Øresund (
DanishDanish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
) or
Öresund (
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
), sometimes also known as
The Sound, is the
straitA strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for...
that separates the
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of
ScaniaScania is a geographical region on the southernmost tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, an occupied province in the Kingdom of Sweden, before 1658 a province in the Kingdom of Denmark and part of the historical lands of Denmark.To the north, it borders the provinces Halland, Småland and Blekinge,...
. Its width is just at the narrowest point between
ElsinoreHelsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,101 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...
, Denmark, and
HelsingborgHelsingborg Helsingborg Helsingborg ( is a locality and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 91,457 inhabitants in 2005. The population of Helsingborg city is increasing by around 1,700 people every year....
, Sweden.
Øresund is one of the three
Danish StraitsThe Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
that connects the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
to the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
via
KattegatThe Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by Jutland , and Scania, Halland and Bohuslän . The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Oresund and the Danish Straits...
,
SkagerrakThe Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
and the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
, and is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The
Öresund BridgeThe Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. It is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Öresund Region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of...
was inaugurated on July 1, 2000, by King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen
Margrethe II of DenmarkMargrethe II is the Queen of Denmark...
.
Øresund (
DanishDanish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
) or
Öresund (
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
), sometimes also known as
The Sound, is the
straitA strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for...
that separates the
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of
ScaniaScania is a geographical region on the southernmost tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, an occupied province in the Kingdom of Sweden, before 1658 a province in the Kingdom of Denmark and part of the historical lands of Denmark.To the north, it borders the provinces Halland, Småland and Blekinge,...
. Its width is just at the narrowest point between
ElsinoreHelsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,101 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...
, Denmark, and
HelsingborgHelsingborg Helsingborg Helsingborg ( is a locality and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 91,457 inhabitants in 2005. The population of Helsingborg city is increasing by around 1,700 people every year....
, Sweden.
Øresund is one of the three
Danish StraitsThe Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
that connects the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
to the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
via
KattegatThe Kattegat , or Kattegatt is a sea area bounded by Jutland , and Scania, Halland and Bohuslän . The Baltic Sea drains into the Kattegat through the Oresund and the Danish Straits...
,
SkagerrakThe Skagerrak is a strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area, which leads to the Baltic Sea.-Name:...
and the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
, and is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The
Öresund BridgeThe Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. It is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Öresund Region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of...
was inaugurated on July 1, 2000, by King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen
Margrethe II of DenmarkMargrethe II is the Queen of Denmark...
. Ferries run around the clock between
HelsingborgHelsingborg Helsingborg Helsingborg ( is a locality and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 91,457 inhabitants in 2005. The population of Helsingborg city is increasing by around 1,700 people every year....
, Sweden and Helsingør, Denmark.
History
Political control of Öresund has been an important issue in Danish and
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
history. Denmark maintained
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
control with the
coastThe coast is defined as where the land meets the sea. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
al fortress of Kronborg at
ElsinoreHelsingør is a city and the municipal seat of Helsingør municipality on the northeast coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Helsingør has a population of 46,101 including the southern suburbs of Snekkersten and Espergærde...
on the west side and
KärnanKärnan or Kernen , is a medieval tower in Helsingborg, Scania, in southern Sweden. It is the only part remaining of a larger Danish fortress which, along with the fortress Kronborg on the opposite of Øresund, controlled the entranceway to the Baltic Sea.The origins of the Helsingborg fortress is...
at
HelsingborgHelsingborg Helsingborg Helsingborg ( is a locality and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 91,457 inhabitants in 2005. The population of Helsingborg city is increasing by around 1,700 people every year....
on the east, until the eastern shore was ceded to Sweden in 1658. Both fortresses are located where the strait is just 4 kilometers wide.
In 1429 King
Eric of PomeraniaEric of Pomerania was King Eric III of Norway Norwegian Eirik, King Eric VII of Denmark , and King of Sweden known there mainly as Erik av Pommern...
introduced the
Sound DuesThe Sound Dues were a toll on the use of the Sound which constituted up to two thirds of Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centuries...
which remained in effect for more than four centuries, until 1857. Transitory dues on the use of waterways, roads, bridges and crossings were then an accepted way of taxing which could constitute a great part of a state's income. The Sound Dues remained the most important source of income for the Danish Crown for several centuries, thus making Danish kings relatively independent of Denmark's Privy Council and
aristocracyAristocracy is a form of government, in which a few of the most prominent citizens rule. This may be a hereditary elite, or it may be by a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, and lawyers to their number...
.
Notable islands
- Amager
Amager is a Danish island in the Øresund. The Danish capital, Copenhagen, is partly situated on Amager, which is connected to Zealand by five bridges.-History:...
- Saltholm
Saltholm is an island in the Øresund, the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden. It is located to the east of the Danish island of Amager in Tårnby municipality and lies just to the west of the sea border between Denmark and Sweden. It is 7 km long and 3 km wide, covering an area of...
- Ven (also spelled Hven)
- Peberholm
Peberholm is a small artificial island located in the Danish part of the Øresund. It forms part of Tårnby municipality. It was created as part of the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark with Sweden...
- an artificial islandAn artificial island is an island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means. They are created by expanding existing islets, construction on existing reefs, or amalgamating several natural islets into a bigger island....
- Middelgrundsfortet
Middelgrundsfortet is a sea fortress located in the Øresund between Copenhagen and Malmö. It was constructed 1890–94 as a part of Copenhagen's sea-fortifications, partly from material excavated from Frihavnen...
- an artificial islandAn artificial island is an island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means. They are created by expanding existing islets, construction on existing reefs, or amalgamating several natural islets into a bigger island....
- Flakfortet
Flakfortet is a sea fortress located on the artificially built island, Saltholmreb, in Øresund between Copenhagen and Malmö. The island and fort are simply known as Flakfortet, the name of the island, Saltholmreb, is seldom used....
- an artificial islandAn artificial island is an island that has been constructed by humans rather than formed by natural means. They are created by expanding existing islets, construction on existing reefs, or amalgamating several natural islets into a bigger island....
- Gråen - a semi artificial island outside port of Landskrona
See also
- Öresund Region
Øresund or Öresund Region is a transnational region in southern Scandinavia located by the shores of the Oresund strait and connected by the Öresund Bridge. The Danish part is constituted by the islands of Zealand, Lolland, Falster, Møn and Bornholm. The part on the eastern side of the sound is...
- Öresund Bridge
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined two-track rail and four-lane road bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. It is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe and connects the two metropolitan areas of the Öresund Region: the Danish capital of Copenhagen and the Swedish city of...
- Danish straits
The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
- Great Belt
The Great Belt is a strait between the main Danish islands of Zealand and Funen . Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was trafficked by the Great Belt ferries from the late 19th century until the islands were connected by the Great Belt Fixed Link in 1997–98.-Geography:The Great Belt is...
- Øresund station
Øresund Station is a station on the Copenhagen Metro located in the Sundbyøster district of Copenhagen. It opened on 28 September 2007.The station services the M2 line. It is located in fare zone 3.-External links:* *...
on the Copenhagen MetroCopenhagen Metro is a rapid transit serving Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Tårnby in Denmark. The system opened in 2002, and has two lines, M1 and M2, following the 2007 extension to Copenhagen Airport. The system is a driverless light metro that supplements the larger S-train rapid transit...
External links
- Øresunddirekt - Official public information site for the inhabitants of the Øresund region
- Øresund Trends - An official public information site with up-to-date information on the region, available in English
- Oresundstid - The History of the Oresund Region (English, Swedish, Danish)