Skærbæk is a town with a population of 3,117 (1 January 2011) and a former municipality (Danish

Danish language

Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

, kommune

Municipalities of Denmark

This is a list of Municipalities of Denmark.-Region Hovedstaden:* Albertslund Municipality* Allerød Municipality* Ballerup Municipality* Bornholm Regional Municipality* Brøndby Municipality* Copenhagen Municipality* Dragør Municipality* Egedal Municipality...

) on the coast of Tønder

Tønder

Tønder is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,278 km², and has a total population of 40,367...

 municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

 peninsula in south Denmark. The former Skærbæk municipality covered an area of 360 km², and had a total population of 7,294 (2005).

The municipality included the island of Rømø

Rømø

Rømø is a Danish island in the Wadden Sea. Rømø is part of Tønder municipality. The island has 650 inhabitants as of 1 January 2011 and covers an area of 129 km². Rømø is a popular tourist spot each year....

, the southernmost of Denmark's part of the North Frisian Islands

North Frisian Islands

The North Frisian Islands are a group of islands in the Wadden Sea, a part of the North Sea, off the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The German islands are in the traditional region of North Frisia and are part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and the Kreis of...

. The island, which lies in the Wadden Sea ca. 6.5 km from the mainland, is a popular beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 area in the summer, and is linked to the mainland by a road— Rømøvej— running across a causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

. There is ferry service from the harbour on Rømø to another popular summer island, the German island of Sylt

Sylt

Sylt is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Frisia...

, less than 4 km south of Rømø.

The municipality was created in 1970 as the result of a kommunalreform ("Municipality Reform") that merged a number of existing parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es:

• Brøns Parish
• Døstrup Parish
• Mjolden Parish
• Rejsby Parish
• Rømø Parish
• Skærbæk Parish
• Vodder Parish

On January 1, 2007 Skærbæk municipality ceased to exist as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007). It was merged with Bredebro

Bredebro

Bredebro is a town with a population of 1,486 in Region of Southern Denmark in Denmark on the Jutland peninsula. The town was the original home of the ECCO shoe manufacturing company....

, Højer

Højer

Højer , is a town with a population of 1,255 and a former municipality in south Denmark, in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula. The municipality covered an area of 117 km², and had a total population of 2,861...

, Løgumkloster

Løgumkloster

Løgumkloster , is a town in Tønder municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark with a population of 3,618...

, Nørre-Rangstrup

Nørre-Rangstrup

Until 1 January 2007 Nørre-Rangstrup , was a municipality in the former South Jutland County on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 302 km², and had a total population of 9,502 . Its last mayor was Ole Østvig Nissen, a member of the Venstre political...

, and Tønder municipalities to form the new Tønder municipality. This created a municipality with an area of 1,352 km² and a total population of 42,645 (2005).