Skørping

Skørping is a town and a former municipality (Danish, "kommune") in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as "Himmerland" in northern Denmark. The former Skørping municipality covered an area of 238 km², and had a total population of 9,835 (2005).

On January 1, 2007 Skørping municipality ceased to exist as the result of "Kommunalreformen" ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007). It was merged with Nørager and Støvring municipalities to form the new Rebild municipality. This created a municipality with an area of 628 km² and a total population of 28,457 (2005).

Attractions

The area is in the middle of the Rold Forest ("Rold Skov"), Denmark's largest forest area, and Lake Madum ("Madum Sø") and Large Oks Lake ("Store Okssø") lie south of the town of Skørping.

"Rebild Bakker" ("Rebild Hills") is a national park consisting of heather-covered hills, which is located in the municipality near the village of Rebild. The area was purchased in 1911 by a group of Americans with Danish background, and in 1912 the park was given to the Danish state as a present with three conditions:
* That the area should remain in a natural state
* That it would be open to the public
* That Danish-Americans could celebrate American holidays at the park.

The Rebild National Park Society Inc. is an American non-profit company, whose purpose is to arrange an annual Independence Day (4th of July) festival at the park. The first Rebild Festival took place in 1912, when King Christian X spoke to a crowd of 10.000. The day has been celebrated every single year since then, with the exception of the periods during World War I and World War II. It is the largest 4th of July celebration outside the United States, and features speeches by American and Danish politicians, and entertainment.

The park is visited by 400,000 people each year, making it one of Denmark's major tourist attractions. It has many hiking trails, and sheep wander loose in the hilly terrain. There is also a full-size reproduction of Abraham Lincoln's log cabin and a totem pole in the park.

External links

* [http://www.rebild.dk/ Rebild municipality's official website (Danish only)]
* [http://www.roldskovturist.dk/eng/index.htm Rebild-Skørping tourism bureau] kommune/ The new Rebild municipality's official website (Danish only)] -->
* [http://www.roldskovturist.dk/eng/index.htm Rebild-Skørping tourism bureau]

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/region/media/nyekommuner.shtml Eniro new municipalities map]