Discover COPENHAGEN

Copenhagen 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 completion of the transnational Oresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo are connected by a car/rail link and are in the process of integrating their respective labour markets, resulting in the number of commuters from both sides growing annually.

In 2007, the magazine Monocle listed Copenhagen second in their Top 20 Most Liveable Cities Chart. In addition, it has also been classified as a Gamma World City.

The original designation for the city, from which the contemporary Danish name is derived, was Kjobmandehavn, "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.

Copenhagen is located on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager. Copenhagen faces to the east the Oresund, 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 Malmo and Landskrona. Copenhagen is also a part of the Oresund region, which consists of the eastern part of Zealand in Denmark and the western part of Scania in Sweden.

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.

Stroget, 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.

Discover Denmark

MUNICIPALITIES OF COPENHAGEN

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.

Discover Denmark

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 Stroget, especially between Nytorv and Hojbro 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.

Discover Denmark

SPORTS

Copenhagen has a wide variety of sport teams. Denmark's leading football teams, FC Kobenhavn and Brondby IF, are based in Copenhagen. FC Kobenhavn plays at Parken in Osterbro, Copenhagen. Notable Copenhagen teams playing at the second highest level in Danish football (the Danish 1st Division) include AB, HIK, Frem, Bronshoj, Fremad Amager and Skjold. Copenhagen also has three ice hockey teams: Rodovre Mighty Bulls, Herlev Hornets and Nordsjaelland 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 Kobenhavn 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.

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.

Discover Denmark

CUISINE

Copenhagen offers a great variety of fine restaurants and it is possible to find modest eateries with open sandwiches (called "smorrebrod"), 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.

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 to the one it had already received.

Since the mid-eighties, immigration from the Middle East, Turkey and Arabian countries has introduced fast food dishes like kebab and falafel, which have become as popular as more traditional Danish fast food.

Discover Denmark

ECONOMY

Copenhagen is a center for business and science, not only in Denmark, but also in the Oresund Region and Scandinavia. In a 2006 survey of the richest cities in the world, 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.

Furthermore, Copenhagen has in several surveys been ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the World. Copenhagen is an attractive city for business running, and several international companies have established their regional headquarters in Copenhagen. A substantial number of Danish pharmaceuticals such as Novo Nordisk, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Bavarian Nordic also operates in the area, having placed their headquarters in or close to Copenhagen.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encycopedia

See Also for Denmark