# Esbjerg Municipality

Esbjerg Municipality (Danish: Esbjerg Kommune, Danish pronunciation:) is a kommune in the Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Jesper Frost Rasmussen, from the Venstre (Center-Right Party) political party. By 1 January 2007, the old Esbjerg municipality was, as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with the former Bramming and Ribe and a small part of Helle municipalities to form the new Esbjerg municipality. This municipality has an area of 741 km$^2$ (286 sq. miles) and a total population of 115,423 (2024).

## Overview

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the city of Esbjerg, the fifth largest city in Denmark.
Neighboring municipalities with land connection are Tønder to the south, Haderslev to the southeast, Vejen to the east, and Varde to the north. The neighboring municipality to the west is Fanø, an island municipality located in Fanø Bay (Fanø Bugt). Beyond the island of Fanø and Fanø Bay is the North Sea.

## Locations

Largest cities and villages in Esbjerg Municipality :
| Name | Population (2024) |
| Esbjerg | 71,505 |
| Ribe | 8,295 |
| Bramming | 7,267 |
| Tjæreborg | 2,876 |
| Gørding | 1,758 |
| Tarp | 1,663 |
| Andrup | 1,460 |
| Egebæk | 1,107 |
| Gredstedbro | 1,063 |
| Guldager | 973 |

## Infrastructure
### Rail

Esbjerg Municipality has 13 railway stations, which forms a dense network, compared to other municipalities in Denmark, despite its many rural towns.
List of stations in Esbjerg Municipality :
| | Station | Departing Passengers | Departing trains | Largest destination |
| 1 | Esbjerg | 753,060 | 32,736 | Bramming |
| 2 | Bramming | 252,685 | 45,508 | Esbjerg |
| 3 | Ribe | 127,894 | 15,135 | Esbjerg |
| 4 | Spangsbjerg | 50,724 | 19,971 | Varde |
| 5 | Jerne | 45,130 | 19,973 | |
| 6 | Gjesing | 44,818 | 19,969 | Varde |
| 7 | Hviding | 41,063 | 10,561 | Esbjerg |
| 8 | Tjæreborg | 30,790 | 19,969 | Esbjerg |
| 9 | Ribe Nørremark | 29,911 | 19,977 | Esbjerg |
| 10 | Gredstedbro | 23,869 | 19,977 | Ribe |
| 11 | Gørding | 21,731 | 14,336 | Esbjerg |
| 12 | Guldager | 9,829 | 19,969 | Esbjerg |
| 13 | Sejstrup | 8,861 | 19,977 | Esbjerg |

## Politics

Esbjerg's municipal council consists of 31 members, elected every four years. The municipal council has seven political committees.

### Municipal council

Below are the municipal councils elected since the Municipal Reform of 2007.
| Election | Party | Party | Party | Party | Party | Party | Party | Party | Party | Total seats | Turnout | Elected mayor |
| Election | A | B | C | D | E | F | O | V | Ø | Total seats | Turnout | Elected mayor |
| 2005 | 10 | 1 | 1 | | | 3 | 1 | 15 | | 31 | 65.8% | Johnny Søtrup (V) |
| 2009 | 10 | | 1 | | | 5 | 2 | 13 | | 31 | 61.3% | Johnny Søtrup (V) |
| 2013 | 9 | | 1 | | | 2 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 31 | 68.9% | Johnny Søtrup (V) |
| 2017 | 11 | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 31 | 69.1% | Jesper Frost Rasmussen (V) |
| 2021 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 1 | | 3 | 1 | 13 | | 31 | 64.2% | Jesper Frost Rasmussen (V) |
| Data from Kmdvalg.dk 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 |||||||||||||

## Twin towns – sister cities

Esbjerg is twinned with:
* Eskilstuna, Sweden
* Fjarðabyggð, Iceland
* Jyväskylä, Finland
* Qeqqata, Greenland
* Stavanger, Norway
* Suzhou, China
* Szczecin, Poland
* Tórshavn, Faroe Islands