Sorø Municipality

Sorø municipality is a municipality (Danish, "kommune") in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand ("Sjælland") in east Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 317 km², and has a total population of 29,180 (2008). Its mayor is Ivan Hansen, a member of the Social Democrats ("Socialdemokraterne") political party.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Sorø. Other towns in the municipality are Dianalund, Stenlille, and Ruds-Vedby.

On January 1, 2007 Sorø municipality was, as the result of "Kommunalreformen" ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007), merged with existing Dianalund and Stenlille municipalities to form the new Sorø municipality.

The city of Sorø

"Main article: Sorø"

The city of Sorø has a population is 6.996 (2003), and is the site of both the municipal council and the county council. It is scheduled to be regional seat for Region Sjælland, one of the five new regions to be implantated in Denmark January 1, 2007.

While by no means the biggest city in Denmark, it has great historical value. It was founded in 1161 by Bishop Absalon, later the founder of Copenhagen, and is the site of Sorø Academy (Danish "Sorø Akademi") and Sorø Klosterkirke, the church where Absalon is buried, along with other notable Danes, including royalty. Queen Margaret I of Denmark was buried at this church until moved to Roskilde Cathedral in Roskilde.

External links

* [http://www.soroe.dk/ Municipality's official website]
* [http://www.turismesyd.dk/ East Denmark tourism information]

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]