List of islands of Denmark

File:Denmark islands.PNG

A map showing the Jutland Peninsula and most notable larger islands of Denmark.

This is a list of islands of Denmark, specifically those forming the Danish archipelago just off the European continent.

Overview

There are around 1400 islands in Denmark, where about 409 of the islands are named, not including the Faroe Islands or Greenland. 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.

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

File:Ohavet-airphoto.jpg

Drejø, Hjortø and Skarø seen from above

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.

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):

Rank	Island's name	Area		Population (1 January 2013)	Location
		km2	sq mi
1	Zealand		2,208,348	Baltic Sea / Kattegat / Øresund / Great Belt
2	North Jutlandic Island (Vendsyssel-Thy)		297 886	North Sea / Kattegat / Skagerrak / Limfjord
3	Funen		456,128	Great Belt / Little Belt / Kattegat / South Funen Archipelago
4	Lolland		62,578	Baltic Sea / Smålandsfarvandet / Storstrømmen
5	Bornholm		40,715	Baltic Sea
6	Falster		42,544	Baltic Sea / Storstrømmen
7	Mors		21,163	Limfjord
8	Als		50,682	Little Belt
9	Langeland		12,644	Great Belt
10	Møn		9,580	Baltic Sea
11	Rømø		618	Wadden Sea, North Sea
12	Samsø		3,806	Kattegat
13	Læsø		1,839	Kattegat
14	Amager		180,657	Øresund
15	Ærø		6,516	South Funen Archipelago
16	Tåsinge		6,174	South Funen Archipelago
17	Fanø		3,237	Wadden Sea, North Sea
18	Fur		826	Limfjorden
19	Anholt		169	Kattegat
20	Fejø		464	Smålandsfarvandet
21	Saltholm		1	Øresund
22	Orø		846	Isefjorden
23	Endelave		176	Kattegat
24	Bogø		1,108	Storstrømmen
25	Sejerø		348	Kattegat
26	Femø		123	Smålandsfarvandet
27	Jegindø		464	Limfjord
28	Mandø		41	Wadden Sea, North Sea
29	Thurø		3,595	South Funen Archipelago
30	Alrø		147	Horsens Fjord
31	Agersø		181	Great Belt
32	Venø		190	Limfjord
33	Bågø		27	Little Belt
34	Lyø		101	South Funen Archipelago
35	Egholm		48	Limfjord
36	Avernakø		114	South Funen Archipelago
37	Årø		157	Little Belt
38	Glænø		51	Smålandsfarvandet
39	Gavnø		31	Great Belt
40	Strynø		202	South Funen Archipelago
41	Nyord		41	Baltic Sea
42	Omø		154	Great Belt
43	Drejø		64	South Funen Archipelago
44	Fænø		2	Little Belt
45	Agerø		26	Limfjord
46	Tunø		109	Kattegat
47	Enø		332	Smålandsfarvandet
48	Livø		9	Limfjord
49	Hjarnø		104	Kattegat
50	Askø		37	Smålandsfarvandet
51	Æbelø		-	Kattegat
52	Barsø		22	Little Belt
53	Nekselø		18	Kattegat (Sejerøbugten)
54	Brandsø		-	Little Belt
55	Skarø		33	South Funen Archipelago
56	Tærø		1	Storstrømmen
57	Masnedø		129	Storstrømmen
58	Vejrø		5	Storstrømmen
59	Bjørnø		32	South Funen Archipelago
60	Sprogø		-	Great Belt
61	Eskilsø		6	Roskilde Fjord
62	Dybsø		1	Smålandsfarvandet
63	Vigelsø		-	Odense Fjord
64	Siø		15	South Funen Archipelago
65	Langø		2	Storstrømmen
66	Peberholm		-	Øresund
67	Romsø		-	Great Belt
68	Skalø		-	Smålandsfarvandet
69	Enehøje		-	Nakskov Fjord
70	Langli		-	Wadden Sea, North Sea
71	Hjortø		8	South Funen Archipelago
72	Farø		5	Storstrømmen
73	Birkholm		11	South Funen Archipelago
74	Illumø		-	South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
75	Lilleø		7	Storstrømmen
76	Rågø		-	Smålandsfarvandet
77	Hesselø		-	Kattegat
78	Store Egholm		-	South Funen Archipelago
79	Hjelm		-	Kattegat
80	Vorsø		1	Horsens Fjord
81	Halmø		-	South Funen Archipelago
82	Strynø Kalv		-	South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
83	Fjandø		-	Nissum Fjord
84	Vejlø		-	Nakskov Fjord
85	Mejlø		-	Kattegat / Great Belt
86	Draget		-	Kattegat (off Bogense)
87	Store Svelmø		-	South Funen Archipelago
88	Christiansø		92	Baltic Sea
89	Kalvø, Guldborgsund		-	Baltic Sea (Guldborgsund)
90	Slotsholmen		14	Øresund
91	Tornø		4	Odense Fjord
92	Græsholm, Hirsholmene		3	Kattegat
93	Vigø		-	South Funen Archipelago (Helnæsbugten)
94	Slotø		-	Nakskov Fjord
95	Hjælmshoved		-	South Funen Archipelago
96	Kalvø, Genner Bugt		13	Little Belt
97	Hirsholm		3	Kattegat
98	Ejlinge		-	Kattegat
99	Møgelø		-	Julsø

Other populated islands

• Frederiksø - see Christiansø above
• Egholm

Areas sometimes referred to as islands

• Jordsand, a former island
• Christianshavn, considered part of Amager Island
• Holmen, considered part of Christianshavn/Amager

Other small unpopulated islands

• Lindholm, Stege Bugt (which has a medical research facility)

See also

• Danish straits
• Faroe Islands
• Greenland
• List of islands in the Atlantic Ocean
• Lists of islands

External links

• Statistics Denmark Populated islands
• National survey authority
• Danish Wikipedia List of inhabited islands