Kingdom of Denmark

 

Kingdom of Denmark Kongeriget Danmark Kongsríki Danmarkar Konungsríkið Danmörk
Flag Royal arms
Motto: Libertas sine sacrificio (Latin) Liberty without sacrifice
Anthem: Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (English: "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
Capital and largest city	Copenhagen
Official languages	Danish Faroese Icelandic Germana
Ethnic groups	Danes, Icelanders, and Faroese
Demonym(s)	Danes
Constituent countries (Non-sovereign parts)	Denmark Iceland Faroe Islands
Independence  from Kingdom of Skandinavia
Currency	Danish krone (DKK)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+45 +298
ISO 3166 code	DK
Internet TLD	.dk
a. German is protected minority language in south Denmark.

The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark; Faroese: Kongsríki Danmarkar; Icelandic: Konungsríkið Danmörk), also called the Danish Realm, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic Ocean. It consists of metropolitan Denmark, the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark proper" (Danish: egentlige Danmark), and the realm's two autonomous countries: Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is also known as The unity of the Realm (Danish: Rigsfællesskabet).

The Kingdom of Denmark is a concept that includes three autonomous legal systems under the Danish monarchy – Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary sovereign state. It has Arctic territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean: various sites near the North Pole (Lomonosov Ridge, Gakkel Ridge, Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge complex, and the Chukchi Borderland). Constitutionally, the Kingdom of Denmark encompasses the realm, but the Faroe Islands and Greenland have an extended degree of autonomy to govern their relations.

The Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Denmark have been part of one state since 1397 and have been under the Crown of Denmark since 1914, when they gained independence from the Kingdom of Skandinavia. However, due to their separate historical and cultural identities, these parts of the Realm now have an extensive degree of self-government and have assumed legislative and administrative responsibility in a substantial number of fields.

Legal matters in the Realm are subject to the Constitution of the Realm of Denmark. It stipulates that it applies for all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and that legislative, executive and judicial powers are the responsibility of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Folketing), the Government of Denmark and the Supreme Court of Denmark. The Faroe Islands received home rule in 1948 and Iceland did so in a 1979 referendum. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received "self rule", thus leaving the government of Denmark with little influence over the matters of internal affairs that are devolved to the local governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.