Tranekær municipality

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tranekær municipality, is a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Funen County on the island of Langeland in south-central Denmark. The municipality includes the islands of Siø, and covers an area of 107 km². It has a total population of 3,467 (2005). Its mayor is Jørgen Nielsen, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

The main town and the site of its municipal council is the town of Tranekær.

Because Tranekær municipality is located at the far north end of the island, it has only one neighboring municipality with land connection— Rudkøbing to the south. To the west are the waters of the Great Belt and to the north and east are the waters of the Langeland Belt (Langelandsbælt).

The municipality was created in 1970 due to a kommunalreform ("Municipality Reform") that combined a number of existing parishes:

Bøstrup Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)
Hov Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)
Snøde Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)
Stoense Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)
Tranekær Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)
Tullebølle Parish (Langelands Nørre Herred)

By January 1, 2007 Tranekær municipality will cease to exist as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007). It will be merged with existing Rudkøbing and Sydlangeland municipalities to form the new Langeland municipality. This will create a municipality with an area of 290 km² and a total population of 14,223 (2005). The new municipality will belong to the new Region Syddanmark ("South Denmark Region").