Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark

City seal
Location in Denmark
Area - City - Metropolitan	88 km² 626 km²
Population (2005-01-01) - City - Metropolitan - Density (city/met)	502,362 1,212,485 5700/km² / 1930/km²
Time zone	Central European: UTC+1
Latitude Longitude	55°43' N 12°34' E

Copenhagen ( Danish: København ( help· info)) is the capital of Denmark, and the name of the municipality ( Danish, kommune) in which it resides. With its population of 1,116,979 inhabitants it is the largest city in Denmark. It is also the name of a county in Denmark, Copenhagen County— but the city (municipality) is not a part of this county but rather is a semi- enclave of Copenhagen County. Frederiksberg is in turn an enclave of the city of Copenhagen, also not part of the County that surrounds both municipalities.

The contemporary Danish name for the city is a corruption of the original designation for the city, Kjøbmandehavn, (the silent 'j' was later dropped) a composite in Danish of kjøb ("to buy") + mand ("man") = "the men one buys from" or "merchants" and thus the "Merchants' Harbour"; København is pronounced [købm̩ˈhawˀn] ( audio clip ( help· info)) . The English word for the city is derived from its German name, Kopenhagen, but note that the 3rd syllable is more often pronounced "hay" in English, not "hah", i.e. [kəʊpn̩ˈhɛɪgn̩].

Copenhagen is home to the national parliament, government, and monarchy, which are all situated in the heart of the city.

Copenhagen municipality

Copenhagen is one of only three Danish municipalities which do not belong to any of the Counties of Denmark— the others are Frederiksberg and Bornholm.

The municipality covers an area of 88 km², and has a total population of 502,362 (2005). Lord Mayor of Copenhagen is Ritt Bjerregaard, a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne) political party, who is head of the Finance Committee. Other mayors are Martin Geertsen (Cultural and Recreational Committee), Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard (Education and Youth Committee), Mogens Lønborg (Health and Care Committee), Jakob Hougaard (Employment and Integration Committee), Klaus Bondam (Building and Environment Committee), and Mikkel Warming (Social Committee).

The seat of government is Copenhagen City Hall (Rådhus).

Neighboring municipalities are Gentofte, Gladsaxe and Herlev to the north, Rødovre and Hvidovre to the west, and Tårnby to the south. Frederiksberg is located as an enclave in the municipality, and is thus surrounded by Copenhagen.

Copenhagen municipality will not be merged with other municipalities by January 1, 2007 as the result of nationwide Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007).

History of Copenhagen

Copenhagen was founded around year 1000 by Sweyn I Forkbeard (Svend Tveskæg) and his son Canute the Great ( Knud den Store). It was only a fishing village by the name of "Havn" (harbour) until the middle of the 12th century when it grew in importance after coming into the possession of the Bishop Absalon, who fortified it in 1167. The excellent harbour encouraged Copenhagen's growth until it became an important centre of commerce (hence its name). It was repeatedly attacked by the Hanseatic League as the Germans took notice. In 1254, it received its charter as a city under Bishop Jakob Erlandsen.

During 1658- 59 it withstood a severe siege by the Swedes under Charles X. In 1801 a British fleet under Admiral Parker fought a major battle, the Battle of Copenhagen, with the Danish navy in Copenhagen harbour. It was during this battle Lord Nelson famously "put the telescope to the blind eye" in order not to see Admiral Parker's signal to cease fire. When a British expeditionary force bombarded Copenhagen in 1807, to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon, the city suffered great damage and hundreds of people were killed. The reason why the devastation was so great was that Copenhagen relied on an old defence-line rendered virtually useless by the increase in shooting range available to the British. But not until the 1850's were the ramparts of the city opened to allow new housing to be built around the lakes ("Søerne") which bordered the old defence system to the west. This dramatic increase of space was long overdue, not only because the old ramparts were out of date as a defence system, but also because of bad sanitation in the old city.

During World War II Copenhagen was occupied by German troops along with the rest of the country from 9th of April 1940 until 4th of May 1945. In August 1943, when the government's collaboration with the occupation forces collapsed, several ships where sunk in Copenhagen Harbour by the Royal Danish Navy to prevent them being used by the Germans. The city has grown greatly since the war, in the seventies using the so-called five-finger-plan of communter trainlines to surrounding towns and suburbs.

Since the summer 2000, the cities of Copenhagen and Malmö have been connected by a toll bridge/tunnel ( Øresund Bridge), which allows both rail and road passengers to cross. It was inaugurated in July 2000 by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. As a result, Copenhagen has become the centre of a larger metropolitan area which spans both nations. The construction of the bridge has led to a large number of changes to the public transportation system and the extensive redevelopment of Amager, south of the main city. The bridge has not yet been as widely used by motorists as was originally hoped, likely due to the high road tolls, allegedly slowing the planned integration of the region. Train passengers, however, are plentiful and increasing in numbers. The lack of a commonly acceptable currency throughout the area is another hindrance to the integration of the region, even though a growing number of shops, restaurants etc, if not usually encouraged, accept payment with either nation's currency in the other country.

Geography

Copenhagen is located on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand (Sjælland) and partly on the island of Amager. Copenhagen faces to the east the Øresund, the strait of water that separates Denmark from Sweden, and that connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea. On the Swedish side of the sound directly across from Copenhagen, lie the towns of Malmö and Landskrona.

1,116,979 people live in metropolitan Copenhagen (Storkøbenhavn). Of these 502,204 live in the Municipality of Copenhagen, 91,721 in the Municipality of Frederiksberg, 68,704 in the Municipality of Gentofte and another 454,350 in other nearby municipalities.

An even larger metropolitan region is known as the Danish Capital Region (Hovedstadsregionen), which consists of the municipalities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, and the counties of Copenhagen, Frederiksborg and Roskilde. The population of Hovedstadsregionen is 1,823,109.

Copenhagen is also a part of the Øresund region, which consists of the eastern part of Zealand in Denmark and the western part of Skåne in Sweden.

The city itself is divided into 15 administrative, statistical and tax districts (bydele):

• Indre By ("Copenhagen Center")
• Christianshavn
• Indre Østerbro ("Inner Østerbro")
• Ydre Østerbro ("Outer Østerbro")
• Indre Nørrebro ("Inner Nørrebro")
• Ydre Nørrebro ("Outer Nørrebro")
• Vesterbro
• Kongens Enghave
• Valby
• Vanløse
• Brønshøj-Husum
• Bispebjerg
• Sundbyøster
• Sundbyvester
• Vestamager

Culture

Danish newspapers rank Copenhagen as one of the world's best cities in which to live, despite the high cost of living.

Strøget, a pedestrian shopping street in central Copenhagen was inaugurated in 1961. Copenhagen's extensive pedestrian network has been developed over the last 40 years through the work of architect and professor Jan Gehl.

The Copenhagen Jazz Festival is a popular annual event that is the result of a significant jazz scene having existed for many years. It developed significantly when a number of American jazz musicians such as Ben Webster, Thad Jones, Richard Boone, Ernie Wilkins, Kenny Drew, Ed Thigpen, Bob Rockwell and others such as rock guitarist Link Wray came to Copenhagen beginning in the 1960s.

Sexual equality is a high priority in Denmark. Women should encounter little or no discrimination in Copenhagen, and sexual harassment is rare compared to other Western capital cities, as well as crime in general.

Copenhagen is a popular destination for homosexual travellers. It has an active gay community and a wide selection of nightlife options for those such as gay clubs for example the popular Pan Club Copenhagen. The more widely known homosexuality festival is the annual Copenhagen Pride (formerly the Mermaid Pride Parade), a big Mardi Gras-like bash that occurs on a Saturday in early August. As well as also Gay And Lesbian Film Festival Copenhagen held annually in late October. Danes are known to have a high degree of tolerance for "alternative" lifestyles of all sorts, and homosexuals receive equal rights to express themselves and are protected by the constitution from discrimination.

Copenhagen is a 24-hour party city. For free entertainment simply stroll along Strøget, especially between Nytorv and Højbro Plads, which in the late afternoon and evening is a bit like an impromptu three-ring circus with musicians, magicians, jugglers and other street performers.

Sport

Copenhagen has a wide variety of sport teams. Denmark's two leading football teams, Brøndby IF and FC København, are based in Copenhagen. In recent years, Brøndby IF has become the most successful team in Danish history, winning the Danish Championship 10 times and the Danish Cup 5 times since 1985. FC København has won the Danish Championship 4 times and the Danish Cup 3 times over the last 20 years. FC København's home ground is the Danish national stadium, Parken.

Notable Copenhagen teams playing at the second highest level in Danish football (the Danish 1st Division) include AB, HIK, Frem, Brønshøj and Skjold.

Copenhagen also has three ice hockey teams Rødovre Mighty Bulls, Herlev Hornets and Nordsjælland Cobras.

There is both a men's and a women's handball team, and both teams play in the highest league.

The Danish Australian Football League, based in Copenhagen is the largest Australian rules football competition outside of the English speaking world.

Copenhagen is also home to a number of Denmark's 40-odd cricket clubs. Although Denmark has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1966, the sport is not taught much in schools, and Danish cricket competes unfavourably with the much more widely-followed sport of football for players, facilities, media attention and spectators.

Cuisine

Copenhagen offers a great variety of fine restaurants and modest eateries with open sandwiches (called "smørrebrød") as the most known dish. Also, Copenhagen is known for the hotdog stands found throughout the city.

Lately, immigration from the Middle East and North Africa has made dishes like kebab and falafel as popular as more traditional Scandinavian fast food.

Transportation

Copenhagen has a public transportation system, consisting of commuter trains (called " S-Trains" (S-tog)), buses, and a new metro. The S-trains form the basis of the transportation network, stretching to most areas of metropolitan Copenhagen, with their main hub at Copenhagen Central Station (København H). Some regional trains supplement the S-train services with lines extending further such as to the Copenhagen Airport, Elsinore, and Malmö. The entire system is governed by the same overall authority and tickets are transferable from one mode to another. The region is divided up into 99 zones which govern the cost of a ticket. Travelling through two zones is less expensive than three, four, or more zones. A trip of seven or more zones costs a base rate. Ticket prices are high and have increased substantially in recent years leading to a decrease in passenger numbers. In fact the percentage of trips made on public transportation in Copenhagen is quite low by northern European standards.

An extensive road system is also in place for private automobiles, and the city's bicycle paths are extensive and well-used. The city provides public bicycles which can be found throughout the downtown area and used with a returnable deposit of 20 kroner. Bicycle paths are often separated from the main automobile lanes and have their own signal systems.

Places of note in or near Copenhagen

• Amalienborg Palace
• Assistens Cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård)
• Arken Museum of Modern Art
• Børsen The Stock Exchange
• The Copenhagen Opera House
• Bakken
• Christiania
• Christiansborg
• Copenhagen Zoo
• Danish National Gallery
• The Deer Park
• Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerød
• Gefion fountain
• Kastellet
• Kongens Have
• Kronborg Castle — Hamlet's castle in Elsinore (Helsingør)
• The Little Mermaid
• La Fontaine
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
• National Museum of Denmark
• Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
• Nyhavn
• Rosenborg Castle
• Roskilde Cathedral
• Rundetårn
• Strøget
• Tivoli Gardens

Famous Copenhageners

• Karen Blixen a.k.a. Isak Dinesen
• Niels Bohr
• Aage Bohr
• Tycho Brahe
• Georg Brandes
• Tove Ditlevsen
• August Bournonville
• Frederik Grundtvig
• Ludvig Holberg
• Iben Hjejle
• J. C. Jacobsen (founder of Carlsberg Brewery)
• Søren Kierkegaard
• Jakob Nielsen
• Ole Rømer
• Sandi Toksvig
• Jørn Utzon