# The Øresund Bridge opens (1 July 2000)

URL: https://allhistories.com/denmark/timeline/2000-the-oresund-bridge-opens
Themes: Key Events

On 1 July 2000 Queen Margrethe II and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden opened the Øresund Link between Copenhagen and Malmö. The 16-kilometre connection combines a tunnel, an artificial island named Peberholm and a cable-stayed bridge carrying both road and railway. The link made daily commuting across the sound possible and encouraged the growth of the Øresund Region as an integrated labour and housing market, although border controls introduced during the 2015 migrant crisis and later the COVID-19 pandemic created new obstacles. The bridge became internationally famous through the Danish-Swedish crime series The Bridge (Broen).

## Why it matters
The Øresund Bridge ended centuries of separation by sea and created a cross-border metropolitan region.

Ruler at the Time: [Margrethe II](https://allhistories.com/denmark/rulers/margrethe-ii)

Prime Minister: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Social Democrats)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Øresund Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Øresund_Bridge)
- [Wikipedia — Øresund Region](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Øresund_Region)
- [Wikipedia — Malmö](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmö)
- [Wikipedia — Peberholm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peberholm)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Oresund Bridge](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Oresund+Bridge)