Tønder is a municipality (Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

, kommune) in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 peninsula in south 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...

. The municipality covers an area of 1,278 km², and has a total population of 40,367 (2008). Its mayor is Laurids Rudebeck, a member of the Venstre

Venstre (Denmark)

VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...

 (Liberal Party) political party

Politics of Denmark

The Politics of Denmark takes place in a framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy, in which the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system...

.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Tønder

Tønder

Tønder is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,278 km², and has a total population of 40,367...

.

Subdivision

The municipality was created in 1970 as the result of a kommunalreform ("Municipal Reform") that merged a number of existing parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es:

• Abild Parish
• Hostrup Parish
• Møgeltønder Parish
• Tønder
  Tønder
  Tønder is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,278 km², and has a total population of 40,367...
  
   Parish
• Ubjerg Parish

History

On 1 January 2007, Tønder municipality was enlarged as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipal Reform" of 2007) when the Bredebro

Bredebro

Bredebro is a town with a population of 1,486 in Region of Southern Denmark in Denmark on the Jutland peninsula. The town was the original home of the ECCO shoe manufacturing company....

, Højer

Højer

Højer , is a town with a population of 1,255 and a former municipality in south Denmark, in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula. The municipality covered an area of 117 km², and had a total population of 2,861...

, Løgumkloster

Løgumkloster

Løgumkloster , is a town in Tønder municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark with a population of 3,618...

, Nørre-Rangstrup

Nørre-Rangstrup

Until 1 January 2007 Nørre-Rangstrup , was a municipality in the former South Jutland County on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 302 km², and had a total population of 9,502 . Its last mayor was Ole Østvig Nissen, a member of the Venstre political...

, and Skærbæk

Skærbæk

Skærbæk is a town with a population of 3,117 and a former municipality on the coast of Tønder municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark...

 municipalities were merged into the new Tønder municipality.

Government and politics

Distribution of the 31 seats in the municipal council:

• Venstre
  Venstre (Denmark)
  VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...
  
    12
• Social Democrats
  Social Democrats (Denmark)
  The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark...
  
    9
• Socialist People's Party
  Socialist People's Party (Denmark)
  The Socialist People's Party is a green and socialist political party in Denmark.-1959–69:The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark and CIA agent. Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet...
  
    3
• Conservative People's Party
  Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
  The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...
  
    2
• Liberal Alliance  2
• Schleswig Party 2
• Danish People's Party
  Danish People's Party
  The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...
  
  1

External links

• Municipality's official website