Copenhagen Municipality

Copenhagen Municipality
Københavns Kommune (Danish)
Municipality of Copenhagen
Copenhagen Skyline
Copenhagen Skyline
Flag of Copenhagen Municipality
Official seal of Copenhagen Municipality
Coat of arms of Copenhagen Municipality
Location of Copenhagen Municipality
Coordinates: 55°40′31″N 12°34′13″E / 55.67528°N 12.57028°E / 55.67528; 12.57028
CountryDenmark
RegionHovedstaden
SeatCopenhagen
Districts
Government
 • TypeCity council
 • BodyCopenhagen City Council
 • Lord MayorSophie Hæstorp Andersen (Social Democrats)
Area
 • Total
86.4 km2 (33.4 sq mi)
Population
 (1 January 2024)[3]
 • Total
659,350
 • Estimate 
(October 2016)
601,448[2]
 • Density7,600/km2 (20,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
1000-2500
Municipal code101
Websitewww.kk.dk Edit this at Wikidata

Copenhagen Municipality (Danish: 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 (Byen København), the other three being Dragør, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby.[4] The Municipality of Copenhagen constitutes the historical city centre and the majority of its landmarks. It is the most populous in the country with a population of 659,350 inhabitants (as of January 2024), and covers 86.4 square kilometres (33.4 sq mi) in area,.[1] Copenhagen Municipality is located at the Zealand and Amager islands and totally surrounds Frederiksberg Municipality on all sides. The strait of Øresund lies to the east. The city of Copenhagen has grown far beyond the municipal boundaries from 1901, when Frederiksberg Municipality was made an enclave within Copenhagen Municipality. Frederiksberg has the largest population density of the municipalities of Denmark.[5]

The municipal seat of government is the Copenhagen City Hall (Danish: Københavns Rådhus), the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council. The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen is Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, since 1 January 2022. The relationship between Copenhagen Municipality and the wider city of Copenhagen is one of an administrative unit within a significantly larger city, cf. the City of London or the City of Brussels.

In the Middle Ages, Copenhagen was defined as the area enclosed within the city walls. The city centre lies in the area originally defined by the old ramparts, which are still referred to as the Fortification Ring (Fæstningsringen) and kept as a partial green band around it. In 1856 the ramparts were pulled down allowing for growth and expansion. In 1901 the city expanded to include Amager and Valby, while Frederiksberg became an enclave within the municipality. The Finger Plan in the second half of the 20th century led to expansion outside the municipal boundary along the commuter lines of the S-train and the Lokaltog rail lines going to i.e. Helsingør (The Coast Line (Kystbanen) northbound) and Stevns Municipality (East Line (from Køge southbound) along the Øresund. The Copenhagen-Ringsted Line makes Køge one of the railway hubs of Eastern Denmark. Road and rail construction is planned to relieve traffic congestion because the narrow 14.5–15.3-kilometre (9–9.5 mi) isthmus between Roskilde Fjord and Køge Bugt (Køge Bay) forms a bottleneck.

Copenhagen Municipality was one of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a county, the others being Frederiksberg Municipality and (from 2003) Bornholm. On 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its county privileges and became part of the Capital Region of Denmark.

  1. ^ a b "ARE207: Area by region". Statbank.dk. Statistics Denmark. January 2016. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Population at the first day of the quarter by municipality, sex, age, marital status, ancestry, country of origin and citizenship". statbank.dk. Statistics Denmark. 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  3. ^ FOLK1: Population 24 February 2016 database from Statistics Denmark (in Danish)
  4. ^ "Regioner, landsdele og kommuner. v 1.0: 2007-". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 11 March 2018. See also: Provinces of Denmark.
  5. ^ Danish National Archive at [1] the last annexations (Danish: "indlemmelser") were Brønshøj (1.January.1901) followed by Valby and Sundby (1.January.1902), see smaller headline "Bemærkninger"