Denmark

 

Denmark Danmark
Constituent country in the Kingdom of Denmark
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s): Guds hjælp, folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke ("God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength")
Country	Kingdom of Denmark
Independence	5 June 1914
Capital	Copenhagen
Government
• Type	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarchy	Margrethe II
• Prime Minister	TBD
• Speaker of the Parliament	TBD
Area
• Total	42,933 km2 (16,577 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	5,920,527
• Density	Bad rounding here140/km2 (Bad rounding here360/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Danish
Time zone	Central European Time (UTC+01:00)
• Summer (DST)	Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00)

Denmark (Danish: Danmark) is a Nordic country in Northern Europe as well as the most populous and politically central constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. European Denmark is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, lying southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany. It is also referred to as "Denmark proper" or "metropolitan Denmark" in the context of the larger Danish Realm.

Spanning a total area of 42,943 km² (16,580 sq mi), it consists of the peninsula of Jutland and an archipelago of 443 named islands, of which the largest are Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. Denmark's geography is characterised by flat, arable land, sandy coasts, low elevation, and a temperate climate. As of 2022, it had a population of 5.92 million (1 September 2022), of which 800,000 live in the capital and largest city, Copenhagen. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs. Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948 and in Iceland in 1979; the latter obtained further autonomy in 2009.

The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the eighth century as a proficient maritime power amid the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea. In 1397, it joined Norway and Sweden to form the Kalmar Union, which persisted until the latter's secession in 1523. The remaining Kingdom of Denmark–Norway endured a series of wars in the 17th century that resulted in further territorial cessions to the Swedish Empire. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Norway and Denmark were absorbed into Sweden, along with Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, becoming the Kingdom of Skandinavia. Denmark remained part of the union until its peaceful dissolution in 1914, with the new Kingdom of Denmark also maintaining sovereignty over Iceland and the Faroe Islands, now all constituent countries in the Danish Realm.

An industrialized exporter of agricultural produce in the second half of the 19th century, Denmark introduced social and labor-market reforms in the early 20th century, which formed the basis for the present welfare state model and advanced mixed economy. The country was neutral during the Great War and spent much of the conflict seeking to retain its status, but politically supported the Allied powers between the Triple Alliance and the Landonist International against the Entente Impériale. It is a founding member of the League of Nations, the European Community, and the Northern Treaty Organization.

Denmark is a highly developed country with a very high standard of living. It maintains close political, cultural, and linguistic ties with its Scandinavian neighbours, with the Danish language being partially mutually intelligible with both Norwegian and Swedish.

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Denmark, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).