The Zealand reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Zealand

For the Dutch province, see Zeeland; and for the Pacific island country named for the province, see New Zealand.

Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) is the largest island of Denmark. It is located between Funen and Sweden. It is connected to Funen by the Great Belt Bridge and to Sweden by the Øresund Bridge.

The capital of Denmark, Copenhagen is located on the eastern shore of Zealand. Other cities on the island are Roskilde and Elsinore (Danish: Helsingør).

Cities

• Frederiksberg
• Elsinore
• Holbæk
• Copenhagen
• Køge
• Næstved
• Roskilde
• Slagelse
• Slangerup
• Sorø
• Vordingborg
• Vallensbæk

The name originates from the huge seal populations on the shores of Zealand, making the original name Seal-land (Sæl-land). In ancient Danish seal (sæl) and "soul" (sjæl) are very closely related words, as seals were thought to be souls of lost seamen.

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