Peberholm Swedish Pepparholm, is a small artificial island

Artificial island

An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...

 located in the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 part of the Øresund. It forms part of Tårnby municipality

Tårnby

Tårnby Kommune is a municipality bordering Copenhagen on the island of Amager just south of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality includes the islands of Saltholm and Peberholm, and covers an area of 65 km². It has a total population of 40,214...

. It was created as part of the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 with Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. Peberholm was constructed in the proximity of the small natural island of Saltholm

Saltholm

Saltholm is a Danish island in the Øresund, the strait that separates Denmark and Sweden. It is located to the east of the Danish island of Amager in Tårnby municipality and lies just to the west of the sea border between Denmark and Sweden. It is 7 km long and 3 km wide, covering an...

 (Salt Islet), and was affectionately named to complement it.

Reasons for construction

The main reason for construction the island was to have a crossover point between the tunnel and the bridge.

The tunnel was built since a bridge spanning the entire link between Malmö and Copenhagen would have interfered with obstacle-free zones around Kastrup Airport

Copenhagen Airport

Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...

. Another reason was to provide an opportunity for large ships to pass the Öresund

Oresund

The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...

 without worrying about the height of the bridge. To make the Øresund Bridge higher would interfere with the freight train traffic.

The other main reason was that the Øresund had to be dug deeper in order not to decrease the flow of the water because of the bridge. The material was used to create this island. The area was so shallow, and the amount of material so large, that it was chosen to make the island as long as 4 km.

Built to preserve ecology

The original designs for a bridge across the Øresund required extensive use of Saltholm as a stepping-stone for the bridge. They required either the construction of both a motorway and railway across Saltholm or an expansion of the existing island to serve the same purpose.

Both of these options were ultimately abandoned in order to protect the island's ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

; Danish and Swedish politicians decided instead to construct an artificial island immediately south of Saltholm to achieve that goal. The location was chosen in the belief that it would ensure the freest flow of water through the sound, a key element in the debate about whether or not the bridge should be constructed.

Peberholm is protected by strict laws. Only biologists are allowed one annual visit to the areas of the island outside of the railroad and highway to which the island owes its creation.

The island is considered to be a biological experiment. Scientists hoped that nature would colonize it and make the island flourish on its own, without any human interaction whatsoever. As of June 2007, scientists from the Biological Society of Lund

Lund

-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...

had registered 454 species of plants on the island.