The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative

region 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 an ...

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 ...

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. At the same time, 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 ...

were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 271 before 1 January 2007 to 98. The reform diminished the power of the regional level dramatically in favor of the local level and the central government in Copenhagen. The Region of Southern Denmark has 22 municipalities. The reform was implemented in Denmark on 1 January 2007, although the merger of the Funish

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

and Marstal, being a part of the reform, was given the go-ahead to be implemented on Sunday 1 January 2006, one year before the main reform. It borders

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

) to the south and

Central Denmark Region The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...

to the north and is connected to Region Zealand via the Great Belt Fixed Link. The regional capital is

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 ...

but

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 ...

is the region's largest city and home to the main campus of the University of Southern Denmark with branch campuses in

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022) ...

, Kolding and Sønderborg. The responsibilities of the regional administration include

hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

and regional

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

, which is divided between two operators, Sydtrafik on the mainland and

Als Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

, and Fynbus on

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as o ...

and adjacent islands. On the island municipalities of Ærø (since 2016) and Fanø (since 2018), the municipalities themselves are responsible for public transport.

Geography

The Region of Southern Denmark is the westernmost of the Danish administrative regions ( Region Zealand being the southernmost). It consists of the former counties of

, Ribe and South Jutland, adding ten municipalities from the former

Vejle County Vejle Amt (English ''Vejle County'') is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in southern Denmark. The county was abolished effective January 1, 2007, when it was divided between Region Midtjylland (i.e. '' ...

. The territories formerly belonging to

consist of the new municipalities of Fredericia (unchanged by the reform),

(a merger of Vejle, Børkop, parts of Egtved,

Give Give may refer to: making someone get or receive something from someone Places * Give, Denmark, a small town ** Give Municipality, a former municipality Music * ''Give'' (Balkan Beat Box album), 2012 album by Balkan Beat Box * ''Give'' (The Bad ...

, and

Jelling Jelling is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 3,658 (1 January 2022), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level. Location Jelling is located in Vejle municipal ...

) and Kolding (a merger of Kolding, parts of Lunderskov,

Vamdrup Vamdrup is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark, near Kolding in Denmark with a population of 4,809 (1 January 2022). History Three oak coffins were uncovered from graves in the Bronze Age mound Guldhøj in Holt near Vamdrup in 1891, and a ...

, and parts of both Egtved and Christiansfeld - the latter from South Jutland County). A total of 78 municipalities were combined to a total of 22 new entities.

Municipalities

The region is subdivided into 22 municipalities: * Aabenraa * Assens * Billund *

* Faaborg-Midtfyn * Fanø * Fredericia * Haderslev * Kerteminde * Kolding * Langeland * Middelfart * Nordfyn * Nyborg *

* Svendborg * Sønderborg *

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

* Varde *

Vejen Vejen with a population of 10,009 (1 January 2022) is the main town in Vejen Municipality, Denmark. Geography The town is situated in the Danish region of Syddanmark and is a railway town at the railway between the cities of Kolding and Esbje ...

* Ærø

GDP

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 of ...

(GDP) of the region was 57.3 billion € in 2018, accounting for 19.0% of Denmark's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 35,100 € or 116% of the EU27 average in the same year.

North Schleswig Germans

The Region of Southern Denmark is home to the only officially recognised ethno-linguistic minority of

Denmark proper ) , 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 , established ...

, the North Schleswig Germans of North Schleswig. This minority makes up about 6% of the total population of the municipalities of Aabenraa/Apenrade, Haderslev/Hadersleben, Sønderborg/Sonderburg and Tønder/Tondern. In these four municipalities, the German minority enjoys certain linguistic rights in accordance with the

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, th ...

Regional Council

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Region Of Southern Denmark States and territories established in 2007 Regions of Denmark 2007 establishments in Denmark German-speaking countries and territories