JUTLAND (Danish _Jylland_), though embracing several islands as well as
a peninsula, may be said to belong to the continental portion of the
kingdom of Denmark. The peninsula (Chersonese or Cimbric peninsula of
ancient geography) extends northward, from a line between Lubeck and the
mouth of the Elbe, for 270 m. to the promontory of the Skaw (Skagen),
thus preventing a natural communication directly east and west between
the Baltic and North Seas. The northern portion only is Danish, and
bears the name Jutland. The southern is German, belonging to
Schleswig-Holstein. The peninsula is almost at its narrowest (36 m.) at
the frontier, but Jutland has an extreme breadth of 110 m. and the
extent from the south-western point (near Ribe) to the Skaw is 180 m.
Jutland embraces nine _amter_ (counties), namely, Hjorring, Thisted,
Aalborg, Ringkjobing, Viborg, Randers, Aarhus, Vejle and Ribe. The main
watershed of the peninsula lies towards the east coast; therefore such
elevated ground as exists is found on the east, while the western slope
is gentle and consists of a low sandy plain of slight undulation. The
North Sea coast (western) and Skagerrack coast (north-western) consist
mainly of a sweeping line of dunes with wide lagoons behind them. In the
south the northernmost of the North Frisian Islands (Fano) is Danish.
Towards the north a narrow mouth gives entry to the Limfjord, or
Liimfjord, which, wide and ramifying among islands to the west, narrows
to the east and pierces through to the Cattegat, thus isolating the
counties of Hjorring and Thisted (known together as Vendsyssel). It is,
however, bridged at Aalborg, and its depth rarely exceeds 12 ft. The
seaward banks of the lagoons are frequently broken in storms, and the
narrow channels through them are constantly shifting. The east coast is
slightly bolder than the west, and indented with true estuaries and
bays. From the south-east the chain of islands forming insular Denmark
extends towards Sweden, the strait between Jutland and Funen having the
name of the Little Belt. The low and dangerous coasts, off which the
seas are generally very shallow, are efficiently served by a series of
lifeboat stations. The western coast region is well compared with the
Landes of Gascony. The interior is low. The Varde, Omme, Skjerne, Stor
and Karup, sluggish and tortuous streams draining into the western
lagoons, rise in and flow through marshes, while the eastern Limfjord is
flanked by the swamps known as Vildmose. The only considerable river is
the Gudenaa, flowing from S.W. into the Randersfjord (Cattegat), and
rising among the picturesque lakes of the county of Aarhus, where the
principal elevated ground in the peninsula is found in the Himmelbjerg
and adjacent hills (exceeding 500 ft.). The German portion of the
peninsula is generally similar to that of western Jutland, the main
difference lying in the occurrence of islands (the North Frisian) off
the west coast in place of sand-bars and lagoons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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