Aabenraa Municipality

Aabenraa Municipality is a municipality in the Region of Southern Denmark (Danish: Syddanmark) in southwestern Denmark.[1] The municipality has an area of 940.7 km² and a total population of 59,051 (2016).[2] Its largest town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Aabenraa. The mayor of the municipality is Thomas Andresen, representing the Liberal party.[3]

For the town of the same name, see Aabenraa.
Location of Aabenraa municipality

The island of Barsø is located in the northeast corner of the municipality in the Little Belt. Major communities include Lundsbjerg near the capital, Aabenraa; Sogard to the south, Felsted to the east, and Løjt Kirkeby to the north.[4] Løjt Kirkeby is connected by ferry service from the island of Barsø.[5][6]

History

From 1864 to 1920, the region was part of Prussia, in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein, and as such part of the North German Confederation and, from 1871 onwards, part of the German Empire. It was formerly the seat of, respectively the German Kreis Apenrade and the Danish Aabenraa County.

Former municipality

The 1970-2006 Aabenraa municipality was bordered by the municipality of Lundtoft to the south and east, and Rødekro and Tinglev to the west. As it was partially located on a peninsula, it was surrounded by water on three sides: at the southern side of the peninsula by Aabenraa Fjord opening up to the Little Belt east of the peninsula; at the northern side by Genner Bay (Genner Bugt). in South Jutland County on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality, including the island of Barsø, covered an area of 129 km² with a total population of 22,132 (2005). Its last mayor was Poul Thomsen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

A new Aabenraa municipality was formed on 1 January 2007 as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007) where the former municipality merged with Bov, Lundtoft, Rødekro, and Tinglev.

Locations
Aabenraa16,400
Rødekro6,000
Padborg4,300
Tinglev2,700
Løjt Kirkeby2,300
Hjordkær1,600
Kruså1,500
Bylderup-Bov1,300
Stubbæk1,200
Kliplev1,200
Bolderslev1,200
Felsted1,000

Politics

Aabenraa's municipal council consists of 31 members, elected every four years. The municipal council has eight political committees.[7]

Municipal council

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.

Election Party Total
seats		 Turnout Elected
mayor
A C F O S V Ø
2005 17 2 1 2 9 31 74.1% Tove Larsen (A)
2009 14 1 2 2 2 10 67.2%
2013 8 1 1 5 2 13 1 71.8% Thomas Andresen (V)
2017 9 2 1 5 2 11 1 70.7%
Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017

North Schleswig Germans

Aabenraa Municipality is home to the only officially recognised ethno-linguistic minority of Denmark proper, the North Schleswig Germans. This minority makes up about 6% of the total population of the municipalities of Aabenraa/Apenrade, Haderslev/Hadersleben, Sønderborg/Sonderburg and Tønder/Tondern. In these four municipalities, the German minority enjoys certain linguistic rights in accordance with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The German-language daily Der Nordschleswiger is published in Aabenraa.

References
  1. "Statistikbanken". www.statistikbanken.dk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  2. "Fakta om Aabenraa Kommune - aabenraa.dk". aabenraa.dk. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  3. "Kommunal- og regionrådsvalg 2013". www.kmdvalg.dk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
  4. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  5. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Apenrade" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 163.
  6. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  7. Byråd og udvalg

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