Denmark
- For other uses, see Denmark (disambiguation).
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| Motto of the Queen: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke (Danish: God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength)'' | ||||
| Official language | Danish¹ | |||
| Capital | Copenhagen ''(København) | |||
| Monarch | Margrethe II | |||
| Prime Minister | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | |||
| Area - Total - % water | World ranking: 130th 43,094 km² 1.6% | |||
| Population - Total (2004) - Density | World ranking: 104th 5,397,640 125/km² | |||
| Currency | Krone | |||
| Time zone | CET (UTC / UTC+1 in summer) | |||
| National anthem | Der er et yndigt land | |||
| Internet TLD | .DK | |||
| Calling Code | 45 | |||
| Electricity | 230V, 50 Hz | |||
| (¹) Co-official with Greenlandic in Greenland, and Faroese in the Faroe Islands, as well as German, which is a recognized and protected minority language in southern Denmark | ||||
| Table of contents |
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2 Politics and Government 3 Counties 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links |
The origin of Denmark is lost in prehistory. But the oldest Dannevirke is from the 7th century, at the same time as the new Runic alphabet.
Denmark was united by Harold Bluetooth (Harald Blåtand) around 980. Up into the 11th century the Danes were known as Vikings, colonizing, raiding and trading in much of Europe.
At various times Denmark has controlled England, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, parts of the Virgin Islands, parts of the Baltic coast and what is now northern Germany. Scania was part of Denmark for most of its early history, but was lost to Sweden in 1658. The union with Norway was dissolved in 1814, when Norway entered a new union with Sweden (until 1905).
The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy June 5th 1849.
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, following which Denmark stayed neutral in World War I.
On April 9, 1940, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany (Operation Weserübung) and remained occupied throughout World War II, despite some internal resistance. After the war, Denmark became a member of NATO and, in 1973, the European Economic Community (later, the European Union).
In 1849 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy with the adoption of a new constitution. The monarch is formally head of state, a role which is mainly ceremonial, since executive power is exercised by the cabinet ministers, with the prime minister acting as the first among equals (primus inter pares). Legislative power is vested in the both the government and the Danish parliament, known as the Folketing, which consists of (no more than) 179 members. The courts of Denmark are functionally and administratively independent of the executive and the legislature.
Elections for parliament are usually held every four years; but the prime minister can call for an earlier election, if he so decides. Should parliament succed in a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister the entire government resigns.
Denmark is divided into 13 counties (amter), and 271 municipalities (kommuner):
It should be noted that as of July 2004, the government is in the process of a stuctural reform (the Municipality Reform, Kommunalreformen). The 13 counties (amter) will be replaced with 5 new regions (regioner), while the 271 municipalities will be consolidated into around 100 larger units of at least 20,000 inhabitants and take over most of the responsibilities of the current counties.
Denmark consists of the Jutland peninsula (Jylland) and 405 named islands, of which 82 are inhabited, the most important are Funen (Fyn) and Zealand (Sjælland). The island of Bornholm is located somewhat east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden, and the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand.
The country is mostly flat with little elevation (highest points are Ejer Baunehøj and Yding Skovhøj, both at about 173 meters). The climate is temperate, with mild winters and cool summers. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Aarhus (on Jutland) and Odense (on Fyn).
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 government has been 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 September 2000 referendum, reconfirmed its decision not to join the 11 other EU members in the euro. Even so, the Danish currency remains pegged to the euro.
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 6.2% of the total population.
Danish is spoken in the entire country, although a small group near the German border also speaks German.
According to official statistics from January 2002 84.3% of Danes are members of the state church, the Danish People's Church (Den Danske Folkekirke), also known as the Church of Denmark, a form of Lutheranism; the rest are primarily of other Christian denominations and also about 3% are Muslims.
The Dane most well-known in other countries is probably Hans Christian Andersen, a writer mostly famous for his fairy tales, such as The Emperor's New Clothes and The Ugly Duckling.
Other well known Danes include:
History
Main article: History of DenmarkPolitics and Government
Main article: Politics of DenmarkCounties
Main article: Counties of Denmark
Three municipalities have county privileges:
Copenhagen County comprise the municipalities in metropolitan Copenhagen, except
Copenhagen Municipality and Frederiksberg Municipality. Bornholm Regional Municipality comprise the five former municipalities on the island Bornholm and the island's former county.
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 2 seats in the parliament.Geography
Main article: Geography of DenmarkEconomy
Main article: Economy of DenmarkDemographics
Main article: Demographics of DenmarkCulture
Main article: Culture of Denmark
See also:
Miscellaneous topics
External links
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