| Esbjerg Municipality | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Denmark |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Southern Denmark |
| Leader Title1: | Mayor |
| Leader Name1: | Jesper Frost Rasmussen |
| Seat: | Esbjerg |
| Seat Type: | Seat |
| Area Total Km2: | 742.5 |
| Population As Of: | 1. January 2024 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 115423 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | 1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | 2 |
Esbjerg Municipality (Danish: Esbjerg Kommune, in Danish pronounced as /ˈesˌpjɛɐ̯ˀ/) is a kommune in the Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Jesper Frost Rasmussen, from the Venstre (Center-Right Party) political party. By 1 January 2007, the old Esbjerg municipality was, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with the former Bramming and Ribe and a small part of Helle municipalities to form the new Esbjerg municipality. This municipality has an area of 741 km2 (286 sq. miles) and a total population of 115,423 (2024).
The main town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Esbjerg, the fifth largest city in Denmark.
Neighboring municipalities with land connection are Tønder to the south, Haderslev to the southeast, Vejen to the east, and Varde to the north. The neighboring municipality to the west is Fanø, an island municipality located in Fanø Bay (Fanø Bugt). Beyond the island of Fanø and Fanø Bay is the North Sea.
| 72,000 | ||
| 8,400 | ||
| 7,200 | ||
| 2,900 | ||
| Gørding | 1,700 | |
| Tarp | 1,700 | |
| Andrup | 1,300 | |
| Egebæk | 1,200 | |
| Gredstedbro | 1,100 |
Esbjerg Municipality has 13 railway stations, which forms a dense network, compared to other municipalities in Denmark, despite its many rural towns.
| 1 | Esbjerg | 753,060 | 32,736 | Bramming | |
| 2 | Bramming | 252,685 | 45,508 | Esbjerg | |
| 3 | Ribe | 127,894 | 15,135 | Esbjerg | |
| 4 | Spangsbjerg | 50,724 | 19,971 | Varde | |
| 5 | Jerne | 45,130 | 19,973 | ||
| 6 | Gjesing | 44,818 | 19,969 | Varde | |
| 7 | Hviding | 41,063 | 10,561 | Esbjerg | |
| 8 | Tjæreborg | 30,790 | 19,969 | Esbjerg | |
| 9 | Ribe Nørremark | 29,911 | 19,977 | Esbjerg | |
| 10 | Gredstedbro | 23,869 | 19,977 | Ribe | |
| 11 | Gørding | 21,731 | 14,336 | Esbjerg | |
| 12 | Guldager | 9,829 | 19,969 | Esbjerg | |
| 13 | Sejstrup | 8,861 | 19,977 | Esbjerg |
Esbjerg's municipal council consists of 31 members, elected every four years. The municipal council has seven political committees.[3]
Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.
| Election | Party | Total seats | Turnout | Elected mayor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 31 | 65.8% | Johnny Søtrup (V) | |||||
| 2009 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 61.3% | ||||||||
| 2013 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 68.9% | |||||||
| 2017 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 69.1% | Jesper Frost Rasmussen (V) | ||||
| 2021 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 64.2% | ||||||
| Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 | ||||||||||||||
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Denmark. Esbjerg is twinned with:[4]
Eskilstuna, Sweden
Fjarðabyggð, Iceland
Jyväskylä, Finland
Qeqqata, Greenland
Stavanger, Norway
Suzhou, China
Szczecin, Poland
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands