The Capital Region of Denmark (, ) is the easternmost administrative region of

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 ...

, and contains

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, the national capital. The Capital Region has 29 municipalities and a regional council consisting of 41 elected members. As of 1 August 2021, the chairperson is Lars Gaardhøj, who is 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 ...

party of Denmark. The Capital Region was established on 1 January 2007 as part of the

2007 Danish Municipal Reform The Strukturreformen or ''Kommunalreformen'' ( ''English'': ''structural reform'') meant large changes to the administrative structure of local government in Denmark. The reforms reduced 271 municipalities to 98 and replaced 13 counties with 5 ...

. This reform abolished the traditional

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

(Danish plural: , singular: ) and created five regions. As part of this reform, 271 smaller

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

were merged into larger units, reducing the number of municipalities to 98. The reform dramatically diminished the power of regional governments while enhancing that of local governments and of the central government in Copenhagen. It was implemented on 1 January 2007. Unlike the former counties (1970–2006) (Danish ', literally 'county municipality'), the regions are not municipalities and are thus not allowed to have a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, only logotypes. The regions do not collect taxes and are financed primarily through

block grant A block grant is a grant-in-aid of a specified amount from a larger government to a smaller regional government body. Block grants have less oversight from the larger government and provide flexibility to each subsidiary government body in terms ...

s, they are unable to transfer money from one area of expenditure to another, and they must return any unused money to the central government.

Overview

The Capital Region of Denmark is one of five regions in Denmark and consists of the municipalities of

and

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, the former counties of

and Frederiksborg, and the regional municipality of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, 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. I ...

. It borders

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 ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

via the

Øresund Bridge The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined List of road–rail bridges, railway and motorway cable-stayed bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the second longest bridge in Europe and combines both roadway and r ...

. Denmark's largest lake,

Arresø Arresø () is the largest lake, by area, in Denmark. It covers 40,72 km2 (15.39 sq mi) and is situated on the island of Zealand 43 kilometers (27 miles) northwest of Copenhagen as the crow flies. Arresø is located in the northern parts of ...

, lies northwest of Copenhagen. The region contains several other lakes, the deepest in Denmark being Furesø, 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) northwest of Copenhagen, which is the namesake of the Furesø Municipality. Among several forests, the region also has the

Gribskov Gribskov (Grib Forest) is Denmark's fourth largest forest, comprising c. 5,600 ha of woodland situated in northern Zealand, west and south of Lake Esrum. The forest is owned and administered by Directorate of State Forestry (Denmark), the State of ...

forest, which is the namesake of the Gribskov Municipality. The Dyrehaven forest park is just north of Copenhagen (and east of Furesø) in Gentofte Municipality and Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality. Geologically, the region lies in the northern part of

, which is rising, or sinking the least, due to

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...

, turning former inlets and bays into lakes.

is one example, having extended northwest into

Kattegat The Kattegat (; ; ) is a sea area bounded by the peninsula of Jutland in the west, the Danish straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the Swedish provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Scania in Swede ...

. (The land is rising by 9 millimeters every year in , the northeastern part of Skellefteå Municipality, north of Kvarken.) Because of the mobility of the sand dunes, forests have been planted along the coast of

in the municipalities of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, and Halsnæs. For the purpose of a road and rail connection to

, land has been added to the island 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 ...

, which has a tunnel connecting it with the artificial island Peberholm just south of the island of Saltholm. The land area of east Denmark (east of the Great Belt) is approximately 9,622 km² (3,715 sq mi) and is set to increase due to housing projects in the north of

Copenhagen Municipality Copenhagen Municipality (), also known in English language, 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 three ...

, and also due to new bridges and tunnels being added, such as the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link and other traffic infrastructure projects. The Copenhagen-Ringsted Line (a high-speed train line) came into operation on 1 June 2019 to increase transport capacity and relieve congestion in

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

and the narrow 9-9.5 mile

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

between Roskilde Fjord and the bay of Køge Bugt. It does this by moving international and national train traffic to the new train line and only keeping local and regional traffic. The region's primary function and largest expenditure (which takes up around 90% of its budget) is owning and operating the hospitals and healthcare services of the region. In the east of Denmark, there is one traffic region covered by the public transport agency Movia, which is owned by the Capital Region of Denmark and

Region Zealand Region Zealand () is an Regions of Denmark, administrative region of Denmark. It is one of the five classified Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NUTS-2 statistical NUTS statistical regions of Denmark, regions of Denmark. It was es ...

, and operates in 45 of the 46 municipalities. Because of its remote location, Bornholm has its own traffic company, , also known as

BAT Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

. Likewise, in the east of Denmark, the two regions and 45 of the 46 municipalities make up one sole employment region, with Bornholm being its own employment region. Bornholm also performs other tasks that are normally performed by the regions in the rest of Denmark. The municipality of Bornholm is therefore called ''Bornholm Regional Municipality''. In some respects, the island forms a region of its own. As Denmark is a

unitary state A unitary state is a (Sovereign state, sovereign) State (polity), state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or ...

, its "capital region" is not a capital district, but one of several

regions of Denmark The five Regions of Denmark () were created as administrative entities at a level above the municipalities and below the central government in the public sector as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, when the 13 Counties of Denmark, countie ...

that happens to contain the national capital. The region does not include the Ertholmene archipelago which is situated to the northeast of Bornholm.

Economy

The

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) of the region was €122.2 billion in 2018, accounting for 40.6% of Denmark's economic output. GDP per capita, adjusted for purchasing power, was €50,000 or 166% of the EU average (excluding the United Kingdom) in the same year. GDP per person employed was 130% of the average. The Capital Region is the wealthiest region of Denmark.

Demographics

Region Hovedstaden population pyramid in 2023

The region is home to 1,910,395 people (as of 1 October 2023).

Hospitals

The Capital Region of Denmark also manages several hospitals: * Amager Hospital on the island of

* Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen * Bornholms Hospital on the island of

* Frederiksberg Hospital (closing in 2025, moving to Bispebjerg) in

* Gentofte Hospital in Gentofte * Glostrup Hospital in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Denmark, Danish town in Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the Western suburbs (Copenhagen), western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated populati ...

Herlev Hospital Herlev Hospital (former ) is a teaching hospital in Herlev, Denmark, close to Copenhagen. The building is tall and has 25 floors. It was famous for being Denmark's tallest building, but was surpassed in 2022 by Light House in Aarhus Aa ...

Herlev Herlev is a suburb about 11 km northwest of Copenhagen city centre, bordering Rødovre to the south, Ballerup to the west and Gladsaxe Municipality, Gladsaxe to the north. It is the site of the municipal council of Herlev Municipality, Denma ...

* Hvidovre Hospital in Hvidovre * Nordsjællands Hospital in Esbønderup,

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Denmark, Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden with a population of 17,583 (1 January 2025).

, Hillerød, Elsinore, and

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 proper ...

* Region Hovedstadens Psykiatri –

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

with many centers around the region * Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen * Sct. Hans Hospital in

Municipalities of the Capital Region

There are 29 municipalities in the Capital Region of Denmark. *

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The sub ...

* Allerød * Ballerup *

* Brøndby *

Dragør Dragør () is the main town of Dragør Municipality, (Denmark), which includes the village of Store Magleby. The city hall and seat of the municipal council lies on Kirkevej 7 (postal code 2791 Dragør) in Store Magleby, which has enough space ...

* Egedal * Fredensborg *

Frederikssund Frederikssund () is a Denmark, Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden with a population of 17,583 (1 January 2025).

* Furesø * Gentofte * Gladsaxe *

* Halsnæs *

* Hillerød *

* Høje-Taastrup * Hvidovre * Ishøj * Lyngby-Taarbæk * Rudersdal *

Rødovre Rødovre () is a town in eastern Denmark, seat of the Rødovre Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden. The town's population 1 January 2019 was 39,907, and in addition 145 persons had no fixed address, which made up a ...

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 S ...

* Vallensbæk

Regional council

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

Notes

References

External links

* {{Coord, 55, 56.39, N, 12, 18, E, region:DK_type:adm1st, display=title States and territories established in 2007 Regions of Denmark 2007 establishments in Denmark