Øresund Bridge in the context of "Øresund Region"

Copenhagen (Danish: København [kʰøpm̩ˈhɑwˀn] ) is the capital and most populous city in the Kingdom of Denmark, with a population of 667,000 people in the city and 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated mainly on the island of Zealand (Sjælland), with a smaller part on the island of Amager. Copenhagen is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

Originally a Viking fishing village established in the 10th century in the vicinity of what is now Gammel Strand, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. During the 16th century, the city served as the de facto capital of the Kalmar Union and the seat of the Union's monarchy, which governed most of the modern-day Nordic region as part of a Danish confederation with Sweden and Norway. The city flourished as the cultural and economic centre of Scandinavia during the Renaissance. By the 17th century, it had become a regional centre of power, serving as the heart of the Danish government and military. During the 18th century, Copenhagen suffered from a devastating plague outbreak and urban conflagrations. Major redevelopment efforts included the construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and the establishment of cultural institutions such as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The city also became the centre of the Danish slave trade during this period. In 1807, the city was bombarded by a British fleet during the Napoleonic Wars, before the Danish Golden Age brought a Neoclassical look to Copenhagen's architecture. After World War II, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing and businesses along the five urban railway routes emanating from the city centre.

A cable-stayed bridge is a type of bridge that has one or more towers (or pylons), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern or a series of parallel lines. This is in contrast to the modern suspension bridge, where the cables supporting the deck are suspended vertically from the main cables, which run between the towers and are anchored at both ends of the bridge. The cable-stayed bridge is optimal for spans longer than cantilever bridges and shorter than suspension bridges. This is the range within which cantilever bridges would rapidly grow heavier, and suspension bridge cabling would be more costly.

Cable-stayed bridges found wide use in the late 19th century. Early examples, including the Brooklyn Bridge, often combined features from both the cable-stayed and suspension designs. Cable-stayed designs fell from favor in the early 20th century as larger gaps were bridged using pure suspension designs, and shorter ones using various systems built of reinforced concrete. It returned to prominence in the later 20th century when the combination of new materials, larger construction machinery, and the need to replace older bridges all lowered the relative price of these designs.

Zealand (Danish: Sjælland [ˈɕeˌlænˀ]) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising 40% of the country's population.

Zealand is the 13th-largest island in Europe by area and the 4th most populous. It is connected to Sprogø and Funen by the Great Belt Fixed Link and to Amager by several bridges in Copenhagen. Indirectly, through the island of Amager and the Øresund Bridge, it is also linked to Scania in Sweden. In the south, the Storstrøm Bridge and the Farø Bridges connect it to Falster, and beyond that island to Lolland; the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel, currently under construction, would connect Lolland to the German island of Fehmarn, which is itself connected with mainland Europe.

Amager (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɑˌmɑˀ] or, especially among older speakers, [ˈɑˌmɛˀɐ]), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with 225,746 inhabitants (January 2025), more than half of which live in the areas included in Greater Copenhagen municipality. The protected natural area of Naturpark Amager (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the island's total area of 96 km.

The county encompassing Greater Copenhagen, the Danish capital, Københavns Kommune Copenhagen Municipality, is partly situated on Amager, covering the northern part of the island, which is connected to the much larger island of Zealand (Sjælland) by eight bridges and a metro tunnel. Amager also has a connection across the Øresund to Sweden, the Øresund Bridge. Its western part begins with a tunnel from Amager to a small, artificial Danish island, Peberholm. Copenhagen Airport Kastrup Lufthavn is located on Amager, around 7 km (4 mi) from Copenhagen city centre.

The Øresund Region (Danish: Øresundsregionen [ˈøːɐsɔnsʁekiˌoˀnn̩]; Swedish: Öresundsregionen [œːrɛˈsɵ̂nːdsrɛɡɪˌuːnɛn]), also known as the Greater Copenhagen Region for marketing purposes, is a transnational metropolitan region encompassing the Capital Region of Denmark and Region Zealand in eastern Denmark and Region Skåne in southern Sweden. Centred around the Øresund strait and the two cities which lie on either side, Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden, the region is connected by the Øresund Bridge, which spans the strait at its southern end, and the HH Ferry route between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden, at the narrowest point of the strait.

The region has a population of app. 4.5 million (2023) and a population density of 170/km (440/sq mi). The Øresund Region consists of both rural and urban areas. Areas on the periphery of the region have a relatively low population density, whereas the two metropolitan areas of Copenhagen and Malmö are two of the most densely populated in Scandinavia. Helsingborg also forms an important urban hub on the Swedish side.

The Helsingør–Helsingborg ferry route ("HH route") is a shipping route connecting Helsingør (Elsinore), Denmark and Helsingborg, Sweden across the northern, and narrowest part of the Øresund. Due to the short distance, which is less than 3 nautical miles, it is one of the world's busiest international car ferry routes, with around 70 daily departures from each harbour. The oldest-known written mention of the route dates to the German traveller Adam of Bremen in the 11th century, but it has likely been in use much longer. Before 1658, the route was a domestic Danish route. For several centuries, the route has been run regularly by various Danish shipping lines. Its significance grew during the 1950s, but since the inauguration of the Øresund Bridge in 2000, at the southern end of the Øresund, it has lost some significance but remains as one of the world's most important ferry routes, particularly as a cheaper alternative to the bridge tolls. Since 1952, passports have not been required for citizens of the Nordic Passport Union countries. Since 2001, when both countries became members of the Schengen Area, passports are not needed for anyone.

The Fehmarn Belt fixed link (Danish: Femern Bælt-forbindelsen, German: Fehmarnbelt-Querung) or Fehmarn Belt tunnel is an under-construction immersed tunnel, which will connect the Danish island of Lolland with the German island of Fehmarn, crossing the 18-kilometre-wide (11 mi) Fehmarn Belt in the Baltic Sea. The tunnel is intended to be a major wider connection between mainland Europe and Scandinavia.

The tunnel is planned to become world's longest road and rail (combination) tunnel and will directly replace a heavily travelled ferry service of the "Bird flight line" (German: Vogelfluglinie; Danish: Fugleflugtslinjen) operated by Scandlines. The tunnel will provide a direct link from northern Germany to Lolland, with Fehmarn connected with the German mainland by the Fehmarn Sound Bridge and Lolland connected by a tunnel and bridges with the Danish island of Zealand, which includes Copenhagen, via the island of Falster. The Fehmarn Belt project will therefore provide a more direct and efficient connection between Germany and Zealand (which in turn is connected with the Swedish mainland via the Øresund Bridge), compared to the existing road-rail link that is the detoured Great Belt Bridge via Jutland and Funen. Travel time between Lolland and Fehmarn is to be reduced from 45 minutes by ferry (excluding waiting and boarding time) to 10 minutes by car and seven minutes by train. The electrified high-speed rail line will be capable of reaching 200 km/h (125 mph).