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Sønderjyllands Amt
Sønderjyllands Amt's coat of arms.
Basic Facts
County seat	Aabenraa
Area	3,938 km²
Inhabitants	252,433 (2006)
Map

South Jutland County (Danish: Sønderjyllands Amt, German: Amt Südjütland) is a former county (Danish: amt) on the south-central portion of the Jutland peninsula in southern Denmark.

The county was formed on April 1, 1970, comprising the former counties of Aabenraa (E), Haderslev (N), Sønderborg (SE), and Tønder (SW). The county was abolished effective January 1, 2007, when Region Syddanmark (i.e. Region South Denmark) was formed.

Following the reunification of the region with Denmark, the Church of Denmark elevated Haderslev to a diocese in 1923^[1] and divided the region between the dioceses of Ribe (W) and Haderslev (E). This arrangement remains in effect.

South Jutland county is also known as Northern Schleswig (Danish: Nordslesvig, German: Nordschleswig). The name refers specifically to the southernmost 50 kilometers of the Danish part of the Jutland Peninsula that formerly belonged to the former Duchy of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig eller Sønderjylland); a Danish fief under the Kings of Denmark.

Denmark lost the Duchy of Schleswig, as well as the German Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg, to Prussia and Austria in 1864 in the Second War of Schleswig. Following Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), all three provinces were annexed to Prussia. Following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the Allied powers organised two plebiscites in Northern and Central Schleswig on 10 February and 14 March 1920, respectively. In Northern Schleswig 75% voted for reunification with Denmark and 25% for staying with Germany. In Central Schleswig the situation was reversed with 80% voting for Germany and 20% for Denmark. No vote ever took place in the southern third of Schleswig. On 15 June 1920, Northern Schleswig was officially reunited with Denmark.

Central Schleswig chose to remain with Southern Schleswig as part of Germany and is today a part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

A small minority of ethnic Germans still lives in South Jutland county - predomiantly in and near the towns of Tønder and Tinglev (German: Tondern and Tingleff) - though far smaller than the Danish minority in Germany.

Important settlements: Haderslev (31,000 people), Sønderborg (30,000), Aabenraa (22,000) and Tønder (12,000).

Main article: Coat of arms of Schleswig

The coat of arms of South Jutland County was designed in 1980 and is derived from the historic coat of arms of Schleswig which in turn is derived from the national coat of arms of Denmark. The inspiration for the Dannebrog pennant was a 13th century seal used by Erik Abelsøn, Duke of Schleswig.

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