Jordsand () was a small Danish hallig located in the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( ; ; or ; ; ; ) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of low-lying Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tida ...

southeast of the Danish island

Rømø Rømø (, ) is a Danish island in the Wadden Sea. Rømø is part of Tønder Municipality. The island had 650 inhabitants as of 1 January 2011,

and east of the German island

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

. The island was first known by the name ''Hiortsand'' (" hart island") and was possibly connected to both the mainland and the island of Sylt. The old name refers to the presence of

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

on the island. Records from 1231 describe the island as having a size equivalent of 20 km² (7.7 square miles). It contained numerous terps. The island was destroyed in a series of storm tides. Its size was described in 1807 and 1873 as 40.7 and 18.4

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

respectively. In 1895, a storm destroyed the last terp and the island was abandoned and became a bird sanctuary. Attempts to protect it from the recurring floods were made in the 1970s but with limited success since the island remained unprotected by a dyke. The island's size ultimately shrank to 2.3 hectares and the uninhabited island was finally destroyed in a flood during the winter of 1998/99. By 1999 all vegetation on the former island had disappeared, and the Danish Nature Agency removed its observational hut from the flooded area. In 1999, the island was officially registered as disappeared. The area is now a sandbank (''højsande''), ''Jordsand Flak''Jordsand
''

Den Store Danske Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...

'' similar to Koresand near Fanø. ''Højsande'' denotes a sandbank that is only flooded during exceptionally high waters. Its name lives on in the name of one of Germany's oldest environmental organizations, ''Verein Jordsand'' established in 1907.

Sources

* Palle Uhd Jepsen: ''Wattenmeerbilder''. Vardemuseum 2000 Former islands of Denmark Former populated places in Denmark Halligen {{Denmark-island-stub