Copenhagen (Danish: København) is the capital city of Denmark and of Copenhagen County, and a major seaport and commercial center.

The greater part of Copenhagen is on the Eastern coast of Sjælland Island. The smaller part, called Christianshavn, is on Amager Island. These two sections of the city are connected by bridges.

Copenhagen is near Malmö, Sweden, from which it is separated by the Øresund (The Sound).

Copenhagen is a constituent administrative district of Denmark. It is governed by a body of elected municipal councilors and a group of appointed magistrates.

From the harbor, the city’s business district extends to the Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen’s main square.

To the North and East of the Rådhuspladsen is the fashionable section of the city, containing the royal palace.

At the Northern end of the city is Frihavn ("free port"), constructed in 1894 for the development of the city’s foreign and domestic trade.

To the East in Christianshavn is Christiania, a small experimental community that is self-governing.

Copenhagen was a fishing village until the middle of the 12th century; it grew in importance after coming into the possession of Bishop Absalon, who fortified it in 1167.

Because of its harbor, it soon became a place of commercial importance and received municipal rights about the middle of the 13th century.

It was repeatedly attacked by towns of the Hanseatic League.

The city was chosen for the capital in 1443 by Christopher III, or Christopher of Bavaria.

During 1658 and 1659, it withstood a severe siege by the Swedes under Charles X.

In 1801, during the Napoleonic Wars, in an effort to compel the Danes to recognize Britain’s right of search on the high seas, a British flotilla commanded by Horatio Nelson destroyed a Danish fleet in the harbor of Copenhagen.

When British naval vessels bombarded Copenhagen in 1807 to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon, the city suffered great damage and hundreds of people were killed.

During World War II, Copenhagen was occupied by German troops from April 1940 until May 1945.