Copenhagen (Dan. Kjöbenhavn, 'Merchants' Haven'), the capital of Denmark, and headquarters of the national commerce, literature, and art, is situated on the low-lying eastern shore of the island of Zealand, in the Sound, which is here about 12 miles broad; an outlying portion, Christianshavn, stands at the north end of the island of Amager or Amak, which is separated from Zealand by a narrow arm of the sea. The channel forms a fine and capacious harbour, which is bridged over so as to connect Christianshavn and the main part of the city at two points. The fortifications on the land side have been removed since 1863; so that the city has now practically incorporated the suburbs Østerbro, Nørrebro, Vesterbro, and Frederiksberg. The total population in 1735 was 60,000; in 1835, 120,000; in 1880, 235,254; and in 1890 it was, with suburbs, 375,215. To counterbalance the expected injury to the city's commerce from the opening of the Baltic Canal, a great free port (free from customs dues) was constructed in 1890-94 to the north of the harbour. The business quarter stretches from the harbour in a north-east direction towards the principal and central square, Kongens Nytorv, which in itself forms the focus of the life of the city. Farther north and east of this point lies the aristocratic quarter, with the handsome Amalienborg Square and its royal and ministerial palaces; this district is bounded in the extreme north by the citadel and the adjoining public gardens and walks on the shores of the Sound.
Amongst its few buildings of historical interest or intrinsic beauty, the metropolitan cathedral church, known as Vor Frue Kirke, rebuilt after the bombardment of 1807, possesses statues of Christ and the Apostles, and a baptismal font, designed and in part executed by Thorwaldsen. Trinitatis-kirke is remarkable for its round tower, which is ascended by a winding causeway instead of steps; and Hohmens' Kirke contains interesting monuments to the great naval heroes, Juel and Tordenskjöld. An English church, built at a cost of £10,000, was consecrated in 1887. The royal palace, called Christiansborg, was rebuilt between 1794 and 1828, but was never remarkable for architectural beauty. The principal part of the vast building was destroyed by fire in 1884, when many precious works of art were destroyed. Happily most of the pictures in its great art gallery were saved. The castle of Rosenborg (1610-24), where the regalia are kept, contains interesting collections of objects of art; and the palace of Charlottenborg (1624) is now used as an academy of arts. The university was founded by Christian I. in 1479, has five faculties, 40 professors, and is attended by 1200 students. Connected with the university are a surgical academy, an observatory, a botanical garden, a zoological museum, a polytechnic institution, and a library of 250,000 volumes, containing also a great collection of ancient Persian MSS., and another of ancient northern MSS. Copenhagen is the centre, not only of Danish, but of northern literature and art, and is the seat of a number of societies for the advancement of these in all their branches, amongst which the most important are the Royal Society, founded in 1742; and the Royal Society for Northern Antiquities, founded in 1825; as well as agricultural, geographical, and other societies. The royal library contains 500,000 volumes, besides great treasures of Sanskrit and other MSS. The Museum of Northern Antiquities in Prindsens Palais, is unrivalled in its kind, having been made what it is mainly by Worsaae. The Thorwaldsen Museum, opened in 1846, consists of works of art by that sculptor himself, and others left by him to the Danish nation, for which a separate building has been erected. Copenhagen contains also a number of well-supported benevolent institutions, banks, theatres, an exchange, &c. There are statues of several of the Danish kings, of Tycho Brahe, and of the poets. The chief exports of Copenhagen are grain, rape-seed, butter, cheese, beef, cattle, wool, hides, bones, and grain-spirit. Porcelain, pianos, clocks, watches, mathematical instruments, chemicals, sugar, beer, and tobacco are manufactured.
About the middle of the 12th century, Copenhagen was but a fishing-village, in the neighbourhood of which Bishop Axel, or Absalon, built a castle. In 1254 the village obtained the privileges of a town, and in 1443 King Christopher made it the capital of the kingdom. It was several times attacked by the Hanseatic League; was besieged by the Swedes in the 17th century; was bombarded by the English, Dutch, and Swedes in 1700; suffered grievously by fires in 1728, 1794, and 1795; witnessed a great sea-fight in its roads on 2d April 1801, when the English, under Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson as his second in command, destroyed the Danish fleet; and (to prevent the Danish fleet from falling into the power of Napoleon) was bombarded by the English from the 2d to the 5th of September 1807, when great destruction was wrought, both in houses and public buildings, and hundreds of persons lost their lives (see DENMARK). In 1888 an international exhibition was held here.