Denmark - Etymology, Geography, Administrative divisions, Economy, Demographics, Education

official name Kingdom of Denmark, Dan Kongeriget Danmark

Local name Danmark Timezone GMT +1 Area 43 076 km²/16 627 sq mi (excluding Greenland and Faroe Islands) population total (2002e) 5 377 000 Status Kingdom Capital Copenhagen Language Danish (official) Ethnic groups Danish (97%), Turkish (0·5%), other Scandinavian (0·4%) Religions Evangelical Lutheran (97%), Roman Catholic (0·5%), Jewish (0·1%) Physical features Consists of most of the Jutland peninsula, several islands in the Baltic Sea, and some of the N Frisian Is in the North Sea; coastline 3400 km/2100 mi; uniformly low-lying; no large rivers and few lakes; shoreline indented by many lagoons and fjords, largest is Lim Fjord. Climate Modified by Gulf Stream; cold and cloudy winters, warm and sunny summers; average annual temperatures range from 0·5°C (Jan) to 17°C (Jul); average annual rainfall 800 mm/32 in. Currency 1 Danish Krone (DKK) = 100 øre Economy Lack of raw materials has resulted in development of processing industries; intensive agriculture; wide range of food processing; machinery, textiles, furniture, electronics; dairy products. GDP (2002e) $155·3 bn, per capita $28 900 Human Development Index (2002) 0·926 History Part of Viking kingdoms, 8th–10th-c; Danish Empire under Canute, 11th-c; joined with Sweden and Norway under Queen Margrethe of Denmark, 1389; Sweden separated from union in 16th-c, followed by Norway; 1814; Schleswig-Holstein lost to Germany, 1864; N Schleswig returned after plebiscite, 1920; occupied by Germany during World War 2; Iceland independent 1944; Greenland and Faroe Is remain dependencies; constitutional monarchy since 1849; unicameral system adopted, 1953; legislative power lies with the Monarch and the Diet jointly; member of European Union, 1973.

Kongeriget Danmark Kingdom of Denmark
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none (Royal Motto: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke "God's help, the people's love, Denmark's strength")
Anthem: Der er et yndigt land (national); Kong Christian (royal)
Capital (largest city)	Copenhagen 55°43′N 12°34′E
Official language	Danish1
Government	Constitutional monarchy
- Queen	Margrethe II
- Prime Minister	Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Consolidation	(Prehistoric)
Accession to EU	January 1, 1973
Area
- Total	43,094 km² (134th2) 16,6392 sq mi
- Water (%)	1.62
Population
- 2005 estimate	5,431,000 (109th)
- 2006 census	5,450,661
- Density	126/km² (78th2) 326/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$187.9 billion2 (45th)
- Per capita	$34,7402 (6th)
GDP (nominal)	2005 estimate
- Total	$259.7 billion (27th)
- Per capita	$47,984 (6th)
HDI  (2004)	0.943 (high) (15th)
Currency	Danish krone (DKK)
Time zone	CET2 (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST2 (UTC+2)
Internet TLD	.dk2
Calling code	+453
1 Co-official with Greenlandic in Greenland, and Faroese in the Faroe Islands. Danish is recognised as a protected minority language in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany. 2 For Denmark excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The TLD .eu is shared with other European Union countries. 3 The Faroe Islands use +298 and Greenland uses +299.

For other uses, including the disambiguation of "Danmark", see Denmark (disambiguation).

The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark IPA: ['dɑnmɑɐ̥g̊]) is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Located north of Germany (its only land neighbor), southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is in Scandinavia in northern Europe, but not on the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Denmark borders the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and consists of a peninsula named Jutland (Jylland) attached to Northern Germany, the islands of Funen (Fyn), Zealand (Sjælland), Bornholm (Bornholm) and many smaller islands, often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, the second oldest monarchy in the world and oldest in Europe. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are crown territories of Denmark, each with political home rule. Denmark is one of the elected members of the UN Security Council and is a leader in the "Scandinavian Model" of public services.

Etymology

The etymology of Denmark (Danish: Danmark) is uncertain because there are so few old sources, and the experts have two interpretations of the name.

According to Saxo Grammaticus, Dan and Angul were the sons of the very first King of Denmark, King Humble. People have continually lived in Denmark since about 12,500 BC, and agriculture made inroads about 3,900 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age (1,800-600 BC) in Denmark was marked by burial mounds, which left an abundance of findings, including lurs and the Sun Chariot. The Roman provinces maintained trade routes and relations with native tribes in Denmark, attested by finds of Roman coins. Evidence of strong Celtic cultural influence dates from this period in Denmark and much of northwest Europe, and is among other things reflected in the finding of the Gundestrup cauldron. The first Danish people came to Denmark between the Pre-Roman and Germanic Iron Age, in the Roman Iron Age (AD 1-400).

Before the arrival of precursors to the Danes, who came from Scandinavia and spoke an early form of north Germanic, most of Jutland and part of the islands had been vacated or partly vacated by the earlier Jutes, who settled in Britain together with the Angles and the Saxons to form the Anglo-Saxons.

The exact origin of Denmark has been lost in history, but a short note about the Dani in "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths" from 551 AD by historian Jordanes is believed by some to be an early mention of the Daner,, one of the ethnos from which are descended the modern Danish people. The Danevirke defence structures were built in several phases from the 3rd century forth, and the sheer size of the construction efforts in 737 are contributed to the emergence of a Danish king. The new runic alphabet was first used at the same time, and Ribe, the oldest town of Denmark, was founded about 700. Together with Norwegians and Swedes, they colonised, raided and traded in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the 9th century, on the way towards the Faroe Islands and eventually came across "Vinland" (Land of wine) also known today as Newfoundland, in Canada. The Danish Vikings were most active in England and France where they temporarily conquered parts of England, known as the Danelaw, Ireland and France, giving name to the French region of Normandy. As attested by the Jelling stones, the Danes were united and Christianised about 965 by Harald Bluetooth, the second recognised king of Denmark. In the early 11th century, Canute the Great won and united Denmark, England and Norway for almost 30 years.

Up through the High and Late Middle Ages, the king of Denmark ruled Skåneland (Skåne, Halland and Blekinge), Danish Estonia, as well as the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in northern Germany. In 1397, Denmark entered the Kalmar Union with Norway and Sweden-Finland. It was a united Scandinavian state which kept the individual interests of the countries, and lasted until Sweden broke out in 1523. The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in 1530s, and following the Count's Feud civil war, Denmark converted to Lutheranism in 1536. Later that year, Denmark entered a union with Norway and its colonies.

Two and a half centuries of wars with Sweden followed. Skåneland was lost to Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 and the Denmark-Norway union was dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, when Norway entered a new union with Sweden, which lasted until 1905. Denmark kept the colonies of Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Apart from the Nordic colonies, Denmark ruled over Danish India (Tranquebar in India) from 1620 to 1869, the Danish Gold Coast (Ghana) from 1658 to 1850, and the Danish West Indies (the United States Virgin Islands) from 1671 to 1917.

The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European Revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849. Fearing German irredentism, Denmark refused to consider the return of the area and insisted on a plebiscite concerning the return of Schleswig. On July 10, 1920, after the plebiscite and the King's signature July 9 on the reunion document, Northern Schleswig (Sønderjylland) was recovered by Denmark, thereby adding 163,600 inhabitants and 3,984 km². During the war, Iceland claimed independence and in 1948 the Faroe Islands gained home rule. After the war, Denmark became one of the founding members of the United Nations and NATO and, in 1973, joined the European Economic Community (later, the European Union).

While the monarch is head of state and theoretically holds all executive power, it is the prime minister who is head of government.

Since November 2001, the Danish Prime Minister has been Anders Fogh Rasmussen from the party Venstre, a right-wing liberal party.

Geography

Denmark's northernmost point is Skagens point (the north beach of the Skaw) at 57° 45' 7" northern latitude, the southernmost is Gedser point (the southern tip of Falster) at 54° 33' 35" northern latitude, the westernmost point is Blåvandshuk at 8° 4' 22" eastern longitude, and the easternmost point is Østerskær (Eastern Skerry) at 15° 11' 55" eastern longitude.

Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland (Jylland) and 443 named islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Aarhus, Aalborg and Esbjerg (on Jutland) and Odense (on Funen). Along with Equatorial Guinea it is one of two countries in the world with its mainland on a continent and its capital city on an island. Another feature that shows the close connection between the land and ocean is that no location in Denmark is farther from the coast than 52 km. The size of the land area of Denmark cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and because of human land reclamation projects (to counter erosion). On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 metres, and the coastline moves outward and inward on a 10 km stretch. There are short days during the winter with sunrise coming around 8 a.m. and sunset 3:30 p.m., as well as long summer days with sunrise at 3:30 a.m. and sunset at 10 p.m. The shortest and longest days of the year are celebrated.

Administrative divisions

Denmark is divided into 13 counties (amter, singular: amt), and, as of 1 January 2006, 270 municipalities (kommuner, singular kommune). The coming Danish Municipal Reform will replace the counties with five new regions and reduce the number of municipalities to 98.

Copenhagen (København) (national capital) Frederiksberg (city) Copenhagen County (Københavns Amt) (should not be confused with the capital) Frederiksborg Roskilde West Zealand (Vestsjælland) Storstrøm Funen (Fyn) South Jutland (Sønderjylland) Ribe Vejle Ringkjøbing Viborg North Jutland (Nordjylland) Aarhus (Århus) Bornholm (regional municipality)

Copenhagen County comprises the municipalities of metropolitan Copenhagen, except Copenhagen Municipality and Frederiksberg Municipality. As of 1 January 2003 Bornholm Regional Municipality comprises the five former municipalities on the island Bornholm and the island's former county.

Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also parts of 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 and zero net foreign debt.

Denmark's national currency, the krone (plural: kroner), is very stable and currently exchanges with American dollars at a rate of about $0.17 USD per krone (about 6 kroner per dollar).

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 of the European Union (EMU), but Denmark, in a September 2000 referendum, reconfirmed its decision not to join the 12 other EU members in the euro.

The welfare model is the general term for Denmark to organise and finance their social security systems, health services and education.

In the area of sickness and unemployment, the right to benefit is, however, always dependent on former employment and at times also on membership of a trade union and the payment of contributions;

The State is involved in financing and organising the welfare benefits available to the citizens to a far greater extent than in other European countries. For that reason the welfare model is accompanied by a taxation system which is both broadly based (25%VAT and excise) and with high income tax rates.

The benefits given are more generous than is the case in the British Beveridge model — and in combination with the taxation system this brings about a greater redistribution than is the case in the Bismarck model, which is aimed rather at maintaining the present status.

Demographics

The majority of the population is of Scandinavian descent, with small groups of Inuit from Greenland, Faroese, and immigrants.

Regarding religions in Denmark, according to official statistics from January 2005, 83.1% of Danes are members of the Lutheran state church, the Danish People's Church (Den Danske Folkekirke), also known as the Church of Denmark. Denmark has freedom of religion, and there are numerous small religious societies and communities in addition to the official church. Although the land area east of the Great Belt and Langelands Belt only makes up 9,622 km² (3,715 m²), 22.7% of Denmark's land area, it has 45% (2,445,168) of the population.

Education

The Danish education system is sophisticated and offers free access to public school, high school and most kinds of higher education (universities etc.). The play was inspired by an old Danish myth of the viking Prince Amled of Jutland, and his quest for vengeance against his father's killer. Because of the level terrain, another common sport is cycling, and of late Copenhagen has been nicknamed the "City of Cyclists" for the frequent use of bicycles for transportation and the designated roadtracks for cyclists. During peacetime, the Ministry of Defence (FM) in Denmark employs, in four branches, 15,450 in the army, 5,300 in the navy, 6,050 in the air force and more than 55,000 in the Home Guard. Although all four are under the command of the Ministry of Defence, the first three are commanded by the Defence Command (FKO) and have their own subcommand, while the Home Guard is under the direct command of the Danish Ministry of Defence in peacetime.

The draft age is 18 years of age for compulsory and volunteer military service. There are 955,168 males and 935,643 females aged between 18 and 49 fit for military service. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine's Globalization Index (2005): Ranked 7th out of 62 countries The Economist Intelligence Unit's e-readiness rankings (2006, 2005, 2004): Ranked 1st out of 68 countries The Economist Intelligence Unit's quality-of-life index (2005): Ranked 9th out of 111 countries List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita Ranked 6th out of 180 countries List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita per hour Ranked 9th out of 50 countries List of countries by income equality Ranked 1st out of 124 countries Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal's Index of Economic Freedom (2006): Ranked 8th out of 157 countries Reporters Without Borders's world-wide press freedom index (2006): Ranked 19th out of 168 countries Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (2005): Ranked 4th out of 159 countries Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers Report (2005): Mothers' index: Ranked 2nd out of 110 countries Women's index: Ranked 2nd out of 118 countries Children's index: Ranked 1st out of 170 countries Center for Global Development's Commitment to Development Index (2006): Ranked 2nd out of 21 developed countries v • d • e Topics on Denmark

History:	Archaeology | List of Danish monarchs
Geography:	Towns | Courts of Denmark
Politics:	Political parties (Social Democrats, Social Liberal Party, Conservative People's Party, Socialist People's Party, Danish People's Party, Venstre, Red-Green Alliance) | Council of State
Monarchy:	Danish monarchs |