The Öresund region is a transnational region in southern Scandinavia that consists of Skåne on the Swedish side and Zealand, Falster, Møn, Lolland and Bornholm on the Danish side of the Øresund strait. These places are connected by the Øresund Bridge, one of the major landmarks of the region. The five islands constitute the Danish part and Scania constitutes the Swedish part of the ‘sound’.
The Öresund region has a total area of 21,203 km2 distributed between the two sides. Of this area, the Swedish side has 11,369 km2 and the Danish side has 9,834 km2. As of 1 January 2010, the population of the region has been calculated to 3.7 million with a density of about 179/km². A majority of the population of Öresund region is composed by the Danish part with a greater population density as compared to that on the Swedish side.
Geographic diversity is considerable in the region, exhibiting relatively sparsely populated rural communities in the eastern Skåne to dense urban areas like Malmö and Copenhagen. Apart from Malmö, Lund and Helsingborg are the other important urban hubs on the Swedish side of the region. Although Lund is sometimes counted into a ‘Greater Malmö’, it is distinct from the city both culturally as well as geographically.
The largest municipalities on the Danish side include Copenhagen, Frederiksberg and Roskilde while those on the Swedish part include Malmö, Helsingborg and Lund. In the south, the two parts of the Oresund region are connected by the 16 km long Øresund Bridge that links Copenhagen and the Greater Malmö. Also, ferry lines between Helsingør and Helsingborg connect both the sides on the northern part of Öresund.
Eastern and northern Scania as well as western and southern parts of Denmark are the regions with relatively lower population density while the central Copenhagen-Malmö axis is the densely populated urban part in Scandinavia.
