Regions o Denmark

The **Regions o Denmark** are the first-tier admeenistrative diveesions o Denmark. Thay wur creatit as pairt o the 2007 Dens Municipal Reform. The five regions replace the umwhile saxteen coonties (*[[Amt (kintra subdiveesion)|amter]]*). At the same time, the nummer o municipalities (*[[Commune (kintra subdiveesion)|kommuner]]*) wis cut frae 270 tae 98. The reform wis made effective on 1 Januar 2007.

## Leet o regions
The names o the regions in Scots are no uniform. The govrenment aften uises the Dens names or directly translatit Inglis names (e.g. Greater Copenhagen, Zealand, North Jutland, Southern Denmark, Central Jutland). The regions thairsels pairtially uise ither names in Inglis, substitutin 'Jutland' for 'Denmark', as shawn belaw.

## Tasks
The maist important aurie o responsibility for the new regions is the public heal service. Thay are an aw responsible for employment policies an public mass transit (buses an a few local railways). Housomeivver, in eastren Denmark (Region Zealand an the Caipital Region) transit is haundelt bi a single transport agency, Movia.

## Admeenistration an politics
Regions are led bi directly electit cooncils (*regionsråd*). Thay conseest o 41 members each. Elections are held simultaneously wi municipal elections ivery fower years. The last Dens local elections wur held on 17 November 2009.

Unlik the umwhile coonties, regions are no entitled tae levy thair awn taxes. Sicweys, the present regions rely entirely on central state fundin (aroond 70%) an fundin comin frae the municipalities (aroond 30%). A central govrenment "health contribution" tax (*sundhedsbidrag*) at 8.00% on the preliminary an feenal income statement forms haes replacit the coonty tax (*amtsskat*).

90% o the budgets o the regions are allocatit tae the naitional heal service. Health issues hae remained the primary het issue in regional politics, especially acause grand chynges o Denmark's hospital layoot wur annooncit immediately efter the municipal reform. The new hospital schemes hae no been fully fenalised yet (as o 2009).

## History
The reform haes been cried the biggest reform in thirty years. It wis an important policy issue for the current Liberal-Conservative cabinet, maist importantly for Lars Løkke Rasmussen, then meenister o the Interior an Health.

The abolition o the coonties haed lang been an important goal for baith the Conservatives an the Dens Fowkpairty. In Juin 2004, the Dens Fowkpairty decidit tae back the reform, sicweys securin a majority in the Dens parliament (*[[Folketing]]*), awtho the pairty haed preferred juist abolishin the coonties athoot replacin them wi a new intermediate admeenistrative level (the ither twa bein the govrenment an the municipalities). The pairties who wantit tae leemit the regional tier o govrenment prevailed insofar as the regions hae nae authority tae levy ony taxes, unlik the umwhile coonties.

## State admeenistrations
The 5 state admeenistrations (*statsforvaltning*) are the representations o the central govrenment in the five regions. Thay belang tae The Meenistry o the Interior an Health. Thair jurisdictions follae the region borders. Thir admeenistrations are no subordinate tae the regional cooncils, but rather the direct presence o the state (seemilar tae govrenates or prefecturs in certaint kintras).

A state admeenistration office exists in each region, supervisin the daily business o municipalities an regions, an functionin as a body o appeal for ceetizens who wish tae complain ower a decision bi the municipality or region. The offices an aw haundle affairs concernin adoption, citizenship an divorces.

Each office is led bi a Director o the State Admeenistration (*forvaltningsdirektør*) who is a varsity graduate o law.

### History

The predecessor o the state admeenistrations, afore the 2007 reform, wur the state coonties (*statsamt*). In Copenhagen the prefectur wis cried the 'Upper Presidium' (*Københavns Overpræsidium*). Each o thir wur led bi a govrenmental ceevil servant, the coonty prefect (*(stats)amtmand*). In Copenhagen he wis cried the 'Upper Preses' (*Københavns overpræsident*), a title datin frae 1747, but no widely kent bi the public. In some coonties the prefect wis cried a diocesal coonty prefect (*stiftamtmand*), an aw bein a pairt o the diocesan authorities athin the Naitional Kirk.

The coonty prefect wis an aw the poleetical leader o coonty cooncils till the first municipal reform o 1970, when this task wis taken ower bi the coonty mayor (*amtsborgmester*) who wis ane o the elected coonty cooncil members. In Copenhagen, the switch wis made in 1938 when the title o Upper Mayor (*overborgmester*) wis creatit.

Efter the 1970 reform, the prefecturs wur no vera regardit bi the common ceetizen, wi the notable exception o cases concernin divorce an child custody. An aw, the coonty prefect in his uniform wad be the person tae receive the Queen on her visits throughoot the kintra.

## See an aw
* Municipalities o Denmark
* Subdiveesions o the Nordic kintras
* Faroe Islands
* Greenland
* ISO 3166-2:DK

## References


## Freemit airtins
* Explanation o an backgrund for Municipal Reform  wi links tae the Dens Meenistry o the Interior an Health 
* The greement on the Municipal Reform  frae the Dens Meenistry o the Interior an Health 
* The Meenistry´s hame page wi report frae the Commission on Admeenistrative Structur etc. 
* Home page of Regions. Click on map to access a Region's home page 
* Budget o the Regions
* Statistikbanken.dk Budget
* Statistikbanken.dk Budget
* Inglis hame page o State Admeenistrations
* Areas of concern (adoption etc.) 
* Meenistry o Employment 
* Links tae the 4 employment regions
* Maps (pdf) showing local/regional administration 1660-2007 
* Map wi named municipalities an regions  
* Krak searchable/printable map (outline o municipality visible, but daes nae prent oot!)
* Statistics Denmark