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Updates: 

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter II-3 is dated 2011-12-15. For Denmark, it only adjusts the spellings of some of the region names.

I checked the Danmarks Statistik website (source [1]) for populations as of 2005-01-01, and there were some small discrepancies with the figures I already had. A total of 273 people has been counted in the wrong region. I'm not sure whether this was because of a mistake that was later rectified, or because of small areas being transferred from one region to the next and the population data being adjusted proleptically, but in any case I've changed the table to show Danmarks Statistik's current data.

Denmark has undertaken a complete reorganization. The counties were dissolved and replaced by five regions, effective 2007-01-01. The sole administrative function of these regions will be to oversee health services. More information can be found at the Nordic local government website (source [2]), and in Wikipedia (source [3]).

The FIPS 10-4 standard published codes for the new regions in Change Notice 12, dated 2007-06-11. ISO 3166-2 recognized them in its second edition, dated 2007-12-15.

Erratum: In "Administrative Divisions of Countries", page 105, the ISO codes for Copenhagen (county) and Copenhagen City were reversed. The correct codes appear in the last table under Change history.

Country overview: 

Short name	DENMARK
ISO code	DK
FIPS code	DA
Language	Danish (da)
Time zone	+1 ~
Capital	Copenhagen

 

Denmark remained neutral in World War I. At the end of the war, a plebiscite was held in Schleswig. As a result, the northern part of Schleswig (Danish: Slesveg) was transferred from Germany to Denmark on 1920-02-10. It corresponds fairly well with the modern county of South Jutland. In World War II, Denmark was occupied by Germany, but its pre-war borders were restored in the peace.

Spelling note: The Danes carried out a spelling reform in 1948. In this reform, "aa" was replaced by "å". However, according to address expert Graham Rhind , the official Danish naming board says that "aa" is still allowed in place names and personal names. The city of Aalborg prefers that spelling.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Danmark, Kongeriget Danmark (formal)
2. Dutch: Denemarken, Koninkrijk Denemarken (formal)
3. English: Kingdom of Denmark (formal)
4. Finnish: Tanska
5. French: Danemark m
6. German: Dänemark n
7. Icelandic: Danmörk
8. Italian: Danimarca f
9. Norwegian: Danmark, Kongeriket Danmark (formal)
10. Portuguese: Dinamarca, Reino m da Dinamarca f (formal)
11. Russian: Королевство Дания (formal)
12. Spanish: Dinamarca, Reino m de Dinamarca f (formal)
13. Swedish: Danmark
14. Turkish: Danimarka Krallığı (formal)

Origin of name: 

Dansk (ethnic name) + mark: field

Primary subdivisions: 

Denmark is divided into five regioner (regions; singular: region).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Danish	Former
Capital	DK.HS	84	DA17	DK01	1,631,635	2,561	989	Hillerød	Hovedstaden	BO, FR, KH, SF, SK
Central Jutland	DK.MJ	82	DA18	DK04	1,212,787	13,053	5,040	Viborg	Midtjylland	AR, RK, VB (part), VJ (part)
North Jutland	DK.ND	81	DA19	DK05	577,278	8,020	3,097	Aalborg	Nordjylland	NJ, VB (part)
South Denmark	DK.SD	83	DA21	DK03	1,183,751	12,191	4,707	Vejle	Syddanmark	FY, RB, SJ, VJ (part)
Zealand	DK.SL	85	DA20	DK02	805,954	7,273	2,808	Sorø	Sjælland	RS, ST, VS
5 regions					5,411,405	43,098	16,640
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2:2007. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. Population: 2005-01-01, according to Danmarks Statistik. Danish: Region name in Danish. Former: HASC codes (last two letters) of corresponding counties.

 

Populations and areas were provided by Celvin Ruisdael.

Postal codes: 

Danish postal codes (postnumre, sing. postnummer) are four digits.

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipalities of Denmark page.

The counties are further subdivided into 99 municipalities.

Territorial extent: 

1. Århus lies mostly on Jutland, but also includes some islands, such as Anholt and Samsø.
2. Bornholm includes the island of Bornholm and the smaller Ertholmene Islands (Christiansø, Frederiksø, and others). (In fact, the Ertholmene islands belong directly to the state and not to any municipality or county. I have assigned them to Bornholm because they lie immediately adjacent to it. I haven't seen any list of primary subdivisions of Denmark that lists Ertholmene separately.)
3. Copenhagen occupies part of the island of Sjælland (Zealand), most of Amager, and all of Saltholm.
4. Copenhagen City lies mainly on the islands of Sjælland and Amager. It surrounds Frederiksberg, and in return it is surrounded by Copenhagen (the county), if water territory is taken into account.
5. Frederiksberg is entirely surrounded by Copenhagen City. It has no direct relationship to Frederiksborg.
6. Frederiksborg is almost entirely on the island of Sjælland.
7. Fyn contains the islands of Fyn, Æbelø, Ærø (on the Bay of Kiel), Bågø, Brandsø, Langeland, Romsø, Tåsinge, and other smaller ones.
8. North Jutland includes only a few islands. The largest is Læsø in the Kattegat. It also includes an area known as Vendsyssel. Vendsyssel and Thy (see Viborg) are connected to one another, but separated from the rest of Jutland by a variable strip of water called Limfjorden. Nonetheless, they are considered part of Jutland.
9. Ribe contains the North Sea islands of Fanø and Mandø; the rest of it is part of Jutland.
10. Ringkøbing is part of Jutland, containing only a few islands in fjords.
11. Roskilde is almost entirely on Sjælland.
12. South Jutland is mostly on Jutland, but includes some islands, such as Als, Årø, and Barsø in the Little Belt, and Rømø in the North Sea.
13. Storstrøm occupies part of Sjælland, and the entirety of a number of islands, such as Bogø, Falster, Fejø, Femø, Lolland, Møn, and Vejrø.
14. Vejle is mostly on Jutland, but includes a few islands, such as Endelave and Hjarnø.
15. Vestsjælland lies almost entirely on Sjælland, but also contains some small islands, such as Hesselø in the Kattegat, Orø in Isefjord, Agersø, Omø, Sejerø, Sprogø, etc.
16. Viborg contains part of Jutland, including Thy (see North Jutland) and some islands in Limfjorden, notably Mors.
17. The Faroe Islands and Greenland, remote territories of Denmark with limited home rule, are treated as separate countries by ISO 3166-1, so they are not included here. Iceland had a similar status at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1918 it nominally became a sovereign state, but it remained subordinate to Denmark in international affairs. On 1944-06-17, it officially became an independent republic.

The UN LOCODE page  for Denmark lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Ålborg: probably from Old Norse áll: channel, borg: fort
2. Århus: from Old Danish å: river and os: mouth
3. Bornholm: Old Danish for Islet of the Burgundar (ethnic name, also found in the old province of Burgundy in France)
4. Copenhagen: Danish køben: merchant, havn: port (merchants' port)
5. Fyn: from Old Norwegian fjón: pasturage
6. Jutland: land of the Jutes, an ethnic name
7. Roskild: Old Danish Hroarskilde: origin of Hroar (a king)
8. Vestsjælland = West Zealand, from Old Danish sjæ: sea, land: land (Zealand is the island on which most of Copenhagen sits)

Change history: 

In 1900, Denmark contained 18 counties and one municipality (Staden Kjöbenhaven, or Copenhagen City). The data in the following table come from source [4]. Denmark also held the Faroes, Greenland, Iceland, and the Danish Virgin Islands as possessions. The Statistical Yearbook also divided Denmark proper (excluding possessions) into two general areas and further into seven sections. Jylland (Jutland in English) consisted of Nordlige Jylland, Sydøstlige Jylland, and Sydvestlige Jylland (Northern, Southeastern, and Southwestern Jutland). Øerne (Islands) consisted of Bornholm, Fyn, Lolland-Falster, and Sjælland (Zealand).

County	1801-02-01	1840-02-01	1860-02-01	1880	1890	1901	Area(km.²)	Section
Aalborg	45,627	60,684	76,582	95,338	104,790	128,656	2,902.1	Nordlige Jylland
Aarhus	53,318	80,841	109,045	140,886	157,191	186,440	2,483.5	Sydøstlige Jylland
Bornholm	19,507	25,199	29,304	35,364	38,761	40,889	582.4	Bornholm
Copenhagen	46,894	65,779	86,035	121,276	152,706	195,302	1,157.0	Sjælland
Copenhagen City	100,975	120,819	155,143	234,850	312,859	378,235	68.6	Sjælland
Frederiksborg	48,339	70,827	80,130	83,347	84,684	90,476	1,343.7	Sjælland
Hjørring	45,327	65,265	84,464	101,414	110,361	119,385	2,811.8	Nordlige Jylland
Holbæk	48,171	68,754	84,073	93,340	94,235	98,325	1,706.3	Sjælland
Maribo	52,896	71,402	86,797	97,007	100,552	105,021	1,740.3	Lolland-Falster
Odense	66,169	94,434	111,614	128,877	136,117	151,544	1,784.5	Fyn
Præstø	54,629	75,017	89,573	101,494	100,649	103,293	1,669.8	Sjælland
Randers	49,858	66,187	85,763	104,321	110,444	118,586	2,426.0	Sydøstlige Jylland
Ribe	34,546	45,930	57,973	73,257	78,623	95,682	3,033.2	Sydvestlige Jylland
Ringkjøbing	40,346	55,390	68,287	87,406	98,623	111,474	4,530.4	Sydvestlige Jylland
Sorø	43,521	62,281	79,857	87,396	88,990	94,422	1,463.2	Sjælland
Svendborg	62,776	89,423	105,630	117,577	120,707	128,241	1,648.6	Fyn
Thisted	30,032	44,510	54,744	64,007	69,407	71,438	1,750.9	Nordlige Jylland
Vejle	44,506	70,628	91,791	108,513	111,904	125,523	2,328.7	Sydøstlige Jylland
Viborg	41,564	55,705	71,557	93,369	100,777	106,608	3,024.4	Sydvestlige Jylland
19 counties	929,001	1,289,075	1,608,362	1,969,039	2,172,380	2,449,540	38,455.4
County: Copenhagen City is a municipality. Section: as listed in the Statistical Yearbook.

1. It appears that Aarhus, Kjöbenhaven, Odense, and (after 1920) Aabenraa counties were each subdivided into two districts. Some sources show the counties without the districts; others show the districts as if they were counties. The districts are listed below, under their counties.
2. 1917-01-25: Denmark sold the Danish West Indies (De dansk-vestindiske Øer) to the United States, which renamed them the U.S. Virgin Islands.
3. 1918-12-01: Iceland became an independent country, but retained its allegiance to the Danish crown.
4. 1920-02-10: Northern Schleswig, consisting of the counties of Aabenraa, Haderslev, and Tönder, transferred from Germany to Denmark.
5. ~1923: Frederiksborg province and its capital renamed to Hilleröd.
6. 1944-06-17: Iceland became a republic with no organic ties to Denmark.
7. 1948: Spelling reform changed Aa to Å, ö to ø, Kjöbenhaven to København, and Ringkjöbing to Ringkøbing.

County	District	Population	Area(km.²)	Disposition
Åbenrå	Åbenrå	48,676	790	South Jutland
	Sønderborg	49,604	441	South Jutland
Ålborg		232,885	2,914	North Jutland
Århus	Århus	210,409	804	Århus, *Vejle
	Skanderborg	136,495	1,719	Århus, Vejle
Bornholm		48,632	588	Bornholm
Frederiksborg		162,889	1,344	Frederiksborg, *Vestsjælland
Haderslev		71,715	1,342	South Jutland
Hjørring		173,233	2,865	North Jutland
Holbæk		127,127	1,752	Vestsjælland, Århus
København	København	1,269,366	584	Copenhagen, Copenhagen City, Frederiksberg
	Roskilde	82,223	690	Roskilde
Maribo		133,870	1,798	Storstrøm
Odense	Odense	196,213	1,149	Fyn
	Assens	58,005	667	Fyn
Præstø		122,919	1,693	Storstrøm, Roskilde
Randers		170,802	2,466	Århus, *North Jutland
Ribe		178,501	3,069	Ribe, *South Jutland
Ringkøbing		198,389	4,660	Ringkøbing
Sorø		128,639	1,478	Vestsjælland
Svendborg		150,365	1,667	Fyn
Thisted		86,703	1,774	Vejle, *North Jutland
Tønder		42,842	1,390	South Jutland
Vejle		207,881	2,348	Vejle, *Ribe, *Ringkøbing, *South Jutland
Viborg		160,018	3,050	Viborg, *Århus, *Ringkøbing
21 counties		4,448,401	43,042
County, District: divisions before the reorganization Population: 1955 census Disposition: new county or counties formed from the old county. * only a very small part (usually a single municipality or less) of the old county went into this new county. Capitals have the same name as their counties or districts, except for Bornholm (capital Rønne).

1. 1953-06-05: Greenland became constitutionally an overseas county of Denmark.
2. 1970-04-01: The 21 counties were reorganized into 14 amter (counties) and two kommuner (municipalities), as shown in the following table. Some sources called Frederiksberg a borough, or omit it completely.

County	HASC	ISO	FIPS	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Postal codes
Århus	DK.AR	070	DA01	DK00D	640,637	4,561	1,761	Århus	80-86, 89
Bornholm	DK.BO	040	DA02	DK007	44,126	588	227	Rønne	37
Copenhagen	DK.KH	015	DA05	DK002	615,115	526	203	Copenhagen	26-29
Copenhagen City	DK.SK	101	DA06	DK001	499,148	88	34	Copenhagen	10-17, 21-25
Frederiksberg	DK.SF	147	DA16	DK001	91,076	9	3	Frederiksberg	18-20
Frederiksborg	DK.FR	020	DA03	DK003	368,116	1,347	520	Hillerød	30-36
Fyn	DK.FY	042	DA04	DK008	472,064	3,486	1,346	Odense	50-59
North Jutland	DK.NJ	080	DA07	DK00F	494,833	6,173	2,383	Ålborg	90-99
Ribe	DK.RB	055	DA08	DK00A	224,446	3,131	1,209	Ribe	66-68
Ringkøbing	DK.RK	065	DA09	DK00C	273,517	4,853	1,874	Ringkøbing	68-69, 74-76
Roskilde	DK.RS	025	DA10	DK004	233,212	891	344	Roskilde	40-41, 46
South Jutland	DK.SJ	050	DA11	DK009	253,249	3,938	1,521	Åbenrå	61-66
Storstrøm	DK.ST	035	DA12	DK006	259,691	3,398	1,312	Nykøbing (Falster)	47-49
Vejle	DK.VJ	060	DA13	DK00B	349,186	2,997	1,157	Vejle	60, 70-73, 87
Vestsjælland	DK.VS	030	DA14	DK005	296,875	2,984	1,152	Sorø	41-45
Viborg	DK.VB	076	DA15	DK00E	233,921	4,122	1,592	Viborg	77-79, 88
16 divisions					5,349,212	43,092	16,638
County: Copenhagen City and Frederiksberg are municipalities. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. NUTS: Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Population: 2001-01-01 census Postal codes: See note below

 

Note: Ranges of postal codes shown in the table above are for the first two digits. County boundaries don't exactly coincide with postcode areas, so there are some exceptions. Codes beginning with 39 are for Greenland, which is part of the Danish system. Postal codes for Danish addresses can be identified by prefixing them with "DK-".

In "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries", I provided a rough mapping of postal code ranges to counties. Examining the postal codes of the municipalities, I find that the actual mapping is even less distinct, and in quite a few cases, the first two digits of the postal code are not sufficient to identify the county.

1. 1993-11-01: Under the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union replaced the European Communities, of which Denmark was a member.
2. 2003-01-01: Status of Bornholm changed from county to regionskommune (regional municipality). Previously, it had been subdivided into municipalities. They were dissolved.
3. 2007-01-01: The counties were abolished and replaced by the five regions shown in the main table.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Århus: Arósar (Icelandic); Aarhus (Danish-obsolete)
2. Bornholm: Borgundarhólmur (Icelandic); Bornholms (variant)
3. Copenhagen: Copenaghen (Italian); Copenhague (French, Portuguese, Spanish); Kaupmannahöfn (Icelandic); Kjöbenhavn (Danish-obsolete); København, Københavns (Danish); Kööpenhamina (Finnish); Kopenhagen (German); Köpenhamn (Swedish); Копенгаген (Russian)
4. Copenhagen City: Staden København (Danish)
5. Fyn: Fionia (Spanish); Fionie (French); Fjón (Icelandic); Fünen (German); Fyen (Danish-obsolete); Fyns (variant)
6. North Jutland: Nord-Jütland (German); Nordjylland, Nordjyllands (Danish); Norður-Jótland (Icelandic)
7. Ringkøbing: Ringkjöbing (Danish-obsolete)
8. Roskilde: Roschild (German); Roskild (French)
9. South Jutland: Sønderjylland, Sønderjyllands (Danish); Süd-Jütland (German); Suður-Jótland (Icelandic)
10. Storstrøm: Storstrøms (variant)
11. Vestsjælland: Vestsjaland (Icelandic); Vestsjællands (variant); West-Seeland (German)

Sources: 

1. [1] StatBank Denmark  interactive data retrieval (English version, retrieved 2009-07-11).
2. [2] Per Jørgen Olafsen's website on Nordic local government  (partly in English, retrieved 2005-11-10).
3. [3] Wikipedia article on Regions of Denmark  (retrieved 2005-11-10).
4. [4] Statistisk Årbog 1902, retrieved from http://www.dst.dk/Statistik/Publikationer/1902.aspx on the Danmarks Statistik website about 2004-04-16 (now a dead link).