The Capital Region of Denmark ( da, Region Hovedstaden, ) is the easternmost

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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 , establishe ...

. 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 Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was borne ...

, who is a member of the Social Democrats party of Denmark. The Capital Region was established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform. This reform abolished the traditional

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

(Danish plural: , singular: ) and created five regions. As part of this reform 271 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 reducing the number of municipalities to 98. The reform dramatically diminished the power of regional governments while enhancing that of local government and that 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 heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

, only

logotype A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordm ...

s. 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. This makes the regions more like departments or agencies of the central government. The main industries in the region are hospitals and healthcare. The Capital Region is not to be confused with the

Copenhagen Metropolitan Area The Copenhagen metropolitan area or Metropolitan Copenhagen ( da, Hovedstadsområdet, , literally "The Capital Area") is a large commuter belt (the area in which it is practical to commute to work) surrounding Copenhagen, the capital of Denmar ...

or the

Øresund Region The Øresund Region ( da, Øresundsregionen ; sv, Öresundsregionen ), also known as Greater Copenhagen for marketing purposes, is a metropolitan region that comprises eastern Denmark and Skåne in southern Sweden. Centred around the Øresun ...

Overview

The Capital Region of Denmark is one of five regions in

and consists of the municipalities of

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 ...

, the former counties of

and Frederiksborg, and the regional municipality of

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 ...

. The Danish name for this region is . It borders

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 th ...

and Sweden's

Skåne County Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kron ...

via the

Øresund Bridge The Öresund or Øresund Bridge ( da, Øresundsbroen ; sv, Öresundsbron ; hybrid name: ) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresund strait between Denmark and Sweden. It is the longest in Europe with both roadway and rai ...

. Denmark's largest lake (Danish ),

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 43 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Copenhagen. There are several other lakes, the deepest in Denmark being Furesø, 14.5 km (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 the State of Denmark, and a part of the Kongernes N ...

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

, which is rising because of

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 ...

, making lakes out of former inlets and bays.

is one example, having extended in a northwesterly direction as a part of Brødemose Sund into

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in S ...

. (The land is rising by 9 millimeters every year in , the northeastern part of

Skellefteå Municipality Skellefteå Municipality () is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Skellefteå. History Most of the amalgamations leading to the present municipality took place in 1967 when the then "City of Skell ...

, north of Kvarken.) Because of the mobility of the

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

, forests have been planted along the coast of

in the municipalities of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

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

, land has been added to the island of Amager, which has a tunnel connecting it with the artificial island

Peberholm Peberholm ( , sv, Pepparholm, links=no ()), is a small artificial island in the Danish part of the Øresund strait, created as part of the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark with Sweden. Peberholm lies approximately 1 km south of the small n ...

just south of the island of Saltholm. The land area of east Denmark (east of the

Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great Be ...

strait) is approximately 9,622 km² (3,715 sq mi), which is set to increase due to housing projects in the north of

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 othe ...

, and also due to new bridges and tunnels being added, including the

Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link The Fehmarn Belt fixed link ( da, Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, german: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, cross ...

and other traffic infrastructure projects. A new high-speed train line called the Copenhagen-Ringsted 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 51,916 (), 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 (; ; ) 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 counterpart of an isthm ...

between

Roskilde Fjord Roskilde Fjord is the fjord north of Roskilde, Denmark. It is a long branch of the Isefjord. Cities The cities Frederiksværk, Frederikssund, Jægerspris, Jyllinge and Roskilde (including Himmelev), (home to the famous Roskilde Festival ...

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 primary function and largest expenditure, which takes up around 90% of the budget of the Capital Region, is owning and operating the hospitals and health 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, and operates in 45 of the 46 municipalities. Because of its remote location, Bornholm has its own traffic company, , also known as BAT. 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 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 units). Such units exercise only th ...

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

regions of Denmark The five Regions of Denmark ( da, regioner) 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 ('' ...

that happens to contain the national capital. The region does not include the Ertholmene

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

which is situated to the northeast of Bornholm.

Economy

The

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, 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 subjec ...

(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 EU27 average in the same year. GDP per person employed was 130% of the EU27 average. The Capital Region is the wealthiest region in Denmark.

Hospitals

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

Bispebjerg Hospital Bispebjerg Hospital is one of the hospitals in the Capital Region of Denmark. Along with a number of other hospitals and the University of Copenhagen (the Faculty of Health Sciences), Bispebjerg Hospital forms part of the Copenhagen University Hos ...

in Copenhagen * Bornholms Hospital on the island of

Frederiksberg Hospital Frederiksberg Hospital is a medium-sized government-owned general hospital located in Frederiksberg, Denmark. It has 380 beds (2005) and an emergency department. The hospital is a teaching hospital for medical students from Copenhagen Univ ...

(closing in 2025, moving to Bispebjerg) in

* Gentofte Hospital in

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 fo ...

* Glostrup Hospital in

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 fr ...

* Herlev Hospital in

Herlev Herlev is a suburb about 9 km northwest of Copenhagen city centre. It is the site of the municipal council of Herlev Municipality, Denmark. Sports Herlev is the hometown of former Vancouver Canuck Jannik Hansen. Herlev is known for i ...

* Hvidovre Hospital in Hvidovre * Nordsjællands Hospital in Esbønderup, Frederikssund,

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)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 pro ...

* Region Hovedstadens Psykiatri –

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

with many centers around the region *

Rigshospitalet Rigshospitalet (meaning ''The National'', ''State'' or ''Hospital of the Realm'', but not usually translated) is the largest public and teaching hospital in Copenhagen and the most highly specialised hospital in Denmark. The hospital's main bu ...

in Copenhagen * Sct. Hans Hospital in

Municipalities of the Capital Region

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

* Albertslund * 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 * Furesø *

* Gladsaxe *

* Halsnæs *

Hillerød Hillerød () is a Danish town with a population of 35,357 (1 January 2022)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 pro ...

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

Rødovre Rødovre is a town in eastern Denmark, seat of the Rødovre Municipality, in the 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 total of 40,052 in the munic ...

* Tårnby * 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.

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