Læsø

Læsø is the largest island in the North Sea bay of Kattegat, and is located km to mi|19 off the northeast coast of the Jutland Peninsula, the Danish mainland. Læsø is also the name of the municipality (Danish, "kommune") on that island.

The municipality of Læsø

The municipality is in Region Nordjylland in northern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 114 km², and has a total population of 2,003 (2008). Its mayor is Olav Juul Gaarn Larsen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Byrum.

Because Læsø is an island and lies in the Kattegat, its neighboring municipality, Frederikshavn on the Jutland peninsula, is separated by water, the "Læsø Rende", from the island municipality.

Ferry service connects Frederikshavn on the Jutland peninsula to the municipality at the town of Vesterø Havn.

Læsø municipality was not merged with other municipalities by January 1, 2007 as the result of nationwide "Kommunalreformen" ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007).

The island

Together with Anholt, Læsø belongs to the Danish "desert belt"; during the summer months there is so little rain that streams and ponds partly dry up.

In the Middle Ages the island was famous for its salt industry. The ground water can reach over 15 percent salt, and this was naturally concentrated in flat salt meadows during the hot dry summers. The final concentration, carried out in hundreds of salt kilns, consumed large amounts of wood. Eventually the island became deforested, sandstorms buried villages, and salt extraction was banned. Since the end of the 1980s it has been resumed on a small scale as an archaeological experiment and a tourist attraction.

Læsø is home to the Northern brown bee. The species is protected by Danish law which prohibits the import of other species to the island. The law has not been enforced and today normal bees and brown bees both are used for production of honey. The Island have been split in two parts for bee management, one for each species.

Læsø is the home of some of the most unique and impressive tunes and styles of Danish traditional music. Most of it is not played any more but has been preserved through intense documentation and research in the 1980s and 1990s.

External links

* [http://www.laesoe.dk Municipality's official website]

References

* Municipal statistics: [http://www2.netborger.dk/Kommunefakta/ NetBorger Kommunefakta] , delivered from [http://www.kmd.dk/ KMD aka Kommunedata (Municipal Data)]
* Municipal mergers and neighbors: [http://kommune.eniro.dk/danmarkskort/ Eniro new municipalities map]