The Fehmarnbelt region comprises a number of important cities: Hamburg on the German side, Denmark’s largest city and capital - Copenhagen - and Sweden’s third largest city -Malmö.
The area closest to the Fehmarnbelt link is relatively sparsely populated compared to other parts of the region. On one side of the belt, in Lolland municipality, there are only 55 inhabitants per sq. km while, on the other side, Kreis Ostholstein has 148 inhabitants per sq. km. By comparison, the region’s most densely populated area, Hamburg, has 2,316 inhabitants per sq. km.