Copenhagen Municipality (), 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 (), the other three being Dragør, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby. See also: Provinces of Denmark. The Municipality of Copenhagen constitutes the historic city center and the majority of its landmarks. It is the most populous in the country with a population of 673,575 inhabitants (), and covers . Copenhagen Municipality is located on the islands of Zealand and Amager, 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 highest population density of the municipalities of Denmark.Danish National Archive at the last annexations (Danish: "indlemmelser") were Brønshøj (1.January.1901) followed by Valby and Sundby (1.January.1902), see smaller headline "Bemærkninger"
The municipal seat of government is the Copenhagen City Hall (), the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council. The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen is Sisse Marie Welling, since 1 January 2026. The relationship between Copenhagen Municipality and the wider city of Copenhagen is one of an administrative unit within a significantly larger city, like 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 center lies in the area originally defined by the old ramparts, which are still referred to as the Fortification Ring () 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 () 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 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.
Geography
Copenhagen Municipality is a political division covering the central city (Indre By) and certain additional areas. It encloses Frederiksberg Municipality and stretches east to the waterfront. Neighboring municipalities are Gentofte, Gladsaxe and Herlev to the north, Rødovre and Hvidovre to the west, and Tårnby to the south.
The City Hall Square () is the old city center, from which an old shopping street leads northeast to Kongens Nytorv, which was laid out in the seventeenth century. Christiansborg Palace, which houses the Danish parliament, is located on the islet of Slotsholmen.
Districts The municipality is divided into ten administrative, statistical and tax districts ():
Official districts:
Indre By Østerbro Nørrebro Vesterbro/Kongens Enghave Valby Vanløse Brønshøj-Husum Bispebjerg Amager Øst Amager Vest
Other areas:
Slotsholmen Frederiksstaden Islands Brygge Holmen Christiania (Freetown) Carlsberg Sluseholmen Amagerbro Ørestad Nordhavnen Bellahøj Brønshøj Ryparken Vigerslev
The suffix -bro in the names Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro and Amagerbro 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.
Demography
In the table below, the two figures for 1 February 1901 are before and after the municipality annexed some nearby parishes. The apparent decline since the 1960s are due to the figures not including the suburban and urban areas – notably Frederiksberg – outside Copenhagen municipality. With the exception of 2005, which saw a decrease of more than 1,000 people, the population of the municipality has been increasing since 1992 after having decreased by 303,539 inhabitants (39.517%) from 1950 to 1992. Copenhagen County rose from 313,601 (7 November 1950) to 618,529 in 2006, adding 304,928 inhabitants. Roskilde County rose from 76,781 to 241,523 inhabitants (2006), and Frederiksborg County from 147,695 to 378,686 inhabitants (2006). Frederiksberg Municipality went from 118,993 inhabitants to around 85,000 in 1988, and 104,664 in 2023. Counties were abolished from 1 January 2007. Danmarks Statistik Retrieved 27 June 2023 DateYearPopulation 1450est. 4–5,000 1500est. 10,000 1650est. 30,000 1700est. 65,00015 January 1769 80,0001 July 1787 90,0321 February 1801 100,9751 February 1840 120,8191 February 1850 129,6951 February 1860 155,1431 February 1870 181,2911 February 1880 234,8501 February 1890 312,8591 February 1901 360,7871 February 1901 400,5751 February 1911 462,1611 February 1921 561,3445 November 1930 617,0695 November 1940 700,4657 November 1950 768,10526 September 1960 721,3819 November 1970 622,773YearPopulation 1971 625,671 1972 610,985 1973 595,751 1974 576,030 1975 562,405 1976 545,350 1977 529,154 1978 515,594 1979 505,974 1980 498,850 1981 493,771 1982 490,597 1983 486,593 1984 482,937 1985 478,615 1986 473,000 1987 469,706 1988 468,704 1989 467,850 1990 466,723 1991 464,773 1992 464,566YearPopulation 1993 466,129 1994 467,253 1995 471,300 1996 476,751 1997 483,658 1998 487,969 1999 491,082 2000 495,699 2001 499,148 2002 500,531 2003 501,285 2004 501,664 2005 502,362 2006 501,158 2007 503,699 2008 509,861 2009 518,574 2010 528,208 2011 539,542 2012 549,050 2013 559,440 2014 569,557 Note. The two population numbers given for 1901 are the municipality's population before annexation and following annexation of neighboring municipalities, which in the process made Frederiksberg municipality an enclave within the municipality of Copenhagen.
Politics and government
Copenhagen Municipality is distinct from the wider Copenhagen urban area. The seat of Copenhagen's municipal council is the Copenhagen City Hall (). The council is chaired by the Lord Mayor who oversees the civic duties of the fifty-five representatives of the council. The council usually meets every other week at 17:30 on a Thursday. They discuss a range of issues including business growth, economics, international cooperation and IT, urban planning, housing and construction, and young, old, and disabled peoples' issues, and healthcare, among others, with a central focus on making the city sustainable and meeting environmental and health targets.
All members of the council are elected every four years. In the municipal elections in November 2013 (see below), the Social Democrats remained in first place with 27.8% of the vote (down by 2.2% from 2009), while the Red-Green Alliance was in second place with 19.5%. In the 2021 elections, the Red-Green Alliance secured a higher vote total than the Social Democrats. This was the first time that a party other than the Social Democrats topped the ballot. The Social Democrats had claimed the office of mayor for more than 110 years, until it was finally won in 2025 by Sisse Marie Welling of the Green Left party.
The municipal government is divided into seven administrative departments: Employment and Integration, Culture and Leisure, Health and Care, Finance, Child and Youth, Social Services, and Technical and Environmental Administration. It has six political committees and a finance committee. The annual budget for the city is proposed in August and finalized in October and the annual report is published in May of every year. The accounting firm Deloitte is responsible for auditing the City of Copenhagen's accounts.
Lord mayors since 1938
All lord mayors of Copenhagen until 2025 have belonged to the Social Democratic party.
1938–1946: Viggo Christensen 1946–1956: Hans Peter Sørensen 1956–1962: Sigvard Munk 1962–1976: Urban Hansen 1976–1989: Egon Weidekamp 1989–2004: Jens Kramer Mikkelsen 2004–2005: Lars Engberg 2006–2009: Ritt Bjerregaard 2010–2020: Frank Jensen 2020–2021: Lars Weiss (acting) 2022–2024: Sophie Hæstorp Andersen 2024–2025: Lars Weiss (acting) 2026–: Sisse Marie Welling
Municipal council Copenhagen's municipal council consists of 55 members, elected every four years. Copenhagen's municipal council is by far the largest in Denmark, being the only municipal council with more than 31 seats.
Below are the municipal councils elected since 1909.
Election Party Totalseats Electedmayor19092051642191221416191327522551917306171921334162192531617119293541619333541511937375112Viggo Christensen (A)1943326151194627311112Hans Peter Sørensen (A)19502831266195432213161195829314153Sigvard Munk (A)196227215911Urban Hansen (A)196623215131119703151151111974223611771123197826181135153Egon Weidekamp (A)1981223817228219851819115211719892016213212242Jens Kramer Mikkelsen (A)1993183610118341997173518616720011654194115200521737386Ritt Bjerregaard (A)2009175413466Frank Jensen (A)201316636247112017155352351162021106816115152Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (A)2025867103213132Sisse Marie Welling (F) Election Totalseats Electedmayor PartyData from Valg.dk, Dst.dk and Sa.dk
Environmental Policy In 2009 the Copenhagen Municipal Council decided that Copenhagen will become the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. In 2012 the European Commission announced that Copenhagen would be the 2014 European Green Capital. See also List of cities and towns in Denmark
References
External links
Official website CPH International Service - Citizen service for expats and students in Copenhagen Eniro map with named municipalities Krak searchable/printable map