List of islands of Denmark explained

This is a list of islands of Denmark.

Overview

There are around 1400 islands in Denmark, where about 409 of the islands are named, not including the Faroe Islands or Greenland.[1] Some 70 of them are populated while the rest are uninhabited. Some of the uninhabited islands have only become uninhabited in recent decades, for economic reasons, as lighthouses and other publicly run facilities either became automated, or relocated to main islands or Jutland peninsula. Others became uninhabited as living costs outpaced income for the often fewer than 10 locals.

Definition

Different lists of Danish islands vary, depending on how the word "island" is defined. According to the official Danish Government definition, an "island" needs to be surrounded by water at least one-half metre deep, and also to have land vegetation.[2]

Another common criterion is that an "island" needs to be surrounded by free-flowing, natural water and not just an artificial, narrow canal. According to this criterion, places such as Christianshavn and Holmen in Copenhagen, although sometimes referred to as artificial islands, are actually parts of the island of Amager.

Dynamic number

The number of islands in Denmark changes from time to time. New islands are occasionally formed by sedimentation. Several examples of these new islands are found in the waters around Æbelø, north of Funen, including Drætlingen which formed in the late 1990s, and a still unnamed islet that was registered in 2008. These new islands are generally less stable than larger, morainic islands, and may later disappear again. Other islands are created artificially. Peberholm, formed in the process of construction of the Øresund Bridge, is a notable example. Other artificial Danish islands include a number of marine fortresses off Copenhagen, such as Middelgrundsfortet, Trekroner Fort and Flakfortet.

Islands may also disappear. An example of this is Jordsand, one of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. According to records from 1231, the island then had an area of about 2,000 hectares (8 square miles). After a series of severe storms during that century, its area decreased to around 41 hectares, and by 1763 to around 18 hectares. By December 1999, the European windstorm Cyclone Anatol had destroyed the last piece of the island and Jordsand had ceased to exist.[3]

In other cases, islands are absorbed by larger neighbouring masses of dry land, as a result of either natural sedimentation or artificial land reclamation in the channels separating them. Sometimes this means that an island becomes a cape or headland, or a peninsula as is the case of the former island of Reersø.

Denmark's second largest island, the North Jutlandic Island, was not always an island. A storm on 3 February 1825 penetrated the narrow land mass, Agger Tange, and thus separated Northern Jutland from the rest of Jutland. The area had earlier been an island, when a strait at Vust had been open prior to the 12th century.

List of 100 largest Danish islands

This is a list of the 100 largest islands of Denmark (press the symbol after the headings in the table to rearrange the list according to population size, location or alphabetically):

RankIsland's name data-sort-type="number" colspan=2Areadata-sort-type="number" rowspan=2Population[4]
(1 January 2013)		Location
km2sq mi
1 7031disp=tableNaNdisp=table 2,208,348 Baltic Sea / Kattegat / Øresund / Great Belt
2 North Jutlandic Island
(Vendsyssel-Thy) 		4685disp=tableNaNdisp=table 297 886 North Sea / Kattegat / Skagerrak / Limfjord
3 2985disp=tableNaNdisp=table 456,128 Great Belt / Little Belt / Kattegat / South Funen Archipelago
4 1243disp=tableNaNdisp=table 62,578 Baltic Sea / Smålandsfarvandet / Storstrømmen
5 588disp=tableNaNdisp=table 40,715 Baltic Sea
6 514disp=tableNaNdisp=table 42,544 Baltic Sea / Storstrømmen
7 368disp=tableNaNdisp=table 21,163 Limfjord
8 321disp=tableNaNdisp=table 50,682
9 284disp=tableNaNdisp=table 12,644 Great Belt
10 218disp=tableNaNdisp=table 9,580 Baltic Sea
11 129disp=tableNaNdisp=table 618 Wadden Sea, North Sea
12 112disp=tableNaNdisp=table 3,806 Kattegat
13 101disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1,839 Kattegat
14 95.3disp=tableNaNdisp=table 180,657 Øresund
15 88disp=tableNaNdisp=table 6,516 South Funen Archipelago
16 70disp=tableNaNdisp=table 6,174 South Funen Archipelago
17 56disp=tableNaNdisp=table 3,237 Wadden Sea, North Sea
18 22disp=tableNaNdisp=table 826 Limfjorden
19 22disp=tableNaNdisp=table 169 Kattegat
20 16disp=tableNaNdisp=table 464 Smålandsfarvandet
21 16disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1 Øresund
22 15disp=tableNaNdisp=table 846 Isefjorden
23 13.1disp=tableNaNdisp=table 176 Kattegat
24 13disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1,108 Storstrømmen
25 12.4disp=tableNaNdisp=table 348 Kattegat
26 11disp=tableNaNdisp=table 123 Smålandsfarvandet
27 7.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table 464 Limfjord
28 7.6disp=tableNaNdisp=table 41 Wadden Sea, North Sea
29 7.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 3,595 South Funen Archipelago
30 7.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 147 Horsens Fjord
31 7disp=tableNaNdisp=table 181 Great Belt
32 6.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 190 Limfjord
33 6.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table 27
34 6disp=tableNaNdisp=table 101 South Funen Archipelago
35 6disp=tableNaNdisp=table 48 Limfjord
36 5.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table 114 South Funen Archipelago
37 5.7disp=tableNaNdisp=table 157 Little Belt
38 5.6disp=tableNaNdisp=table 51
39 5.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 31 Great Belt
40 4.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table 202 South Funen Archipelago
41 4.8disp=tableNaNdisp=table 41 Baltic Sea
42 4.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 154 Great Belt
43 4.3disp=tableNaNdisp=table 64 South Funen Archipelago
44 3.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table 2 Little Belt
45 3.8disp=tableNaNdisp=table 26 Limfjord
46 3.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 109 Kattegat
47 3.4disp=tableNaNdisp=table 332 Smålandsfarvandet
48 3.3disp=tableNaNdisp=table 9 Limfjord
49 3.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table 104 Kattegat
50 2.82disp=tableNaNdisp=table 37 Smålandsfarvandet
51 2.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat
52 2.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 22 Little Belt
53 2.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table 18 Kattegat (Sejerøbugten)
54 2disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Little Belt
55 1.97disp=tableNaNdisp=table 33 South Funen Archipelago
56 1.73disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1 Storstrømmen
57 1.68disp=tableNaNdisp=table 129 Storstrømmen
58 1.57disp=tableNaNdisp=table 5 Storstrømmen
59 1.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table 32 South Funen Archipelago
60 1.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Great Belt
61 1.39disp=tableNaNdisp=table 6 Roskilde Fjord
62 1.34disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1 Smålandsfarvandet
63 1.32disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Odense Fjord
64 1.31disp=tableNaNdisp=table 15 South Funen Archipelago
65 1.3disp=tableNaNdisp=table 2 Storstrømmen
66 1.3disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Øresund
67 1.09disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Great Belt
68 1.06disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Smålandsfarvandet
69 1.04disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Nakskov Fjord
70 1disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Wadden Sea, North Sea
71 0.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table 8 South Funen Archipelago
72 0.93disp=tableNaNdisp=table 5 Storstrømmen
73 0.92disp=tableNaNdisp=table 11 South Funen Archipelago
74 0.9disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
75 0.86disp=tableNaNdisp=table 7 Storstrømmen
76 0.8disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Smålandsfarvandet
77 0.71disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat
78 0.7disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago
79 0.63disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat
80 0.6disp=tableNaNdisp=table 1 Horsens Fjord
81 0.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago
82 0.5disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
83 0.4disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Nissum Fjord
84 0.37disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Nakskov Fjord
85 0.34disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat / Great Belt
86 0.28disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat (off Bogense)
87 0.27disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago
88 0.25disp=tableNaNdisp=table 92 Baltic Sea
89 0.22disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Baltic Sea (Guldborgsund)
90 0.21disp=tableNaNdisp=table 14 Øresund
91 0.21disp=tableNaNdisp=table 4 Odense Fjord
92 0.21disp=tableNaNdisp=table 3 Kattegat
93 0.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
94 0.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Nakskov Fjord
95 0.2disp=tableNaNdisp=table - South Funen Archipelago
96 0.17disp=tableNaNdisp=table 13
97 0.17disp=tableNaNdisp=table 3 Kattegat
98 0.16disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Kattegat
99 0.14disp=tableNaNdisp=table - Julsø

Other populated islands

Areas sometimes referred to as islands

Other small unpopulated islands

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.forsvaret.dk/FKO/eng/Facts%20and%20Figures/Pages/default.aspx "Facts and Figures
  2. Web site: Hov - den der ø har jeg ikke set før. Politiken. 2010-07-30.
  3. . "Danmarksnationalparker.dk". Øer der kom og gik. Retrieved 20 June 2013
  4. http://statistikbanken.dk/statbank5a/default.asp?w=1024 "Danmarks Statistik."
  5. http://www.moen-atlas.dk/index.php?id=92 "Lindholm Forsøgsstation"

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