Difference between revisions of "Denmark" - New World Encyclopedia
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Denmark borders the [[Baltic Sea]] on the southeast and the [[North Sea]] on the west, and a majority of its land mass lies on a peninsula named [[Jutland]] that protrudes northward from northern [[Germany]] between the two seas. The rest of the territory is made of many islands, including a few relatively large ones, such as Zealand, Fyn, and Bornholm. Zealand, which is well to the east of Jutland, has the largest and densest concentration of the Danish population, centering on the national capital, Copenhagen. Germany is Denmark's only land neighbor, but [[Norway]] lies about 140 km to the north across a branch of the North Sea called the Skagerrak and [[Sweden]] lies both to the east, across a narrow strait off Zealand called The Sound, and northeast, across a 70 km-wide body of water named the Kattegat. Sweden is visible from Copenhagen on a clear day. | Denmark borders the [[Baltic Sea]] on the southeast and the [[North Sea]] on the west, and a majority of its land mass lies on a peninsula named [[Jutland]] that protrudes northward from northern [[Germany]] between the two seas. The rest of the territory is made of many islands, including a few relatively large ones, such as Zealand, Fyn, and Bornholm. Zealand, which is well to the east of Jutland, has the largest and densest concentration of the Danish population, centering on the national capital, Copenhagen. Germany is Denmark's only land neighbor, but [[Norway]] lies about 140 km to the north across a branch of the North Sea called the Skagerrak and [[Sweden]] lies both to the east, across a narrow strait off Zealand called The Sound, and northeast, across a 70 km-wide body of water named the Kattegat. Sweden is visible from Copenhagen on a clear day. | ||
| − | Denmark's area, slightly above 43,000 km², is about the same as Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. Its population, at nearly 5.5 million, is about the size of Wisconsin's. | + | Denmark's area, slightly above 43,000 km², is about the same as Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. Its population, at nearly 5.5 million, is about the size of Wisconsin's. |
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| + | Until 1848 Denmark's southern border lay approximately 40 km farther south than it does today. This area, known as Schleswig-Holstein, was lost in an armed dispute with Germany. | ||
There are two Crown territories of Denmark, both well to the west of the mainland and each allowed political home rule: [[Greenland]], the world's largest island, and the [[Faeroe Islands]], located about midway between Norway and [[Iceland]]. | There are two Crown territories of Denmark, both well to the west of the mainland and each allowed political home rule: [[Greenland]], the world's largest island, and the [[Faeroe Islands]], located about midway between Norway and [[Iceland]]. | ||
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== History == | == History == | ||
| − | The | + | The origins of the Danish people are generally lost in prehistory, but there are some indications that their forebears moved into the area from what is presentday Sweden. In the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., peoples from the southeastern shores of the North Sea made a large migration to Great Britain's southeast coast. These were tribes such as the Jutes, who occupied parts of Jutland; the Angles, who lived in an area of Schleswig-Holstein named Angeln; and the Saxons, who inhabited an area father south along the German coast. Some believe they left their homeland because of pressure from the [[Huns]], who were moving across Europe. Others make the case that groups moving west from Sweden forced them out. In any case, the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and others landed in waves on Britain's shores, pushed the occupying Celts westwards, began what has become known as Anglo-Saxon culture, and were the linguistic precursors of all English-speaking peoples. The words "England" and "English" come directly from the Danish place-name of Angeln. |
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| + | The oldest [[Danevirke]] is from the 7th century C.E., at the same time as the new [[Runic alphabet]]. Oldest city: Ribe is from about 810. | ||
Up into the 10th century the Danes were known as [[Vikings]], together with Norwegians and Swedes, colonizing, raiding, and trading in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the ninth century, en route to the Faroe Islands. Erik the Red, or Erik Thorvaldson, was exiled from the colony for manslaughter in 980 and set sail for the west, to explore the lands to the west. He established the first settlements in Greenland around this time, naming the land, according to legend, to attract settlers. | Up into the 10th century the Danes were known as [[Vikings]], together with Norwegians and Swedes, colonizing, raiding, and trading in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the ninth century, en route to the Faroe Islands. Erik the Red, or Erik Thorvaldson, was exiled from the colony for manslaughter in 980 and set sail for the west, to explore the lands to the west. He established the first settlements in Greenland around this time, naming the land, according to legend, to attract settlers. | ||
Revision as of 07:12, 30 April 2006
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| Location of Denmark | |||||
| Principal language | Danish | ||||
| Capital | Copenhagen | ||||
| Queen | Margrethe II | ||||
| Prime minister | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 131st 43,094 km² 1.6% | ||||
| Population - Total (2005) - Density |
Ranked 108th 5,415,978 125/km² | ||||
| Currency | Danish krone | ||||
| Time zone | Universal Time +1 | ||||
| National anthem | Der er et yndigt land (There Is a Lovely Land) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .dk | ||||
| Country calling code | 45 | ||||
The Kingdom of Denmark is geographically the smallest and southernmost Nordic country. It is located in Scandinavia, a region of northern Europe, but it does not lie on the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Denmark borders the Baltic Sea on the southeast and the North Sea on the west, and a majority of its land mass lies on a peninsula named Jutland that protrudes northward from northern Germany between the two seas. The rest of the territory is made of many islands, including a few relatively large ones, such as Zealand, Fyn, and Bornholm. Zealand, which is well to the east of Jutland, has the largest and densest concentration of the Danish population, centering on the national capital, Copenhagen. Germany is Denmark's only land neighbor, but Norway lies about 140 km to the north across a branch of the North Sea called the Skagerrak and Sweden lies both to the east, across a narrow strait off Zealand called The Sound, and northeast, across a 70 km-wide body of water named the Kattegat. Sweden is visible from Copenhagen on a clear day.
Denmark's area, slightly above 43,000 km², is about the same as Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. Its population, at nearly 5.5 million, is about the size of Wisconsin's.
Until 1848 Denmark's southern border lay approximately 40 km farther south than it does today. This area, known as Schleswig-Holstein, was lost in an armed dispute with Germany.
There are two Crown territories of Denmark, both well to the west of the mainland and each allowed political home rule: Greenland, the world's largest island, and the Faeroe Islands, located about midway between Norway and Iceland.
Geography
Along with the Jutland peninsula, Denmark consists of 405 named islands. Of these, 323 are inhabited, with the two largest being, in order, Zealand and Fyn. The island of Bornholm is offset somewhat to the east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea between southern Sweden and northwestern Poland. (During the years of the Iron Curtain, Poles would occasionally manage to escape the Communist rule of their homeland by fleeing at night by boat to Bornholm.)
Many of the larger islands are connected by long bridges. One, actually a bridge/tunnel system, connects Copenhagen with Sweden's third-largest city, Malmö, at The Sound's widest expanse. Another spans the gap between Zealand and Fyn, carrying rail as well as highway traffic. The construction on both was finished in the late 1990s. The smaller distance between Jutland and Fyn was bridged in two places in the 1930s and 1970s. A plan for a bridge exists to connect the southern island of Lolland, south of Zealand, to Germany. Surface connection to the smaller islands, including Bornholm, is by ferry.
[??Bridge image here??]
The country is mostly flat with little elevation; the highest natural point is Møllehøj, at 171 m. The climate is temperate, with mild winters and cool summers. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Aarhus, Aalborg (on Jutland) and Odense (on Fyn).
History
The origins of the Danish people are generally lost in prehistory, but there are some indications that their forebears moved into the area from what is presentday Sweden. In the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., peoples from the southeastern shores of the North Sea made a large migration to Great Britain's southeast coast. These were tribes such as the Jutes, who occupied parts of Jutland; the Angles, who lived in an area of Schleswig-Holstein named Angeln; and the Saxons, who inhabited an area father south along the German coast. Some believe they left their homeland because of pressure from the Huns, who were moving across Europe. Others make the case that groups moving west from Sweden forced them out. In any case, the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and others landed in waves on Britain's shores, pushed the occupying Celts westwards, began what has become known as Anglo-Saxon culture, and were the linguistic precursors of all English-speaking peoples. The words "England" and "English" come directly from the Danish place-name of Angeln.
The oldest Danevirke is from the 7th century C.E., at the same time as the new Runic alphabet. Oldest city: Ribe is from about 810.
Up into the 10th century the Danes were known as Vikings, together with Norwegians and Swedes, colonizing, raiding, and trading in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the ninth century, en route to the Faroe Islands. Erik the Red, or Erik Thorvaldson, was exiled from the colony for manslaughter in 980 and set sail for the west, to explore the lands to the west. He established the first settlements in Greenland around this time, naming the land, according to legend, to attract settlers.
Erik's son Leif the Lucky (Leif Ericson) finally set foot in the Americas around the year 1000. While some say he was blown off course, it is most likely that he was deliberatly seeking the land spotted by Bjarni Herjulfsson several years earlier. He established a colony at L'Anse aux Meadows, ?? which lasted only a year. Two further attempts at colonization by his brother ended in failure. 1380—Faeroe Islands At various times the King of Denmark has ruled parts of England and Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, France, especially Normandy and the Virgin Islands, Tranquebar in India, Estonia, and what is now northern Germany. Scania, Blekinge, and Halland were part of Denmark for most of its early history, but were lost to Sweden in 1658. The union with Norway was dissolved in 1814, when Norway entered a new union with Sweden (until 1905). (((Greenland became Danish, but...)))
The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848, Denmark became a constitutional monarchy the next year.
After the Second War of Schleswig in 1864, Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig-Holstein ?? to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks in the Danish national identity. After this point Denmark adopted a policy of neutrality, as a result of which Denmark stayed neutral in World War I. (((Battle of Jutland))) Following the defeat of Germany, Denmark was offered by the Treaty of Versailles the return of Schleswig-Holstein. Fearing German irredentism, Denmark refused to consider the return of Holstein and insisted on a plebiscite concerning the return of Schleswig. In 1920, following the plebiscite, northern Schleswig was recovered by Denmark and the new border has remained one of the fairest ?? borders ever in history.
Despite its continued neutrality, Denmark was invaded by Germany in 1940. Though at first accorded self-rule (which ended in 1943 due to a mounting resistance movement), Denmark remained militarily occupied throughout World War II. The Danish sympathy for the Allied Cause was strong; 1900 Danish police officers were arrested by the Gestapo and sent, under guard, to be interned in Buchenwald. After the war, Denmark became one of the founding members of NATO and, in 1973, joined the European Economic Community (later, the European Union).
Politics and government
Denmark is the oldest monarchy in the world (?? Japan). In 1849, it became a constitutional monarchy with the adoption of a new constitution.
Greenland and the Faroe Islands also belong to the Kingdom of Denmark, but have autonomous status and are largely self-governing, and are each represented by two seats in the parliament.
Economy
This thoroughly modern market economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, a stable currency, and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy and has a comfortable balance of payments surplus.
The Danish economy is highly unionized; 75% of its labor force are members of a union in the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions. Relationships between unions and employers are cooperative: unions have a day-to-day role in managing the workplace, and their representatives sit on most companies' board of directors. Rules on work schedules and pay are negotiated between unions and employers, with minimal government involvement.
The government has been very successful in meeting, and even exceeding, the economic convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (a common European currency) of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), but Denmark, in a 2000 referendum, reconfirmed its decision not to join the 12 other EU members in the euro. Even so, the Danish currency remains pegged to the euro.
Demographics
The majority of the population is of Scandinavian descent, with small groups of Inuit (from Greenland), Faroese, and immigrants. According to official statistics in 2003, immigrants made up 6% of the total population.
Danish is spoken in the entire country, although a small group near the German border also speaks German. Many Danes are fluent in English as well, particularly those in larger cities and the youth, who are taught English in school.
According to official 2002 statistics, 84% of Danes are members of the state church, the Danish People's Church, also known as the Church of Denmark, a form of Lutheranism; the rest are primarily of other Christian denominations and also about 2% are Muslims. For the last decade, the Church of Denmark has seen a decline in the number of memberships. In the later years, the old Norse religion Asatru has begun to reemerge. Asatru was approved as a religious movement by the Danish government in 2003.
Culture
Perhaps the most famous Dane is actually a mythical figure: Hamlet, the title character of William Shakespeare's greatest play, which was set in a real castle (Kronborg) in Elsinore/Helsingør, north of Copenhagen. The Dane most well-known in foreign countries is probably Hans Christian Andersen, a writer mostly famous for such fairy tales as The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling.
Other Danes that is probably known outside Denmark in various degrees, includes:
- Vitus Bering, explorer and navigator
- Karen Blixen, also known as Isak Dinesen, author
- Niels Bohr, physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
- Victor Borge, entertainer, pianist
- Tycho Brahe, astronomer
- Søren Kierkegaard, existentialist philosopher
- Viggo Mortensen, actor in USA
- Bjarne Riis, professional road bicycle racer, winner of the 1996 Tour de France
External links
- Danish military history
- Danish Newspapers
- Official Portal of Denmark
- Human rights reports from Amnesty International
- List of Danish cities from world-gazetteer.com
- Old Denmark in Cyberspace - Information about Denmark and the Danes
- Online charts and maps by the Danish survey authority
- Satellite image of Denmark at NASA's Earth Observatory
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