Denmark Region, which encompasses the Copenhagen metropolitan area with the exception of the subtracted province East Zealand but includes the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, has a population three times larger than that of North Denmark Region, which covers the more sparsely populated area of northern Jutland. Under the county system certain densely populated municipalities, such as Copenhagen Municipality and Frederiksberg, had been given a status equivalent to that of counties, making them first-level administrative divisions. These "sui generis" municipalities were incorporated into the new regions under the 2007 reforms. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary state that comprises, in
History of Copenhagen a fairly wide area. In the 12th century Copenhagen assumed increasing importance and the town was reinforced with earthworks. The Roman Catholic Church erected cathedrals in Roskilde and in Lund (in what is now Sweden), which laid the basis for further development in those regional centres. As Copenhagen was midway between the two cities, it was centrally located for traffic and trading. The earliest written mention of the town dates back to the 12th century, when Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum refers to it as "Portus Mercatorum", which translates into Merchants' Harbour or in the Danish of the time "Købmannahavn".