The Port of Copenhagen is the largest city in and capital of Denmark. Located on the islands of Amager and Zealand about three kilometers southeast of the Port of Tuborg and 21 nautical miles south-southwest of Sweden's Port of Helsinborg, the Port of Copenhagen is an important financial and economic center for Denmark and the Scandinavian-Baltic region, with many regional headquarters and distribution centers representing the world's major international corporations. Over two thousand foreign companies have offices in the Port of Copenhagen. In 2009, over 1.1 million people lived in the Port of Copenhagen, and almost 1.9 million called the metropolitan area home.

The economy of the Port of Copenhagen is largely based on services, and the life sciences and research and development are important to the economy. The city is home to several major pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as an information technology sector that employs some 100 thousand workers. The Port of Copenhagen has some of the highest wages in the world as well as some of the highest taxes, making it one of the most expensive cities in Europe.

In the early 10th Century, the Viking Age, a small fishing village called Havn stood at the site of today's Port of Copenhagen. Archaeological evidence shows that there was a small town there in the 11th Century with a church, a market, a couple of wells, a large estate, and smaller habitations in the area.

By the middle of the 12th Century, the Port of Copenhagen came of age when the town was fortified Absalon, Bishop of Roskilde. Its excellent natural harbor then encouraged the growth of trade and commerce. In fact, the city's name is derived from "Kopmannaehafn," meaning merchants' harbor. In 1254, the Port of Copenhagen received its city charter.

Made capital of Denmark and residence to the royal family in 1445, the Port of Copenhagen was frequently attacked by the Hanseatic League during the period of the Protestant Reformation. When the Protestant Reformation reached the country in 1536, Lutheranism became the official state religion.

Trade flourished during the late 16th Century, and the city grew quickly. In 1583, the world's oldest amusement park, Bakken, began with the discovery of a natural spring at Dyrehaven. Rides, games, and a restaurant were constructed there. Bakken still exists today. During the reign of King Christian IV from 1588 to 1648, many amazing new buildings arose in the Port of Copenhagen. Some of the new buildings were constructed included the famous Round Tower, the Palace of Rosenborg, the Old Stock Exchange, the Old Citadel, and the Canals of Copenhagen.

In the middle 17th Century, the Port of Copenhagen repelled a two-year siege and assault led by Charles X of Sweden. Under the reign of Christian IV during the 17th Century, the Port of Copenhagen became a significant center for the region. In 1711, the Port of Copenhagen was visited by the Black Death, and nearly one-third of the city's population died.

In 1728, several terrible fires struck the city, and the Port of Copenhagen was destroyed. By the time the city was reconstructed, the medieval part of Old Copenhagen had completely and permanently changed. The first free hospital in Denmark was opened by King Frederik V in 1757 to celebrate his birthday. In 1775, the famous Royal Copenhagen was established, creating some of the finest porcelain dining ware in the world for the royal family.

In 1801, the Battle of Copenhagen saw the Danish Navy defending the city from the British fleet. During the battle, Lord Nelson reportedly put his telescope "to the blind eye" so that he could not see Admiral Parker's signal to cease fire. In 1807, the British bombed the Port of Copenhagen in an attempt to control the Danish Navy, and hundreds of people were killed while the city was severely damaged. Losses were great because the Port of Copenhagen continued to rely on an antiquated defense line.

Under the reign of King Frederik VI, the country went bankrupt in 1813, and Denmark had to relinquish Norway, which it had held for over 450 years, to Sweden. In 1819, Denmark's first steamship, the SS Caledonia, began its route between Kiel and the Port of Copenhagen. In the 1830s, the Port of Copenhagen began to recover from Denmark's bankruptcy. The famous Carlsberg Brewery was established in 1847 by J.C. Jacobsen.

In the 1850s, the Port of Copenhagen's old city walls were razed, and the old ramparts were opened, allowing the city to grow beyond its historic boundaries. Before these actions, about 125 thousand people lived in the Port of Copenhagen. By 1870, the population was over 140 thousand. In August 1875, beloved fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen passed away, and his funeral at the Port of Copenhagen's Cathedral, was attended by thousands. In 1880, the steamship SS Thingvalla departed the Port of Copenhagen carrying about 1000 Scandinavian immigrants to New York.

In 1901, the Port of Copenhagen incorporated nearby communities, making the city of Frederiksberg, a community within the city. The Port of Copenhagen's Town Hall and Square was completed in 1905 with a 107-meter-tall tower that is open to the public. Danish aviation pioneer Jacob Christian Ellehammer set a European record for flight in 1906.

The first ocean-going diesel-powered ship in the world, the M/S Selandia, began her maiden voyage from the Port of Copenhagen to Bangkok in 1912. The vessel was built at Copenhagen's Burmeister & Wain shipyard. In the same year, A.P. Moller founded the Steamship Company in the Port of Copenhagen. Today, the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group is the world's largest ship operator operating the world's biggest container ships, operating over 130 offices around the world.

German troops occupied the Port of Copenhagen and the whole of Denmark during World War II, holding it from 1940 until 1945. In 1943, the Royal Danish Navy sunk several ships in the Port of Copenhagen Harbor to keep German vessels from using the port.

Since the end of World War II, the Port of Copenhagen has continued to grow. Denmark's first skyscrapers rose in the Port of Copenhagen in the early 1950s. In 1967, the Port of Copenhagen celebrated its 800th Anniversary at a 1300-meter-long coffee table that reached from the Kongens Nytorv to the Town Hall Square, serving more than 80 thousand cups of coffee and tons of Danish pastries.

In 2000, the Port of Copenhagen was connected to Sweden when the Oresund Bridge was inaugurated by Queen Margrethe II and King Carl XVI Gustaf. The amazing bridge stretches some 15.5 kilometers across the Oresund strait and allows passage by rail and vehicles.

Today, the Port of Copenhagen is the largest city in Scandinavia and an important arts and culture center with the longest pedestrian street system in the world. It is an international city with rich educational and commercial sectors, offering some of the highest quality of life standards in the world.

Copenhagen Malmo Port AB (CMP) is the port authority for the Port of Copenhagen. Copenhagen is at the heart of the Oresund Region, reaching almost four million consumers. It is an important gateway to over 100 million consumers in the Baltic Sea region. CMP meets the region's demands for the movement of passengers, consumer goods, building materials, new cars, aviation fuel, and many other cargoes. One of every four tourists that arrive in the Port of Copenhagen arrives on a cruise ship, and the CMP provides the services to help those visitors enjoy their stay in the city. The cruise industry alone creates about two thousand jobs in the Port of Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Malmo Port develops environmentally-sustainable transport services, coordinates port operations and infrastructure, assures maritime safety and environmental responsibility, provides port-related services, represents the Port of Copenhagen with national and international partners, and promotes port growth and employment.

The Port of Copenhagen covers a production area of about 200 hectares and a development area of about 300 hectares. The port contains two harbors, one with free port status. With capacity to handle Panamax vessels, total quay length in the Port of Copenhagen is 16.5 kilometers, and the port contains 36 kilometers of railway tracks. The Port of Copenhagen contains ten berths serving ferries and roll-on/roll-off vessels. The port contains two modern container terminals covering 250 thousand square meters, four car terminals, and bulk terminals. The Port of Copenhagen is equipped with four container gantry cranes, one mobile crane, and ten rail-mounted cranes. The port also has 200 thousand square meters of warehouse space and tank capacity for two million cubic meters.

In 2008, the Port of Copenhagen handled a total of 18 million tons of cargo, including 7.2 million tons of liquid bulk, 3.3 million tons of dry bulk, and 7.5 million tons of other cargoes. The same year, the Port of Copenhagen served 800 thousand passengers. It handled 194 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo, 368 thousand new cars, and 327 units of roll-on/roll-off cargo.

The Port of Copenhagen is a busy center for cargo-handling and other services for the automotive industry. The Port of Copenhagen's CkandiaTransport terminal in Freeport covers 100 thousand square meters and includes a 1.8 thousand square meter PDI facility and rail service. The terminal's quay is 298 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters, and it has a 32-meter wide roll-on/roll-off ramp.

The Malmo-Autolink Terminal in the Port of Copenhagen is also located in Freeport. The terminal covers 97 thousand square meters, including 16 thousand square meters of roofed area and a 3-thousand square meter PDI facility. The terminal has a 45-meter wide roll-on/roll-off ramp with alongside depth of 9.2 meters, and it is equipped with rail track.

Also located in Freeport, the Toyota Nordic Hub Terminal in the Port of Copenhagen covers 250 thousand square meters and contains two quays. Quay 616 is 325 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters, and Quay 617 is 190 meters long with alongside depth of 9 meters. The facility's roll-on/roll-off ramp is 28 meters wide, and the terminal includes a PDI facility and rail tracks.

The Malmo-Motortransport Terminal in the Port of Copenhagen's Freeport covers 190 thousand square meters and contains a 5.5 thousand square meter PDI facility. The 45-meter wide roll-on/roll-off ramp has alongside depth of 9.2 meters and is equipped with rail track.

Container traffic is important to the Port of Copenhagen, with primarily consumer goods arriving on feeder ships from Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Bremerhaven. The Port of Copenhagen has two container terminals in the Oresund Region and large areas for future expansions. The Port of Copenhagen's container terminals are located in Copenhagen and Malmo in the heart of the Oresund Region.

The Copenhagen Container Terminal has water depth of 9.5 meters with no limitations on beam, LOA, or air draft. The terminal is equipped with 12 45-ton straddle carriers, three 50-ton gantry cranes, 11 container trucks, 10 terminal tractors, and four container movers. The Port of Copenhagen's Malmo Container Terminal has water depth of 9.2 meters. LOA maximum is 240 meters, but there are no limitations on beam or air draft. The Malmo terminal is equipped with one 40-ton gantry crane, a 40-ton multi-purpose crane, four container trucks, and 15 terminal tractors.

The Port of Copenhagen has the biggest dry bulk terminals in eastern Denmark and western Sweden. While most of the bulk cargoes are imports and exports for the regional market, some of the products are transit cargoes. Serving almost four million consumers, the bulk terminals are convenient to rail and road networks with the hinterland. The CMP is building a new 650-meter quay and adding a new 18-hectare bulk area in the Port of Copenhagen that will be operational by 2010.

The Port of Copenhagen's Malmo Swede Harbour has a 200-meter long quay with water depth of 13.5 meters and can accommodate fully-loaded Panamax vessels. The 100 thousand square meter terminal area includes 16 thousand square meters of roofed storage. The Sodra Bulkhamnen in the Port of Copenhagen has a 330-meter quay with water depth of 6 meters.

Bulk cargo facilities in the Copenhagen include the 180 thousand square meter Provestenen terminal with three quays of 554 meters and water depth of 10.5 meters, the Amagervaerket berth with five quays of 480 meters and water depth of 12 meters, the Margretheholmen berth with one 140-meter quay with alongside depth of 6 meters, and the Nordhavnen docks for smaller vessels with water depths from 6.3 to 6.7 meters.

The Port of Copenhagen's liquid bulk facilities serve both regional and international markets. In a central location that is ideal for handling and storing transit oil, the facilities are connected by pipeline with the Copenhagen Airport to supply jet fuel. The Port of Copenhagen moves large volumes of transit oil through its terminals in Copenhagen and Malmo that have deep-water quays and a substantial bunker station to serve the many vessels using the port.

The Port of Copenhagen's oil terminals have ample docking facilities. In Copenhagen, Quay C840 is 69 meters long with alongside depth of 12 meters and can accommodate vessels to 145 meters long. Quay 843 is 305 meters long with alongside depth of 12 meters and can accommodate vessels to 275 meters long with 50 meters beam. Quay Kaj1 is 267 meters long with alongside depths from 9.1 to 10.5 meters.

The oil terminals at the Port of Copenhagen's Malmo location have eight quays. Quays M1003 and M1004 are each 70 meters long with alongside depth of 13.5 meters and can accommodate vessels to 240 meters long with beam of 45 meters. Quay M1005 is 65 meters long with alongside depth of 9 meters and can accommodate vessels to 130 meters long with beam of 22 meters. Quays M1006, M1007, M1008, and M1009 are each 25 meters long with alongside depth of 6 meters and can accommodate vessels to 90 meters long with beam of 17 meters. Quay M1010 is 31 meters long with alongside depth of 6 meters and can accommodate vessels to 100 meters long with beam of 17 meters.

While CMP owns oil terminals in Copehagen and Malmo, it rents land to other operators in Copenhagen and manages a network of pipelines in Malmo. Total tank capacity is about two million cubic meters, and some of the tanks are isolated and can be cooled to 60 °. The Malmo oil terminal operated by Oljehamnen has 8 quays with water depth of 13.5 meters and pipelines linked to individual company tanks. The Copenhagen oil terminal operated by Provestenen has three quays and water depth of 11.8 meters with pipeline links to individual company tanks and to the Copenhagen Airport.

The Port of Copenhagen handles roll-on/roll-off traffic for goods moving from Sweden to Europe, Russia, and the Baltic States. The roll-on/roll-off terminals are well-equipped with modern handling equipment and procedures and easy access to the port entrance and rail tracks at the terminals. In addition, ferries serve both roll-on/roll-off cargoes and over 800 thousand passengers each year. Ferry passengers travel to and from Norway, Poland, and Germany. The terminals have at least three ferry berths easy access to the road network. Ferry traffic will be relocated from Malmo to Norra Hamnen in 2011 to provide better services for shipping companies desiring new east-west connections in the Baltic Sea and better connections for motor tourists.

The Port of Copenhagen boasts the leading cruise ship port in Northern Europe. Cruise ships make over 320 calls in the Port of Copenhagen each year. Cruise ships arrive in both Copenhagen and Malmo about 26 kilometers apart. The two cruise stations are connected by the Oresund Bridge, and the Copenhagen Airport is near the bridge on the Denmark side. By 2012, a new cruise ship quay will be operating in the Port of Copenhagen for turn-around ships changing passengers and crew in the city.

In 2009, the Mayor of Malmo broke ground for a major new port facility in Norra Hamnen that will include three new terminals and provide for the transfer of goods between ships, trucks, and trains. Relocating the container terminal to Norra Hamnen will free 140 thousand square meters for the distribution of cars in the Baltic Sea and free ferry berths for use by cruise ships in Malmo.

The beautiful City of Copenhagen is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world With one foot in the past and one foot in the future, it combines old-world charm with new-world panache. Visitors will delight to the narrow streets and squares, modern art and architecture, historic buildings and memories, the bicycle culture, designer shops, trendy nightclubs, and cool cafes. There are far too many things to see and do in the Port of Copenhagen to describe in this article. Please visit the Port of Copenhagen's tourism website for more information.

The Port of Copenhagen's climate is mild throughout the year. Summers are comfortable, and winters are cold. Rainfall is moderate and spread evenly through the year. Cloudy skies are normal. While snow falls December through March, it is soon gone. Temperatures in the Port of Copenhagen range from an average high of 21 °C (70 °F) in July and August to an average low of -1 °C (30 °F) in January.

Visitors to the Port of Copenhagen will not want to miss seeing the Rosenberg Castle, built in the early 17th Century by King Christian IV as a royal retreat. Today, it is a museum covering 300 years of the Danish monarchy. The basement contains the current queen's State Jewelry and Royal Regalia. The Castle is more than a museum. It's a beautiful historic building containing some of the country's most precious cultural treasures. Describing the monarchy from the Rule of Frederik II in the late 16th Century to Frederik VII in the 19th Century, the museum houses over 250 exhibits related to the Kings and Queens of Denmark. The Palace stands at the end of the sumptuously beautiful and popular King's Gardens.

King Christian IV also built the Port of Copenhagen's Rundetaarn (Round Tower) in 1642. This ancient observatory contains a 209-meter-long winding passage from its base to the tower Observatory offering breathtaking views of the Old Town. The Rundetaarn was the first stage in the King's Trinitatis complex built as a gathering place for 17th Century scholars. The spiral walkway is unique to architecture in Europe. Winding over seven times around the hollow tower core, it is the only connection between the different parts of the complex. Used exclusively by the University of Copenhagen until 1861, the Rundetaarn is open to the public today.

The Port of Copenhagen is also home to the world-famous Tivoli Gardens. Located in the middle of the city, the gardens offer a variety of opportunities for quiet meditation or thrilling adventures. At twilight, colored lamps create a special atmosphere. Tivoli Gardens is both an amusement park and a pleasure garden. Opened in 1843, it is one of the world's oldest amusement parks. Founder Georg Carstensen talked King Christian VIII into giving him a charter for the park by reminding the king that people who were amusing themselves were not likely to think about politics. Perhaps best known for its 1914 wooden roller coaster, the Gardens are also popular as a venue for culture and the performing arts. The Tivoli Concert Hall features some of the world's best classical music. The open-air pantomime theatre is a Chinese-style historicist building with a mechanical front curtain that requires five men to operate. Aside from the daily pantomime performances, the theatre is also a venue for modern dance and ballet.

Travelers wanting to visit the Port of Copenhagen by sea can find a long list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.