The five regions of Denmark () were created as administrative entities at a level above the municipalities and below the central government in the public sector as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, when the 13 counties (amter) were abolished. At the same time, the number of municipalities (kommuner) was cut from 270 (from 271 in 2006) to 98. The reform was approved and made into a law by the lawmakers in the Folketing 26 June 2005 with elections to the 98 municipalities and 5 regions being held Tuesday 15 November 2005.
Each of the five regions is governed by a popularly elected regional council with 41 members, from whom the regional chairperson is chosen. This is 205 members in total. The number of regions will be reduced to four from 1 January 2027. The number of council members elected will change to between 25 and 47 in the 2025 Danish local elections for a total of 134 in the four regional councils that will then be elected.
The main responsibility of the regions is healthcare. Lesser powers of the regions include public transport, environmental planning, soil pollution management and some coordination of secondary education.
In contrast to the former counties (1970–2006), the regions do not have municipal powers. Regions cannot levy taxes, but are financed partly by block grants from the central government (until 2018 , i.e. health tax) and partly by taxes collected by their constituent municipalities. Regions cannot decide their budgets independently, but must use the block grant for the purposes that are specified by the central government. In other words, the regional powers were dramatically reduced in favor of the local level. As they are not municipalities, regions are not allowed to have coats of arms, but they do have modern logos.
The small archipelago of Ertholmene to the northeast of Bornholm is not part of any region or municipality. Its inhabitants do not pay municipal taxes, nor did they pay the central government's health care contribution tax (2007 until 2018) or the tax levied by counties prior to 2007.
The representative organisation Danske Regioner was set up on 23 March 2006. It is an advocacy and lobbying organisation speaking on behalf of all of the regions, including negotiating labour contracts, etc. The organization also maintains an office in Brussels (as did its predecessor, ). As a central representation of the Danish healthcare system, it has rather large, although unofficial, powers. Its equivalent before 2006 was Amtsrådsforeningen (ARF), the organisation of county representations, which had a comparatively greater power.
The government is currently working on merging the Zealand Region and Capital Region into one region named Eastern Denmark from 1 January 2027. The council in the merged region will have 47 members elected in the 2025 Danish local elections. They will meet in the present-day capital of Region Sjælland seat, the town of Sorø. The law setting up the new region has been approved by the lawmakers of the national parliament the Folketing, and signed by the head of state 20 June 2025. Law setting up new region Retrieved 24 June 2025
List of regions Population numbers in this table will not be updated. For 1 January population every year, see below Regions of Denmark#Population growth. Danish name(literal translation) Self-appellation in Englisha Seat of administration(largest city if different) Chairman Populationb(2022-01-01) Total areab(km2) Pop. density(per km2) Former counties (1970–2006) Region Hovedstaden("Capital City Region") Capital Region of Denmark Hillerød (Copenhagen) Lars Gaardhøj 1,867,948 2,546.3 733.59 Counties: Copenhagen, Frederiksborg; municipalities: Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Bornholm Region Midtjylland("Mid Jutland Region") Central Denmark Region Viborg (Aarhus) Anders Kühnau 1,341,857 13,000.2 103.21 Ringkjøbing, nearly all of Århus, the southern part of Viborg and the northern part of Vejle Region Nordjylland("North Jutland Region") North Denmark Region Aalborg Mads Duedahl 591,740 7,874 75.15 North Jutland, the northern part of Viborg County and a small part of Århus County Region Sjælland("Region Zealand") Region Zealand Sorø (Roskilde) Trine Birk Andersen 843,513 7,217.8 116.86 Roskilde, Storstrøm, and West Zealand Region Syddanmark("Region of Southern Denmark") Region of Southern Denmark Vejle (Odense) Bo Libergren 1,228,362 12,191 100.75 Funen, Ribe, South Jutland and the southern half of Vejle County Danmarkb("Denmark") N/A Copenhagen N/A 5,873,420 42,894.8 136.92 (Counties of Denmark) a The regions themselves use English names that are not necessarily a verbatim rendering of the Danish name. b Area and population figures do not add up. Land area: 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi). Inland water area: 500 to 700 km2 (193 – 270 sq mi). Ertholmene included in totals. Statistikbanken.dk/FOLK1A+FOLK1AM (monthly population numbers).
Names in English Like their geographical areas, the names of several regions are neologisms. The term Syddanmark (Southern Denmark) was known before the reform, but not in the present meaning. It was sometimes used to refer to Denmark proper as opposed to the North Atlantic parts of the Danish Realm, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The term Midtjylland was, and in common use still is, used to describe the interior centre of Jutland, but never the coastal areas of the peninsula (West Jutland and East Jutland).
The Regions of North Jutland and Central Jutland have chosen to market themselves internationally under the names of North Denmark Region and Central Denmark Region, respectively, although in Denmark these geographical terms have no traditional use and may be confusing.
The government most often uses the Danish names in English-language publicationsE.g. [Statistics Denmark] in the Statistical Yearbook 2009, page 32 or directly translated English names (e.g. Greater Copenhagen, Zealand, North Jutland, Southern Denmark, Central Jutland).English names of state administrations
Strictly speaking, there is no authority defining the correct English names since the official names are stipulated in a law existing only in a Danish version.
Population growth + Total population and population growth of regionsYearRegionHovedstadenRegionSjællandRegionSyddanmarkRegionMidtjyllandRegionNordjyllandPopulationGrowthPopulationGrowthPopulationGrowthPopulationGrowthPopulationGrowth 20061,633,5653,184811,5114,6071,185,8513,9661,219,7257,703576,807165 20071,636,7499,076816,1183,3091,189,8174,8421,227,4289,613576,9721,867 20081,645,82516,460819,4271,8251,194,6595,0081,237,04110,691578,8391,676 20091,662,28517,986821,252−6881,199,6676101,247,7326,266580,515−887 20101,680,27119,116820,564−8011,200,2773791,253,9986,995579,628201 20111,699,38715,202819,763−1,8561,200,6566861,260,9935,689579,829167 20121,714,58917,479817,907−1,5481,201,342771,266,6825,828579,996276 20131,732,06817,337816,3593671,201,4191,0901,272,5105,028580,272785 20141,749,40518,720816,7263,7541,202,5093,2191,277,5385,212581,0571,575 20151,768,12521,049820,4807,0191,205,7286,0421,282,75010,559582,6322,867 20161,789,17418,230827,4995,0541,211,7705,4541,293,30910,944585,4991,836 20171,807,40415,255832,5532,4711,217,2243,5391,304,2539,343587,3351,813 20181,822,65912,903835,0241,7141,220,7632,5851,313,5967,082589,14860720191,835,56210,461836,7386211,223,348–2431,320,6785,662589,75518120201,846,0239,061837,3591,4811,223,1055291,326,3405,708589,93650320211,855,08412,864838,8404,6731,223,6344,7281,332,0489,809590,4391,30120221,867,94823,923843,5136,3441,228,3629,0511,341,85717,022591,7402,89420231,891,87119,196849,8573,0961,237,4139931,358,8796,809594,634-1,49920241,911,06719,726852,9531,9491,238,4062,0661,365,6888,111593,135-36720251,930,793854,9021,240,4721,373,799592,768 Note: Numbers for the year 2006 are pro forma to be a reference, an example, to compare (neighboring) regions and changes in population numbers when the economy was expanding, growing, as opposed to when it was contracting.Statistikbanken.dk/BEV107
Functions
Health sector, including hospitals, psychiatry and health insurance, general practitioners and specialists. Health insurance for basic dental care. Regional development concerning nature and the environment, private sector economy, tourism, employment, education, and culture, outlying areas and rural area development. Administrative assistance for private sector growth fora. Ground pollution surveillance and cleanup. Raw material mapping and planning. Permission for extraction, i.e. gravel pits. Social and educational institutions for people with special needs. Public transportation.
The most important area of responsibility for the new regions is the public health service, accounting for 90% of the regions' expenditure. They are also responsible for employment policies and public mass transit (buses and a few local railways). However, in eastern Denmark (Region Zealand and the Capital Region) the regions and 45 out of 46 municipalities share one employment region and transit is handled by a single transport agency, Movia.
Bornholm Regional Municipality because of its remote location in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and the westernmost part of Poland is its own employment region and is the sole owner of its own public mass transit agency, BAT, which was until the island's county was abolished on 1 January 2003. Bornholm also performs other tasks that are normally carried out by the regions in the rest of Denmark – thus the name Bornholm Regional Municipality: Bornholm in some respects forms a region by itself. From 1 January 2016 Ærø Municipality, created 1 January 2006 as part of the municipal reform, is responsible for public mass transit in the municipality. From 1 January 2018 Fanø Municipality will be the sole provider of public mass transit on the island of Fanø taking over the responsibilities from the Region of Southern Denmark.
Healthcare reforms and centralization The regions own all public hospitals in their areas and also control the primary care sector through contracts with general physicians (family doctors) and specialists. The name of the region is often used on hospitals' letterheads and on doctors' and nurses' white coats.
Four of the regions have a university hospital, corresponding with the four medical faculties of Denmark. The Region Zealand lacks a medical faculty but has in 2016 renamed its hospitals in Roskilde and Køge, close to Copenhagen, as university hospitals and will collaborate with the medical faculty of the University of Copenhagen. The administrative reform of 1 January 2007 was in many respects also a centralisation of the healthcare system. While the former counties controlled hospitals relatively independently, healthcare policy is now decided by the government, while regions administer it. Some local hospitals have been closed or downgraded. New, large and highly specialised hospitals have been built including Aarhus University Hospital and Psychiatric Hospital Slagelse. Projects during or awaiting construction are the new Aalborg University Hospital, Odense University Hospital, North Zealand Hospital at Hillerød serving the northern Copenhagen area, the regional Gødstrup Hospital and Aabenraa Hospital, and large extensions of the Zealand University Hospital in Køge, Herlev Hospital, Bispebjerg Hospital and Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen and the regional South Jutland Hospital in Sønderborg.