DENMARK ÆRØ Island

Ærø is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities on the island: Ærøskøbing Kommune in the west and Marstal Kommune in the east. This merger was part of a reform of the public sector with the laws being effective as of 26 June 2005. This merger was allowed to happen one year before the other municipalities merged as there had already been an island-wide referendum with a majority of voters for the merger.