Zealand Point
| Native name: Sjælland | |
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The Cliffs of Stevns south of Copenhagen
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| Geography | |
| Location | Baltic Sea |
| Coordinates | 55°30′N 11°45′E / 55.500°N 11.750°ECoordinates: 55°30′N 11°45′E / 55.500°N 11.750°E |
| Area | 7,031 km2 (2,715 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 126 m (413 ft) |
| Highest point | Unnamed |
| Administration | |
| Region | Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand |
| Largest settlement | Copenhagen (pop. 1,181,239) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 2,287,740 |
| Pop. density | 357.45 /km2 (925.79 /sq mi) |
Zealand (Danish: Sjælland, pronounced [ˈɕɛˌlanˀ]), at 7,031 km2, is the largest (excluding Greenland) and most populated island in Denmark with a population of 2,287,740 (39.8% of Denmark's total as of January 2017).
It is the 13th-largest island in Europe by area and the 4th most populous. It is connected to Funen by the Great Belt Fixed Link, to Lolland, Falster (and Germany from 2028) by the Storstrøm Bridge and the Farø Bridges. Zealand is also linked to Amager by several bridges. Zealand is linked indirectly, through intervening islands by a series of bridges and tunnels, to southern Sweden.
Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is located partly on the eastern shore of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager. Other cities on Zealand include Roskilde, Hillerød, Næstved and Helsingør. Despite their identical names, the island is not connected historically to the Pacific nation of New Zealand, which is named after the Dutch province of Zeeland.
The exact origin of the Danish name "Sjælland" is controversial. "Sjæl" in Danish today means "soul", but based on older records one can exclude this interpretation. Even a derivation derived from "siô / sæ" (meaning "sea") corresponding closely to the English name is today largely rejected - but it may be that the English name predated Danish research on its origin, compared with the current understanding; So the Danes themselves assumed that the name means "Zealand". The prevailing view today is: The Old Danish form "Siâland" comes from a composition of the word *selha- with the ending *wundia-. The latter means "indicates, resembles". The word *selha- can have two different meanings: it can mean on the one hand "seal" (in modern Danish "sæl") and on the other hand mean "deep bay, fjord". Since the main settlement on Zealand was previously Roskilde, which is only accessible by sea through the narrow Roskilde Fjord (branched from the Ise Fjord), it is usually assumed that the sailors named the island after this.
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Wikipedia