a total area (land and water) of 122.15 km² (2013), according to Municipal Key Figures (De Kommunale Nøgletal (www.n ...

. __TOC__

Legal foundation of municipalities

The

Constitution of Denmark The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Riges Grundlov), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution ( da, Grundloven, fo, Grundlógin, kl, Tunngaviusumik inatsit), is the c ...

states: "Article 82. The right of municipalities to manage their own affairs independently, under State supervision, shall be laid down by statute."

Councillors

2,522 municipal councillors (and 205 regional councillors) were elected on Tuesday 15 November

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, being the first councils elected since the new reform. In 1997 there were 4,685 municipal and 374 county councillors in the then-275 municipalities and 14 counties. As an example of the reduction in the number of councillors,

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

in the 1970s and 1980s had a total of 122 councillors (from 1999:89) in five municipalities and one county (18 county councillors in the 1990s rom 1999: 15. After the merger on 1 January 2003, of the five municipalities and the county, there was one single municipal council with 27 municipal councillors. They were reduced to 23 from 1 January 2018. After 1 January 2007, when Bornholm Regional Municipality lost its (short-lived – four years: 2003 until 2006) county privileges, there has been talk of a reduction to 19 municipal councillors, the guidelines for a municipality with over 20,000 inhabitants being a maximum of 31 and minimum of 19 municipal councillors and the guidelines for a municipality with less than 20,000 inhabitants being a maximum of 31 and minimum of 9 municipal councillors. These guidelines replaced the old guidelines with the council elections in 2005 after the laws initiating the structural reform were passed in parliament. Many newly formed municipalities have chosen to have a maximum number of councillors so that all parts of the new municipalities and the small political parties have a chance of representation in the new councils:

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 other ...

has 55 municipal councillors on its council, and populous municipalities such as

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

and

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

have 31 each, and

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

and

(Frb from 1 Jan 2022) have 29.

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 ...

(from 17 to 19 councillors in elections 2009),

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed from ...

(from 17 to 19 cllrs in 2009),

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 prope ...

(from 15 to 19 cllrs in 2005),

Ishøj Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Solrød (from 15 to 19 cllrs in 2009), and

Tårnby Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of Sundb ...

(from 17 to 19 cllrs in 2009) are examples of municipalities that have increased the number of councillors because of the new guidelines. Council elections are held on the third Tuesday of November every four years. The previous elections were held on 16 November 2021. The newly formed five regional and 66 municipal councils acted as transitional merger committees () in 2006 with the responsibility of arranging the mergers (singular ) of the old counties and municipalities into five and 66 new entities respectively. The 238 municipal councils and 13 county councils that were to be merged and replaced/abolished just continued their work one extra year beyond the fixed four-year

term of office A term of office, electoral term, or parliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject ...

they were elected for (2002–2005) until 2006, and then ceased to exist. 32 municipalities including those of the recently formed

Ærø Municipality Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities ...

(which was included in the reform) and

Regional Municipality (which was not merged as a result of the reform, merger decided locally by voters already 29 May 2001 and made effective from 1 January 2003) remained unchanged and were not merged with other municipalities. Local elections have also been held in odd years earlier, but immediately before 1 January 1979, when the fiscal year in the public sector was changed from 1 April until 31 March into 1 January until 31 December, local elections were held in March and the elected councillors took their seats the following month, 1 April. Elections were held in even years (a few examples given here): March 1966, March 1970, March 1974, March 1978. Term of office for local politicians elected in 1978 was 1 April 1978 until 31 December 1981. Local elections were held in November 1981 for the four-year term of office (1 January) 1982 – (31 December) 1985. November 1985 local elections were for the following four-year term of office (1986–1989), etc. The election pages can be accessed from the templates at the bottom of each election page. Number of municipal councillors elected and

: * Elections November 2005: 2006/07–2009: 2,522 * Elections November 2009: 2010–2013: 2,468 * Elections November 2013: 2014–2017: 2,444 * Elections November 2017: 2018–2021: 2,432 (table shows number of seats on each municipal council) * Elections November 2021: 2022–2025: 2,436 (

Frederiksberg Municipality Frederiksberg Kommune is a Municipalities of Denmark, municipality (Danish language, Danish, ''Commune (subnational entity), kommune'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. Part of the Capital Region of Denmark ...

has increased its council from 25 to 29 members)

History

Before 1970

Until the municipal reform of 1 April 1970, the number of councillors in Danish municipalities and counties was around 10,000 in around 1,000 parish municipalities (), being supervised by their county, and market city municipalities (), the latter numbering 86 (including Bornholm whose county as an exception supervised the county's six market city municipalities (of 21 in total)) and not being part of a county but being supervised by the Interior Ministry. The reform was initiated from 1958 by the Interior Minister

Søren Olesen Søren Olesen (27 September 1891– 29 August 1973) was a Danish teacher and politician. He was the minister of interior between 1957 and 1960. Biography Olesen was born in Giver, Aalborg, on 27 September 1891. He received a degree in teaching ...

, (1891–1973), a member of the

Justice Party of Denmark The Justice Party ( da, Retsforbundet) of Denmark was founded in 1919 as an association and transformed into a political party in 1922. The party's platform is based upon the principles of U.S. economist Henry George - who advocated a single tax ...

. The number of municipalities was reduced during the period from April 1962 to 1966 when 398 existing municipalities merged voluntarily to form 118 new ones. The number of municipalities was the highest in 1965, at 1345 – with more than 10,000 councillors – of which 88 were market city municipalities, including Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, and 1257 were parish municipalities (800 of which had no staff employed except the mayor and treasurer/supervisor of the administration (Danish ''kæmner'' – a term last used until 1996 – in

Sindal Sindal is a railway town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It has a population of 3,095 (1 January 2022) and is located in Hjørring Municipality in Region Nordjylland. Until 1 January 2007 ...

, today a part of

Hjørring Municipality Hjørring Municipality is a municipality ( Danish: '' kommune'') in North Jutland Region on the west coast of the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , making it t ...

), both employed part-time).

Municipal reform of 1970

In 1970, a municipal reform ended the distinction between parish municipalities and market city municipalities. With the reform of 1970, the term municipality () replaced the previous two terms, which are now never used except for historical purposes. By 1 April 1970, the 1098 municipalities existing at the start of 1970 (with around 10,000 councillors) were merged to form 277 new municipalities. A few years later, the number was slightly reduced again to 275 as a few municipalities in

Copenhagen County Københavns Amt () is a former county (Danish, ''Amt (subnational entity), amt'') on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covered the municipalities in the metropolitan Copenhagen area, with the excepti ...

merged. 1 April 1974, municipality merged with

Høje-Taastrup Municipality Høje-Taastrup Kommune is a municipality (Danish language, Danish, ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 78& ...

, and Store Magleby parish merged with Dragør parish to form the new

Dragør Municipality Dragør Kommune () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden on the southern coast of the island of Amager just east of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 18.41 km² (2013), ...

. The voters of Sengeløse – which was created a municipality 1 April 1970 but only existed until 31 March 1974, being deemed too small in population – and Store Magleby parish were almost exclusively owner-occupiers, who voted center-rightwing in elections for the municipal council, whereas

and Dragør parish consisted of mainly tenants who rented their apartments and who voted center-leftwing, so heated debates took place before the mergers, because the center-rightwing voters in the merged municipalities would be in minority at the elections. (Since 1 January 1962 only two mayors of Høje-Taastrup have been Social Democrats, namely Per Søndergaard from 1 April 1978 until 31 December 1981 (three years and nine months), and Anders Bak (1948–2006) from 1986 until 2005 (20 years); Michael Ziegler, Conservative People's Party, has been mayor from 1 January 2006). Thus the number of municipalities was 277 from 1 April 1970 to 1 April 1974, from that date dropping to 275. Also on 1 April 1974, Avedøre, which was part of

Glostrup Municipality Glostrup Kommune is a suburban municipality ( Danish '' kommune'') and town in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') approx. 10 km west of Copenhagen in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 13.31 km², ...

, was conjoined with

Hvidovre Municipality Hvidovre Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Hovedstaden near Copenhagen on the island of Zealand (Sjælland) in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 22 km2, and has a total population of 53,416 (1 Janua ...

. This combination was logical, as Avedøre borders Hvidovre, but is separated from Glostrup. Other minor municipal border adjustments - between 100 and 150 - were made 1 April 1972, sometimes moving an area from the jurisdiction of a municipality in one county to the jurisdiction of a municipality in another county. Many of the 275 municipalities after 1 April 1974 built large city halls to consolidate the administration, thus changing the cityscape of Denmark. It also consolidated other municipal enterprises and the purchase of goods and services from the private sector. Until 1978 the

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

from 1 April to 31 March was in use in the public sector since a law was passed in 1849. As a consequence of a law passed by the Folketing in 1976, from 1 January 1979 the fiscal year is

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with the

calendar year Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. A year can also be measured by starting on any o ...

. Many reforms and laws passed prior to 1979 therefore have effect from 1 April. The 275 municipalities existed from 1 April 1974 until 31 December 2002, when the five municipalities on

merged with the county to form

Bornholm regional municipality Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, in the process abolishing the county and thereby reducing the number of counties to 13. This brought the number of municipalities down to 271 from 1 January 2003.

Municipal reform of 2007

After the general election in 2001 and the formation of a new government, a new municipal reform was discussed. Among the reasons advanced in favour of the reform were more synergies through

economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...

(critical mass and greater professional and financial sustainability) and big item discounts and the possibility of offering a wider array of services closer to the public (via a one-stop place of access to the public sector not unlike the unitary councils) Also, the reform was intended to alleviate the financial problems of depopulation in some areas due to limited job opportunities, high unemployment and aging, and to make introduction of new information technology more affordable. In short: fewer people, fewer municipalities. A commission on structural reform was set up by the government 1 October 2002 and presented its report 9 January 2004. It was then presented to politicians, researchers, and journalists, more than 1,000 in all, 14 January 2004 in Vingstedcentret in Egtved Municipality near

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

. The government put forward a proposal in April 2004, and a parliamentary majority backing the reform was secured 24 June 2004 when the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...

(then 22 seats) said it would support an agreement with the government coalition of Venstre (then 56 seats) and the Conservative People's Party (then 16 seats), thus securing 94 seats (90 needed for a majority in the 179 seat

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), 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 ...

). The laws behind the mergers were subjected to a

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psycholog ...

from 1 December 2004 to collect opinions – for or against or to modify the laws – from organisations and individuals. After the national election of 2005 a final agreement merging many municipalities, as well as abolishing the 13 counties and setting up five

, was reached by the

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

Venstre, Conservative People's Party,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and

Det Radikale Venstre The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre (Denmark), Venstre ...

. Presented in February 2005 to the

, the lawmakers finally approved the last of the 50 bills needed for the mergers by voting for the bills 16 June 2005. The laws became effective 26 June 2005, as always the day after publication in Lovtidende. Half of the bills received support from more political parties than the three parties with the political majority of 94 seats. Then the mergers were specified and approved in a departmental order (Danish: ) signed 29 June 2005 by

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the lead ...

, then minister of the interior and health. As a curiosity, all of

Billund Airport Billund Airport ( da, Billund Lufthavn) is an airport in Denmark. Located northeast of Billund, Denmark, Billund, it serves as one of the country's busiest Cargo airline, air cargo centres, as well as a charter airline destination. Most major ...

, then partly located in

Give Municipality Until 1 January 2007 Give municipality was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Vejle County on the Jutland peninsula in southeast Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 403 km2, and had a total population of 14,090 (2005). Its la ...

, became a part of

Billund Municipality Billund is a municipality in the centre of the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. Formerly the municipality belonged to Ribe County. The new, merged municipality covers an area of 540.18 km², and has a total population of 26,172 (2010). Its mayor ...

, and any future expansion of the airport will also become a part of that municipality. The first elections to the new regions and municipalities were held in November 2005. The reform replaced the structure of municipalities and counties introduced with the reform of 1970. Three

municipalities who were also counties lost their county privileges and became part of the

Capital Region of Denmark The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost administrative region of Denmark. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021 the chairperson ...

, although one of these three municipalities,

, which was created 1 January 2003 after the merger of its county with the five municipalities was approved in a law by the

19 March 2002 – thereby abolishing one of the 14 counties in the process - because of its remote location 150 km (93 mi) southeast of

retains ''some'' regional functions and is thus called a ''regional municipality'' – it performs some tasks that are only performed by the regions in the rest of Denmark. (From 1 January 2016 and 2018 Ærø Municipality and

Fanø Municipality Fanø () is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. Fanø municipality is the municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') that covers the island and its seat ...

, respectively, will also handle a task on the islands which was formerly the responsibility of the

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative Regions of Denmark, region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Munici ...

, namely public mass transit). Almost all the mergers of the municipalities took place 1 January 2007, but

Marstal municipality Marstal municipality, is a former municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Funen County on the island of Ærø in southern Denmark. Since 1 January 2006 it has been part of Ærø municipality. Its territory included the islands of Birkholm and Halm� ...

and

Ærøskøbing municipality Ærøskøbing Municipality ( da, Ærøskøbing Kommune, ) is a former municipality of Funen County on the island of Ærø. The municipality was formed in 1970 and disestablished in 2006 when it was integrated into Ærø Municipality. The munici ...

, both on the island of

, after a referendum on the island had decided to merge the two municipalities, were allowed by the Danish government to merge already from 1 January 2006 to form

Ærø municipality Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities ...

, thus bringing the number of municipalities down to 270 that were finally reduced by mergers from 1 January 2007 to form 98 municipalities.

Sectors affected

Since the counties were not the only structure based on the municipal layout of Denmark, other related changes were carried out as well. Thus, police districts (reduced from 54 to 12), court districts (reduced from 82 to 24), tax districts (before 2007 the responsibility of the municipalities; after that part of the central government Ministry of Taxation),

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

s, and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es in the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

also were reduced following the municipal reform.

Number of politicians

The 2007 reform reduced the number of local and regional politicians by almost half to 2,522 (municipal councillors) ( council elections November 2005; reduced in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

to 2,468; in 2013 2,444; in 2017 2,432) (1978: 4,735; 1989: 4,826; 1998: 4,685; reduced somewhat in the council election 29 May 2002 in the municipality of

) and 205 (regional board councillors) (1998: 374 county board councillors) Den Store Danske Encyklopædi + Supplement 2, "kommunalvalg". Gyldendal. 1994 + 2006. and Councillors respectively.

List of municipalities

1970–2006

Until 31 December 2006 Denmark was divided into 13

, and 270 municipalities.

Municipal organisations and enterprises

Center for offentlig kompetenceudvikling {{primary sources, date=October 2008 The Local Government Training and Development, Denmark (LGTD) - in Danish Center for Offentlig Kompetenceudvikling (COK) - is the Danish municipalities' and regions' nationwide organization for training and devel ...

References

* Erik Harder: . Fourth edition. Copenhagen 1985. Forlaget Kommuneinformation. . Number of municipalities through the times, etc. * Ove Hansen: . First edition. 1978. AOF's Forlag og Forlaget Fremad. . Number of councillors, etc.

Footnotes

External links

Eniro map with 98 named municipalitiesPrintable map of municipalities (Krak)
(outline of municipality visible but does not print out)
Maps (pdf) of local Government administration 1660-2007.Vælg et årstal:Select a yearMinistry of the Interior and Health:Structural reform with report from the Commission on Administrative Structure etc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipalities Of Denmark Subdivisions of Denmark Denmark 2 Municipalities, Denmark