Copenhagen (Danish: København) is the capital and largest city of Denmark. It is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager.Copenhagen is usually ranked as one of the two largest cities of the Nordic Countries. With the completion of the transnational Oresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are connected by a car/rail link and are in the process of integrating their labour markets, resulting in the number of commuters from both sides growing annually. These two cities together form the center of the Øresund Region, which is home to almost 3.7 million inhabitants covering an area of 20,869 km².
Copenhagen is described as ‘The Paris of the North' because of its design, fashion and beauty, and is among the 20 most popular tourist destinations in Europe. In 2006 Copenhagen Municipality received the European Environmental Management Award. The award was given for long-term holistic environmental planning.Just off the coast of Copenhagen is the world's largest offshore windmill farm opened in 2001, financed by the sale of shares to ordinary consumers from the Copenhagen area. With a capacity of 40 MW of electricity, it produces about 4 % of the city's energy.A municipal policy is that 40% of all citizens should bicycle to and from work by 2012 and a number of initiatives are being taken to implement this policy.Copenhagen is a green city with many big and small parks. King's Garden, the garden of Rosenborg Castle, is the oldest and most visited park in Copenhagen. Its landscaping was commenced by Christian IV in 1606.
Every year it sees more than 2,5 million visitors and in the summer months it is packed with sunbathers, picknickers and ballplayers.
It also serves as a sculpture garden with a permanent display of sculptures as well as temporary exhibits during summer. Also located in the city centre are the Botanical Gardens particularly noted for their large complex of 19'th century greenhouses donated by Carlsberg founder J. C. Jacobsen.
Fælledparken is with its 58 hectars the largest park in Copenhagen, and it hosts a long array of yearly events like a free opera concert, carnival, Labour Day celebrations and Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix which is a race for antique cars. Another popular park is the Frederiksberg Garden which is a 32 hectars romantic landscape park.
It houses a large colony of very tame grey herons along with other waterfowls. The park also offers views of the elephants and the elephant house designed by world-famous British architect Norman Foster of the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo.It is official Copenhagen municipal policy that all citizens by 2015 must be able to reach a park or beach on foot in less than 15 minutes.
Amalienborg Palace (Danish: Amalienborg) is the winter home of the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. It consists of four identical classicizing palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard (Amalienborg Slotsplads); in the center of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg's founder, King Frederik V. Amalienborg was originally built for four noble families; however, when Christiansborg Castle burnt down on 26 February 1794, the royal family bought the palaces and moved in. Over the years various kings and their families have resided in the four different palaces. The Danish Royal Life Guard (Den Kongelige Livgarde) march from Rosenborg Castle at 11.30 am daily through the streets of Copenhagen, and execute the changing of the guard in front of Amalienborg Palace at noon.
Since the late 1990s,
Copenhagen has undergone a transformation from a cosy Scandinavian capital to a cool metropolitan city of international scope in the league of cities like Barcelona and Amsterdam. This is due to massive investments in infrastructure as well as culture nad a wave of new successful Danish architects, designers and
chefs. Between 1998 and 2008, lifestyle journalists wordwide (from Wallpaper to the NewYorkTimes) have praised Copenhagen as a cool, well-functioning creative city. Copenhagen has the two oldest amusement parks in the World. World-famous Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park and pleasure garden located right in the middle of Copenhagen between the the City Hall Square and the the Central Station. Among its rides are the oldest still operating roller coaster and the oldest ferris wheel in the World. It also function as an open-air concert venue. It opened on August 15 1843 making it the second oldest amusement park in the world. Dyrehavsbakken (in English "the Deer Garden Hill") is located in Klampenborg a little north of Copenhagen in a forested area of great natural beauty. Having been made into an amusement park complete with rides, games and restaurants by Christian IV, it is the oldest surviving amusement park in the World.
The Danish National Bank. Designed by Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen is the economical and financial centre of Denmark and also a strong business and economic centre in the entire Scandinavian-Baltic region. In 2008 Copenhagen was ranked 4th by Financial Times-owned FDi magazine on their list of Top50 European Cities of the Future after London, Paris and Berlin. In 2006/07 FDi Magazine named Copenhagen Scandinavian City of the Future and in 2004/05
Copenhagen was named Northern European City of the Future ahead of other cities from Scandinavia, UK, Ireland and Benelux. In the 2008 Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index, published by MasterCard, Copenhagen was ranked 14th in the world and 1st in Scandinavia. Copenhagen is one of the cities in Western Europe attracting most regional headquarters and distribution centers. Among the international companies that have chosen to locate their regional headquarters in Copenhagen is Microsoft. There are 2,100 foreign companies located in the Copenhagen area, of which approx. 500 are Scandinavian head offices, representing a wide range of industries.
