68 Facts About Copenhagen

Copenhagen is on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmo, Sweden, by the Øresund strait.

Originally a Viking fishing village established in the 10th century in the vicinity of what is Gammel Strand, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century.

Since the turn of the 21st century, Copenhagen has seen strong urban and cultural development, facilitated by investment in its institutions and infrastructure.

Copenhagen's economy has seen rapid developments in the service sector, especially through initiatives in information technology, pharmaceuticals and clean technology.

Since the completion of the Øresund Bridge, Copenhagen has become increasingly integrated with the Swedish province of Scania and its largest city, Malmo, forming the Øresund Region.

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The University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is the oldest university in Denmark.

Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world.

Copenhagen's name, reflects its origin as a harbour and a place of commerce.

Copenhagen's Swedish name is, a direct translation of the mutually intelligible Danish name.

Traditionally, Copenhagen's founding has been dated to Bishop Absalon's construction of a modest fortress on the little island of Slotsholmen in 1167 where Christiansborg Palace stands today.

Copenhagen's defences were reinforced with a series of towers along the city wall.

Copenhagen lost around 22, 000 of its population of 65, 000 to the plague in 1711.

Copenhagen famously disobeyed Parker's order to withdraw, destroying many of the Dano-Norwegian ships before a truce was agreed.

Copenhagen is often considered to be Nelson's hardest-fought battle, surpassing even the heavy fighting at Trafalgar.

The devastation was so great because Copenhagen relied on an old defence-line whose limited range could not reach the British ships and their longer-range artillery.

In Denmark 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.

On 8 May 1945 Copenhagen was officially liberated by British troops commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery who supervised the surrender of 30, 000 Germans situated around the capital.

Activity in the port of Copenhagen declined with the closure of the Holmen Naval Base.

Copenhagen Airport underwent considerable expansion, becoming a hub for the Nordic countries.

In December 2009 Copenhagen gained international prominence when it hosted the worldwide climate meeting COP15.

Copenhagen is part of the Øresund Region, which consists of Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Bornholm in Denmark and Scania in Sweden.

Copenhagen Municipality is by far the largest municipality, with the historic city at its core.

Neighbourhoods of Copenhagen include Slotsholmen, Frederiksstaden, Islands Brygge, Holmen, Christiania, Carlsberg, Sluseholmen, Sydhavn, Amagerbro, Ørestad, Nordhavnen, Bellahøj, Brønshøj, Ryparken, and Vigerslev.

Now known as the City Court of Copenhagen, it is the largest of the 24 city courts in Denmark with jurisdiction over the municipalities of Copenhagen, Dragør and Tarnby.

Copenhagen is recognised as one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world.

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Smart city operations in Copenhagen are maintained by Copenhagen Solutions Lab, the city's official smart-city development unit under the Technical and Environmental Administration.

Copenhagen is the most populous city in Denmark and one of the most populous in the Nordic countries.

For statistical purposes, Statistics Denmark considers the City of Copenhagen to consist of the Municipality of Copenhagen plus three adjacent municipalities: Dragør, Frederiksberg, and Tarnby.

Municipality of Copenhagen is by far the most populous in the country and one of the most populous Nordic municipalities with 644, 431 inhabitants.

Foreign migration to Copenhagen, rising over the last three decades, has contributed to increasing religious diversity; the Grand Mosque of Copenhagen, the first in Denmark, opened in 2014.

Copenhagen is the major economic and financial centre of Denmark.

Statistics for 2010 show that the vast majority of the 350, 000 workers in Copenhagen are employed in the service sector, especially transport and communications, trade, and finance, while less than 10, 000 work in the manufacturing industries.

Copenhagen is rich in companies and institutions with a focus on research and development within the field of biotechnology, and the Medicon Valley initiative aims to strengthen this position and to promote cooperation between companies and academia.

In Dansk Industri's 2013 survey of employment factors in the ninety-six municipalities of Denmark, Copenhagen came in first place for educational qualifications and for the development of private companies in recent years, but fell to 86th place in local companies' assessment of the employment climate.

Tourism is a major contributor to Copenhagen's economy, attracting visitors due to the city's harbour, cultural attractions and award-winning restaurants.

Since 2009, Copenhagen has been one of the fastest growing metropolitan destinations in Europe.

In 2019 Copenhagen was ranked first among Lonely Planet's top ten cities to visit.

In October 2021, Copenhagen was shortlisted for the European Commission's 2022 European Capital of Smart Tourism award along with Bordeaux, Dublin, Florence, Ljubljana, La Palma de Mallorca and Valencia.

Copenhagen has a multitude of districts, each with its distinctive character and representing its own period.

Sometimes referred to as "the City of Spires", Copenhagen is known for its horizontal skyline, broken only by the spires and towers of its churches and castles.

Copenhagen is recognised globally as an exemplar of best practice urban planning.

Copenhagen's spatial planning in this time frame was characterised by the separation of land uses: an approach which requires residents to travel by car to access facilities of different uses.

Copenhagen is a green city with many parks, both large and small.

Apart from being the national capital, Copenhagen serves as the cultural hub of Denmark and wider Scandinavia.

Copenhagen has a wide array of museums of international standing.

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Copenhagen has a significant jazz scene that has existed for many years.

Novels set in Copenhagen include Baby by Kirsten Thorup, The Copenhagen Connection (1982) by Barbara Mertz, Number the Stars (1989) by Lois Lowry, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (1992) and Borderliners (1993) by Peter Høeg, Music and Silence (1999) by Rose Tremain, The Danish Girl (2000) by David Ebershoff, and Sharpe's Prey (2001) by Bernard Cornwell.

Royal Library, belonging to the University of Copenhagen, is the largest library in the Nordic countries with an almost complete collection of all printed Danish books since 1482.

Copenhagen has a wide selection of art museums and galleries displaying both historic works and more modern contributions.

Copenhagen is believed to have invented the photomarathon photography competition, which has been held in the City each year since 1989.

Apart from the selection of upmarket restaurants, Copenhagen offers a great variety of Danish, ethnic and experimental restaurants.

Copenhagen has one of the highest number of restaurants and bars per capita in the world.

Copenhagen has several recurring community festivals, mainly in the summer.

Copenhagen Carnival has taken place every year since 1982 during the Whitsun Holiday in Fælledparken and around the city with the participation of 120 bands, 2, 000 dancers and 100, 000 spectators.

Copenhagen has several handball teams—a sport which is particularly popular in Denmark.

Copenhagen has ice hockey teams, of which three play in the top league, Rødovre Mighty Bulls, Herlev Eagles and Hvidovre Ligahockey all inner suburban clubs.

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

Copenhagen hosted the 2011 UCI Road World Championships in September 2011, taking advantage of its bicycle-friendly infrastructure.

Greater Copenhagen area has a very well established transportation infrastructure making it a hub in Northern Europe.

Copenhagen Airport, opened in 1925, is Scandinavia's largest airport, located in Kastrup on the island of Amager.

Copenhagen has an extensive road network including motorways connecting the city to other parts of Denmark and to Sweden over the Øresund Bridge.

Copenhagen is served by a daily ferry connection to Oslo in Norway.

In 2012, Copenhagen Harbour handled 372 cruise ships and 840, 000 passengers.

Copenhagen Metro expanded radically with the opening of the City Circle Line on 29 September 2019.

Copenhagen is cited by urban planners for its exemplary integration of public transport and urban development.

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In implementing its Finger Plan, Copenhagen is considered the world's first example of a transit metropolis, and areas around S-Train stations like Ballerup and Brøndby Strand are among the earliest examples of transit-oriented development.

Copenhagen has been rated as the most bicycle-friendly city in the world since 2015, with bicycles outnumbering its inhabitants.

Copenhagen is behind several international movie productions as well and founded the Dogme Movement.