Thy (district)

Thy (ˈtshyˀ, local dialect [ˈthyi̯kjh]) is a traditional district in northwestern Jutland, Denmark. It is situated north of the Limfjord, facing the North Sea and Skagerrak, and has a population of around 44,000. The capital is Thisted. Snedsted, Hanstholm and Hurup are minor towns in the area. Since the Danish municipal reform of 1 January 2007, Thy is roughly identical with Thisted Municipality which belongs to the North Denmark Region. The southernmost part of Thy, the Thyholm Peninsula, belongs to Struer Municipality in the Central Denmark Region. Before the merger, Thy consisted of four municipalities: Hanstholm, Thisted, Sydthy and Thyholm. Thy forms the western part of the North Jutlandic Island and borders Hanherred to the northeast with Vendsyssel even further northeast. In the Limfjord is the island of Mors, considered a twin district of Thy, and south of the fjord is Hardsyssel in western mainland Jutland. Thy is traditionally regarded part of northern and western Jutland alike. The dialect belongs to the West Jutlandic group. Thy has a very varied landscape. In the north it is marked by flat coastal plains which were covered by sea in Neolithic times, but fell dry because of the post-glacial rebound. These are interrupted with higher-lying plains that were islands in the Neolithic sea. In the slopes that formed the coast in these times, high-lying limestone is often visible - hence the name of the Limfjord. The eastern stretch, facing the Limfjord, has quite fertile soil, is slightly hilly and dotted with small villages and farms like the landscape in most of rural Denmark. The landscape is marked by strong western winds, most trees bending eastwards. The west coast has wide beaches and high dunes with Leymus grass and sea-buckthorn. Behind the dunes, there is heath with stretches of Calluna heather, Iceland moss, Cladonia, crowberry, bilberry, blueberry, cranberry and orchids including the unique Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. calcifugiens. This is the result of huge sand drifts in the 15th to 19th centuries which covered much formerly fertile land.