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. The Municipality of Copenhagen constitutes the historical city centre and the majority of its landmarks. It is the most populous in the country with a population of 656,787 inhabitants (), and covers in area,. Copenhagen Municipality is located at the Zealand and Amager islands 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 largest population density of the municipalities of Denmark.
The municipal seat of government is the Copenhagen City Hall (), the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council. The Lord Mayor of Copenhagen is Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, since 1 January 2022. The relationship between Copenhagen Municipality and the wider city of Copenhagen is one of an administrative unit within a significantly larger city, cf. 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 centre 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 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 centre of the city, 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.