South Jutland County
Sønderjyllands Amt (English: South Jutland County) is a county in southern Denmark, on the peninsula of Jutland. South Jutland is also known as Northern Schleswig (Danish: Nordslesvig, German: Nordschleswig). The name refers specifically to the southernmost 30 kilometers of the Danish part of the Jutland Peninsula that used to be a part of the former Duchy of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig), a fief under the Danish Crown. Denmark lost the Duchy of Schleswig as well as the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg to Prussia and Austria in 1864 in the Second War of Schleswig. Following Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), all three provinces were annexed to Prussia. Following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the Allied powers organised two plebiscites in Northern and Central Schleswig on 10 February and 14 March 1920, respectively. In Northern Schleswig 75 % voted for reunification with Denmark and 25 % for staying with Germany. In Central Schleswig the situation was reversed with 80 % voting for Germany and 20 % for Denmark. No vote ever took place in the Southern third of Schleswig. On 15 June 1920, Northern Schleswig was officially reunited with Denmark. Central Schleswig chose to remain with Southern Schleswig as part of Germany and is today a part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. A small minority of ethnic Germans still lives in South Jutland, though far fewer than the Danish minority in Germany. The major towns are Haderslev, Sønderborg, Aabenraa, Tønder, and Padborg.
Municipalities
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