OpenHistoricalMap/Projects/Denmark/Administrative divisions

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Mapping administrative boundaries in Denmark

Proposal for mapping boundaries:

  • Map internal boundaries (Amt, Kommune, Herred, ...) using boundary lines that closely follow the coast, about 100-200 m distance from the coastline. This reduces the need for excessive revisions to the divisions with minor changes to the coastline.
  • Mapping international land boundaries using published coordinates or maps.
  • Mapping international maritime boundaries according to OpenHistoricalMap/Projects/Maritime_Boundaries.

Comparison to boundaries in OpenStreetMap

See also Denmark/Da:Administrative_boundaries.

In OSM, administrative boundaries of regions and municipalities in Denmark do not include territorial waters (towards the sea) but also don't include many internal waters (bays, fjords). Lakes and rivers are generally included. These boundaries are made up of coastline segments. The boundary relations at the country level in OSM include territorial waters based on current international agreements (since 1999 generally 12 nautical miles off the coast except where other agreements exist).

Boundaries in OHM can follow a similar approach, where lower administrative units (Region, Amt, Kommune, Herred, etc.) use coastline, and country boundaries include whatever territorial waters are claimed at the time. In practice, this could cause boundary relations to get very large since every island and islet needs to be included as a separate boundary member. It also means that administrative boundaries need a new boundary relation whenever the coastline changes anywhere in the administrative division, which would happen every time land is reclaimed, a harbor is expanded, etc. A more practical approach could be to offset the boundary slightly from the coast, about 100-200 m.

Denmark (proper) vs Kingdom of Denmark

OSM currently has Kingdom of Denmark (relation 9112011) as a boundary relation that contains Denmark (proper), Faroe Islands and Greenland. This is a boundary=administrative without any admin_level=* tag. The only equivalent in OHM is currently Danish Realm (https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849655 ) (1944-). This should be extended further back in time and included in a chronology for Kingdom of Denmark. The WikiData entry for Kingdom of Denmark/Danish Realm is wikidata:Q756617.

The OSM relation for Denmark (proper) is relation 50046. This is a boundary=administrative with admin_level=2. The WikiData entry for Denmark (proper) is wikidata:Q35.

OHM currently has a chronology for Denmark (https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2801214 ) though the tagging does not clearly separate between Denmark proper and Kingdom of Denmark. All of the contained boundaries in this chronology include areas outside of Denmark proper.

To Do:

  • When did the distinction between Denmark proper and Kingdom of Denmark first appear? (i.e. when should a chronology for Denmark (proper) start and when should a chronology for Kingdom of Denmark start?)
  • Create separate chronologies and clean up the membership so boundaries for the kingdom are in one chronology and boundaries for Denmark proper are in the other chronology

Sources

Summary of internal administrative divisions

Secular administrative

admin_level=* boundary=administrative Wikidata equivalent
4 Region Q62326
5 Amt (County) Q12307270 (1662-1793), Q2996700 (1793-1970), Q876730 (1970-2006)
6 Herred (Hundred) (not found)
7 Kommune (Municipality) Q2177636
8 - -
9 Ejerlav (Cadastral community) Q137686263
10 wikipedia:da:Rode (område) (København) (not found)
11 - -

Religious administrative

admin_level=* boundary=religious_administration Wikidata equivalent
4 ? -
5 ? -
6 ? -
7 ? -
8 ? -
9 ? -
10 Sogn (Parish) Q814648
11 - -

Regioner (Regions; 2007-)

These divisions were created by wikipedia:da:Strukturreformen in 2007.

For the initial extent, tag with:

See Tag:boundary=administrative#admin_level

Name OHM link
Region Hovedstaden (Scheduled to merge with Region Sjælland in 2027) https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849204
Region Midtjylland https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849207
Region Nordjylland https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849206
Region Sjælland https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849205
Region Syddanmark https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849208

Sources

  • Note: The existing regions have no source tags and may have been copied from OSM or official sources, both of which have incompatible license.
  • BEK nr 656 af 29/06/2005
    • Definition of initial (2007) extent of regions with reference to the previous municipality boundaries, and in some cases, modifications by swapping individual lots as identified by cadastral numbers (matrikelnummer).

Amter (Counties; 1662-2007)

Potentially these could use level 5 instead since they smaller than the regions (which are mapped in OSM at level 4) but currently level 4 is used:

For instances of counties created from the 1793 county reform (needs source that lists start dates for all counties). The changes following the 1793 reform were not implemented immediately, so a more specific start date should be added:

For instances of counties created from the 1970 municipal reform:

Counties have not been static through this period.

Should be tagged with the same admin level as counties:

  • Syssel?
  • Len (similar to Amt before 1662)

1662-1793

Name OHM link
Bornholms Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855344
...

1793-1970

Name OHM link
Aabenraa Amt To Do
Aalborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855427
Aarhus Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2858178 , https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855422
Bornholms Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855344
Frederiksborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2856265
Københavns Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2870220
Roskilde Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2856529
Haderslev Amt To Do
Hjørring Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855428
Holbæk Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2856267
Maribo Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855389
Odense Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855401
Præstø Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855390
Randers Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855426
Ribe Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855413
Ringkøbing Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855415
Skanderborg Amt To Do
Sorø Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855394
Svendborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855402
Sønderborg Amt To Do
Thisted Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855424
Tønder Amt To Do
Vejle Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855412
Viborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855425

1970-2007

Name OHM link
Aarhus Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2850020
Bornholms Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855344
Frederiksborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2856265
Københavns Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855343
Roskilde Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855334
Fyns Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2850339
Nordjyllands Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2850142
Ribe Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849796
Ringkøbing Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2850021
Storstrøms Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855332
Sønderjyllands Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849557
Vejle Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2849983
Vestsjællands Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2855333
Viborg Amt https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2850143

Sources

Herreder (wikipedia:Hundred (county division))

According to wikipedia:da:Herreder_i_Danmark#Afvikling, this administrative division gradually lost importance starting from 1919 (Retsplejeloven af 1916 entering into force in 1919) so 1919 might be a good end date for these boundaries, though some sources seem to use 1970 as the end date.

Many of these divisions are mentioned in wikipedia:da:Kong_Valdemars_Jordebog, meaning they must have existed around 1200-1300.

Example:

  • Lynge-Kronborg Herred (Frederiksborg Amt): https://www.openhistoricalmap.org/relation/2856326

Overpass query for all elements: 


relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="hundred"];
out geom;

Load query in Overpass Ultra Load query in Overpass Ultra


Sources

  • Regional maps in Trap, 2nd edition include herred boundaries
  • All Trap Danmark 1st-3rd editions contain individual descriptions of each hundred.

Kommuner (Municipalities; 1803-)

Originally based on parishes, each created from 1-3 parishes combined into a sognedistrikt (parish district):[1]

Around 1842 is considered the beginning of actual municipal administration, called Sognekommuner. The local administration outside of market towns (købstader) was established with Anordning af 13/8 1841 to begin operating 1842-01-01.[1]

Market towns (købstader, handelsplads) should probably appear at the same admin level as a type of municipality:

1970 Municipal Reform

This reform abolished the distinction the distinction between market towns and other municipalities, as well as reducing the number of municipalities.[1]

For instances of municipalities created from the 1970 municipal reform:

2007 Municipal Reform

For instances of municipalities created from the 2007 municipal reform:

Overpass query for all elements: 


relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
  relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="7"];
  relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="municipality"];
);
out geom;

Load query in Overpass Ultra Load query in Overpass Ultra


Sources

  • Christensen, Harry (1976). “Danske landkommuner 1842-1970”. Viborg: Landsarkivet for Nørrejylland. 
    • This source outlines the history of municipalities outside of market towns (sognekommuner) with reference to the parishes that the municipalities were based on.
  • BEK nr 62 af 27/02/1970
    • Definition of new 1970 municipalities
  • BEK nr 656 af 29/06/2005
    • Definition of new 2007 municipalities with reference to the previous municipality boundaries, and in some cases, modifications by swapping individual lots as identified by cadatral numbers (matrikelnummer).

Ejerlav (wikipedia:Cadastral community)

See also wikipedia:da:Ejerlav. Land parcels are organized by ejerlav with each parcel having a unique number (matrikelnummer) within the cadastral area. These are also base units in the system of parishes and as a consequence, became the base units of the municipal system. The areas are closely related to earlier land communities (jordfællesskaber).[2] For this reason, the boundaries could be extended further back than the earliest cadastral records as some kind of other administrative type though this would be speculative as the exact boundaries and boundary changes are unlikely to be documented.

Outside of cities, these areas mostly coincide with a single hamlet, village, or town of the same name.

In Copenhagen, each ejerlav is known as a quarter (kvarter).[3]

Overpass query for all elements currently mapped this way: 


relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="cadastral_community"];
out geom;

Load query in Overpass Ultra Load query in Overpass Ultra


Sogne (Parishes)

Boundaries for religious administration but also important for the civil administration since the initial municipalities were based on parish boundaries. It is hard to provide specific start dates for parishes since most of them may have existed for a 1000 years or more. The specific boundaries may have been fairly stable over time but there are limits to how far back in time this stability can be confirmed.[4]

Example:

Overpass query for all elements: 


relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="religious_administration"]["border_type"="parish"];
out geom;

Load query in Overpass Ultra Load query in Overpass Ultra


Sources

  • Regional maps in Trap, 2nd edition include parish boundaries
  • All Trap Danmark 1st-3rd editions contain individual descriptions of each parish.

Rode (wikipedia:da:Rode (område))

Used (only?) in Copenhagen. Still maintained today, but only as a statistical subdivision.

Example:

Overpass query for all elements: 


relation(id:2692238);
map_to_area->.denmark;
(
  relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["admin_level"="10"];
  relation(area.denmark)["boundary"="administrative"]["border_type"="rode"];
);
out geom;

Load query in Overpass Ultra Load query in Overpass Ultra


Sources

  • The description of Copenhagen in Trap, 3rd edition includes precise boundaries for quarters (kvarterer) and their subdivision into roder.

Other divisions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Frandsen, Karl-Erik (1984). “Atlas over Danmarks Administrative Inddeling efter 1660”. Dansk Historisk Fællesforening. pp. 127-129. 
  2. ↑ Frandsen, Karl-Erik (1984). “Atlas over Danmarks Administrative Inddeling efter 1660”. Dansk Historisk Fællesforening. pp. 11-14. 
  3. ↑ “Matrikelnumre i København”. Københavns Stadsarkiv. Retrieved 2026-01-11. 
  4. ↑ “Sogn-Herred-Amt (Slægt&Data)”. DIS-Danmark. 2011. p. 4. ISBN 87-90044-02-9. 
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