Copenhagen

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kalibuddz (talk | contribs) at 19:10, 29 September 2007 (→‎Boroughs and Areas). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Copenhagen (disambiguation).
København
City coat of arms


Location in Denmark

Area
 - Municipal 88.25 km²
 - Capital region(less Bornh.) 1973 km²
 - Capital region+East Zealand 2673 km²
Population (2007-01-01)
 - Municipal 503,699
 - Urban area 1,084,885
 - Capital region(less Bornh.) 1,593,709
 - Capital region+East Zealand 1,825,814
 - Density (city/met/region/region+) 5707/1947/807/683/km²
Additional information
Time zone Central European: UTC+1
Latitude
Longitude 		55°43' N
12°34' E

Copenhagen (IPA: [kəʊpənˈheɪgən] or [kəʊpənˈhɑˑgən]; Danish: Københavnⓘ IPA: [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn, kʰømːˈhɑʊ̯ˀn]) is the capital of Denmark and the country's largest city. Copenhagen is the seat of the national parliament, the government, and the monarchy.

With the building of the Oresund bridge, Copenhagen could be said to form a single metropolitan area together with the Swedish city of Malmö. This metropolitan area is situated in Øresundsregionen.

In 2007, the magazine Monocle listed Copenhagen as 2nd in their Top 20 Most Liveable Cities Chart[1].

The original designation for the city, from which the contemporary Danish name is derived, was Kjøbmandehavn, "merchants' harbor". The English name for the city is derived from its Low German name, Kopenhagen. The element hafnium is named after the city's Latin name, Hafnia[2].

Copenhagen municipalities

The city of Copenhagen is for historic reasons divided into several municipalities. The central and largest is Copenhagen municipality, the second largest is Frederiksberg municipality which is an enclave inside Copenhagen municipality. Both are contained in the larger Copenhagen Capital Region, which contains most of the Copenhagen metropolitan area.

There is no official definition of what makes up the city of Copenhagen. Previously, the areas of Frederiksberg, Gentofte and Copenhagen municipalities have been used, but now most statistics use the urban area, which contains an additional 15 municipalities from the Copenhagen Capital Region.

Copenhagen and Frederiksberg were two of the three last Danish municipalities not belonging to a county. On 1 January 2007, the municipalities lost their county privileges and became part of Copenhagen Capital Region.

Nørrebro seen from "Søerne"

History

Main article: History of Copenhagen

From the Viking Age there was a fishing village by the name of "Havn" (harbour) at the site. From the middle of the 12th century it grew in importance after coming into the possession of the Bishop Absalon, who fortified it in 1167, the year traditionally marking the foundation of Copenhagen. The excellent harbour encouraged Copenhagen's growth until it became an important centre of commerce (hence its name - the first part of the word denoting commerce in Danish language). 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.

File:Copenhagen 1895.jpg
Copenhagen c. 1895

During 1658-59 it withstood a severe siege by the Swedes under Charles X and successfully repelled a major assault. 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 gain control of the Danish navy, 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 1850s 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. Before the opening, Copenhagen Center was inhabited by approximately 125,000 people, peaking in the census of 1870 (140,000); today the figure is around 25,000. In 1901, Copenhagen expanded further, incorporating communities with 40,000 people, and in the process making Frederiksberg an enclave within Copenhagen.

During World War II, Copenhagen was occupied by German troops along with the rest of the country from 9 April 1940 until 4 May 1945. In August 1943, when the government's collaboration with the occupation forces collapsed, several ships were 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 commuter trainlines to surrounding towns and suburbs.

Kongens Nytorv in the wintertime

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. [neutrality is disputed] Train passengers, however, are plentiful and increasing in numbers. [citation needed] 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. [citation needed]

Nyhavn

Location

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.

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

Boroughs and Areas

Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro [3] (pic: City center seen from Vesterbro), Valby, Kongens Enghave (King's Meadow Garden), also known as Sydhavnen (meaning South Harbour), Christianshavn, Christiania, Sundbyvester (Sundby West), Sundbyøster (Sundby East), Ørestad, Islands Brygge, Bellahøj [4] (pic: Bellahøj projects), Brønshøj, Ryparken [5] (pic: Ryparken), Bispebjerg, Vigerslev, Vestamager, Vanløse.

The term bro in the names Østerbro, Nørrebro, and Vesterbro should not be confused with the Danish word for bridge, which is also 'bro'. The term is thought to be an abbreviation or short form of the Danish word brolagt meaning paved referring to the roads paved with cobblestones leading to the city's former gates - Østerport, Nørreport, and Vesterport - around which these boroughs grew. Thus the names could roughly be translated as Eastern, Western, and Northern Paved (Road), respectively.

Incidentally, today the names Østerport, Nørreport, and Vesterport all refer to train stations located in or at the borders of the three boroughs.

Outer suburbs

Northern suburbs: Lyngby, Klampenborg, Søllerød, Brede, Gentofte, Charlottenlund, Virum, Sorgenfri, Nærum, Vedbæk, Tårbæk, Skodsborg, Holte and Birkerød. Some of these suburbs are spoken of as "The Whiskey Belt" because most families have a high income. Especially along the Strandvejen (Beach Road), where mostly owners of private enterprises live.

North-Western suburbs: Værløse, Farum, Bagsværd [6] (pic: Central Bagsværd), Buddinge, Tingbjerg, Mørkhøj, Søborg, Vangede, Gladsaxe, Høje-Gladsaxe (Gladsaxe Heights) [7] (pic: Gladsaxe Heights) and Hareskovby. These suburbs are mostly middle-class suburban. Mostly covered by single-family houses and in some areas housing projects. These suburbs are typically sleepy-towns with not much cultural life and mostly all shops closing at 8pm. Some of the areas have 65% or more percent of immigrants, while other areas, only have 5-6% immigrants or people with foreign-background.

Western suburbs: Herlev, Ballerup, Skovlunde, Islev, Måløv, Rødovre, Hvidovre, Glostrup, Brøndby, Hvessinge, Albertslund, Taastrup and Høje-Taastrup (Taastrup Heights), Hedehusene. Most of these suburbs have many industrial zones and low income shops along the main roads, especially along Roskildevej. The suburbs' inhabitants live in either single-family houses and high-rise housing projects as in Brøndby and in Høje-Taastrup which also houses a high number of immigrants. In Albertslund you find Denmark's largest concrete low-rise housing project.

South-Western suburbs: Avedøre, Åmarken, Brøndby Strand, Vallensbæk, Ishøj, Hundige, Greve, Karlslunde, Solrød, Jersie and Køge. The suburbs closest to Copenhagen City are dominated by large housing projects/concrete suburb. This is mostly low-income areas. In the suburbs more far away, has mainly single-family houses. The south-western suburbs to Copenhagen has a sizeable number of immigrants and people born by immigrant parents.

Amager Island suburbs: Kastrup, Tårnby and Dragør. Dragør can be counted as a suburb because of the near distance to Copenhagen. But most people living in Dragør feel there are far from the people in Copenhagen because of lifestyle. Dragør also houses a lot of old houses, that makes Dragør look like a village town. Kastrup is the most "visited" suburb of Copenhagen simply because The Copenhagen Airport resides here, most of the houses in Kastrup is primarily single-family houses and low-rise. Tårnby has one small housing project and in the southern part of the suburb, is the names of the road named after African countries.

Population

Since the exact city-limits of Copenhagen are poorly defined, the population numbers are somewhat abstract. Statistics Denmark uses a measure of the contiguously built-up urban area of Copenhagen, this means the number of communities included in this statistical abstract has changed several times, in the abstracts latest edition with slightly fewer than 1.1 million (1,084,885(2006)) inhabitants. Statistics Denmark has never stated the geographical area of urban Copenhagen, surely because of the changes, and after 2006 the information is hard to come by. However we know it consists of Copenhagen Municipality, Frederiksberg and 16 of the 20 municipalities in the old Copenhagen County, though 3 of them only partially[3].

From 1 January 2007 the population of the 33 municipalities closest to and including the municipality of Copenhagen is 1,825,814 .[4] Land area: 2,673 km² (1,032 sq mi).(Copenhagen Region - Bornholm + East Zealand). Water area: 105 km² (40.5 sq mi).[5] Thus, the region comprises 6.3% of the land area of Denmark, but has 33.5% of Denmark's population. This gives a total of 683 inhabitants per km² or 1,769 per square mile for the region. This compares with a population density in the rest of the country of approximately 90 per km² or around 230 per square mile.

A high-ranking civil servant of the Interior Ministry, Henning Strøm, who was involved in (i.e. known as "the Father of") a past municipal reform, which took effect on 1 April 1970, said on television, broadcast in connection with the recent Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), that Copenhagen municipality would encompass an area with 1.5 million inhabitants, if the principles of the 1970 municipal reform were also applied on Copenhagen municipality.[6] In other words: in the rest of Denmark the city occupies only part of the municipality, but in Copenhagen the municipality of Copenhagen occupies only part of the city of Copenhagen.

Demography

Approximately 30% of all the children in the public schools of Copenhagen have a foreign background. Copenhagen now has a sizeable immigrant population which has slowly but steadily increased since the late 1960s when the first wave of immigrants arrived, then known as 'Guest workers'. Over the years others have joined them, especially refugees but also more foreign workers and students. [citation needed]

The foreigners and immigrants typically come from Western European countries such as neighbouring Sweden and Norway but also Great Britain, Eastern Europe (mostly Poland, Latvia and Lithuania), former Yugoslavia, the Middle East(esp. Turkey, Iraq, the West Bank/Gaza), Somalia, Pakistan and Vietnam. [citation needed]

Recreation and Culture

General situation

Copenhagen has been ranked as one of the world's best cities to live in, despite the high cost of living. Accommodation is quite affordable for the average person compared to London and Paris. [7]

Strøget, a three kilometre long 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.

Sexual equality is a high priority in Denmark. Women encounter little or no discrimination in Copenhagen, sexual harassment is rare compared to other Western capital cities, and crime against women is low. [citation needed]


Music and entertainment

The Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which takes place in summer, 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 live in Copenhagen during the 1960s.

For free entertainment one can 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.

Sports

Copenhagen has a wide variety of sport teams. Denmark's two leading football teams, Brøndby IF and FC København, are based in Copenhagen and its suburbs. FC København play at Parken in Østerbro, Copenhagen. Brøndby IF play at Brøndby Stadion outside of the municipality of Copenhagen.

Notable Copenhagen teams playing at the second highest level in Danish football (the Danish 1st Division) include AB, HIK, Frem, Brønshøj, Fremad Amager 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. Both of the handballteams are owned by FC København and have the same name and logo. They were formerly known as FIF.

Rugby is also played in the Danish capital with teams such as CSR-Nanok, Copenhagen Scrum, Exiles, Froggies and Rugbyklubben Speed.

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.

Copenhagen is also home to three prominent paintball teams, the Copenhagen Ducks, The Ugly Ducklings and the Copenhagen Berserks. Because of paintball's relative popularity in Scandinavia, these teams are well-known throughout the globe, despite Denmark's small size. [neutrality is disputed]

The second World Outgames will take place in Copenhagen in 2009, after Berlin refused to stage them due to the continuing rivalry between the two gay sporting organisations. [citation needed]

Cuisine

Copenhagen offers a great variety of fine restaurants and it is possible to find modest eateries with open sandwiches (called "smørrebrød"), which is the traditional and most known dish. Most restaurants, though, serve international dishes.

Also, Copenhagen is known for the hot dog stands found throughout the city. The city is also home to many fine bakeries and pastry shops. [citation needed]

The city boasts an impressive 10 Michelin star restaurants. Restaurant Noma (Nordisk Madhus) has currently been voted the 15th best restaurant in the world, and recently it received another Michelin star in addition with the one it already had received.[8]

Since the mid-eigthies, immigration from the Middle East, Turkey and Arabian countries has introduces fast food dishes like kebab and falafel, which have become as popular as more traditional Danish fast food. [citation needed]

Economy

Copenhagen is a center for business and science, not only in Denmark, but also in the Oresund Region and Scandinavia. Thus the Copenhagen Capital Region had both the highest GDP per capita and economic growth in the whole of Denmark in 2005[9]. In a survey of the world's richest cities in 2006, Copenhagen was ranked 9th, and along with the Norwegian capital Oslo the highest gross wages were paid in Copenhagen, but the high taxes mean that wages are reduced after mandatory deduction.[10] Furthermore, Copenhagen has in several surveys been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the World[11][12]. Copenhagen is an attractive city for business running, and several international companies have established their regional headquarters in Copenhagen. A substantial amount of pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Bavarian Nordic etc. are also operating in the area, having placed their very headquarters in Copenhagen.[13]

Infrastructure

Roads and Motorways

The Harbour of Copenhagen

The habour of Copenhagen, also known as Copenhagen Port has several functions but it's capacity is today mainly as being one of the leading cruise destination in the world.

Cruise Copenhagen Network was established in 1992 as a partnership between the Port of Copenhagen, the City of Copenhagen and 45 professional suppliers, in order to strengthen and develop Copenhagen as the most successful home port for cruises in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea. The trade magazine, Dream World Cruise Destinations, recently asked the cruise lines that voted Copenhagen no. 1 in several categories:

Most Responsive Port: The port with a cruise team that responds quickly to requests for information and finds solutions to the challenges and demands of the cruise lines.

Best Destination Experience - Independent Sightseeing: Destination where the quality of the experience derives from passengers making their own arrangements for their time ashore.

World Travel Awards has several years in a row awarded Copenhagen Port as the number one cruise destination in Europe as well as the best port in the world (www.worldtravelawards.com).

Airports

Copenhagen has two nearby airports, Kastrup (the large international airport) and Roskilde Lufthavn (the small international airport). Kastrup, also known as Copenhagen Airport (CPH) is one of Europe's largest and most modern airports and has four times won the prestigious award as being "The best airport in Europe" and two times as "The best airport in the world". Roskilde Lufthavn is suited west of Copenhagen and is mostly used for National and low fare airlines.

Public transport

File:Trains in Copenhagen.jpg
Trains in Copenhagen outside the Carlsberg building

The public transportation system of Copenhagen consists of commuter trains (called "S-Trains" (S-tog)), buses, and a 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.

Tickets are transferable from one means of transport to another (e.g. from bus to train) as long as the time limit is not exceeded. Most of the former Copenhagen region, 33 municipalities (see above (Population)), is divided into ninety-five zones[citation needed], which determine the cost of a ticket. The more zones a ticket is valid for, the longer its time validity with a maximum of two hours. A trip of seven or more zones costs a base rate.

Discount cards, known as punch cards (klippekort), as well as period cards are available. Ticket prices are high and have increased substantially in recent years leading to a decrease in passenger numbers.[citation needed] In fact, the percentage of trips made on public transportation in Copenhagen is quite low by northern European standards.[citation needed]

An extensive road system is also in place, 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 traffic lanes and sometimes have their own signal systems. Copenhagen is known as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world,[14] and is a center of bicycle culture.

All S-Train and other Danish train schedules can be found at www.dsb.dk metro information at www.m.dk

Bus schedules and routes- www.movia.dk

Directions, route planners, fares, maps, etc about getting around in Copenhagen at www.rejseplanen.dk

File:Christiansborg Slot1.jpg
Christiansborg Palace - home of the Danish Parliament Folketinget, the Supreme Court, Office of the Prime Minister and official reception area of Queen Margrethe II
Børsen - the former Stock Exchange building
The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor
Amalienborg Palace - home of the Danish royal family. The central building is the domed Marble Church located behind the palace complex

Places of note in or near Copenhagen


Notable natives

References

Notes

  1. ^ Monocles page on Copenhagen
  2. ^ Biography of George de Hevesy
  3. ^ http://www.statistikbanken.dk Table BEF1A(Population and elections)
  4. ^ [1](p.8)Population
  5. ^ Orientering fra Københavns Kommune.Statistisk Kontor.2003 nr. 25
  6. ^ DR netnews 25-06-04
  7. ^ [2] Mercer: Copenhagen one of the world's best cities to live in
  8. ^ "Michelin starred restaurants Copenhagen - Official tourist-site about Copenhagen". Wonderful Copenhagen. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
  9. ^ http://www.dst.dk/Statistik/Nyt/emneopdelt/nytsingle.aspx?countid=8883&ci=true&pti=1
  10. ^ http://www.citymayors.com/economics/richest_cities.html
  11. ^ http://www.citymayors.com/economics/expensive_cities_eiu.html
  12. ^ http://www.citymayors.com/economics/expensive_cities2.html
  13. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/marketplace/ibi/copenhagen.htm
  14. ^ Template:PDFlink ICLEI "Cities Enjoy Bicycles" awards for bicycle-friendly cities, in which Copenhagen was awarded a certificate of honour

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to København.

55°40′30″N 12°34′7.32″E / 55.67500°N 12.5687000°E / 55.67500; 12.5687000

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Copenhagen&oldid=161165279"