Bornholm

Related Category: Scandinavian Political Geography

(bôrn´hôlm), county (1992 pop. 45,541), 227 sq mi (588 sq km), extreme E Denmark, in the Baltic Sea, near Sweden, consisting mainly of the island of Bornholm, which constitutes almost all of the land area and population of the county. The much smaller islands of the Ertholmene group (Christianø, Frederiksø, and Græsholm), to Bornholm's northeast, are also part of the county.

Bornholm is a low tableland, rocky and steep on its northern and western coasts. Farming, fishing, handicrafts, and tourism are the chief occupations; granite and kaolin are the main exports. Rønne is the principal town of the island and county.

Bornholm was divided (1149) between Denmark and Sweden, ruled (1327–1522) by the Danish archbishops, governed (1525–76) by Lübeck merchants, and ceded (1658) to Denmark. After Germany's surrender (May, 1945) in World War II, German forces made a desperate stand on Bornholm before Soviet troops forced them to surrender.