DENMARK

officially Kingdom of Denmark, Danish Kongeriget Danmark, Faroese Kongarkidh Danmark, Greenlandic Danmarkip Nlagauvfia a small country occupying a peninsula extending northward from the centre of continental western Europe and an archipelago to the east of the peninsula; in addition, Greenland and the Faroe (Faeroe) Islands are self-governing dependencies within the Danish realm. Denmark extends for about 210 miles (335 km) from north to south and for about 180 miles (290 km) from east to west, when the eastern island of Bornholm is included. The country is a physical, cultural, and commercial bridge between Scandinavia and central Europe. Denmark's only landward neighbour is Germany, which lies to the south and with which it shares a border of only 42 miles (68 km). Denmark's 4,500-mile (7,300-kilometre) coastline (including the country's more than 400 islands) extends along the North Sea on the west, the Skagerrak (strait) on the north, and the Kattegat (strait), The Sound, and the Baltic Sea on the east. The capital is Copenhagen. Area (excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands) 16,639 square miles (43,094 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 5,223,000. officially Kingdom of Denmark, Danish Kongeriget Danmark, Faroese Kongarkidh Danmark, Greenlandic Danmarkip Nlagauvfia country occupying the penisula of Jutland, which extends northward from the centre of continental western Europe, and an archipelago of more than 400 islands to the east of the penisula. Of the country's total land area of 16,639 square miles (43,094 square kilometres), the largest part, 11,497 square miles, is Jutland; the largest of the islands are Zealand (Sjlland; 2,876 square miles) and Funen (Fyn; 1,152 square miles). The nation's capital, Copenhagen (Kbenhavn), is located on Zealand; the second largest city, rhus, is the major urban centre of Jutland. Denmark is attached directly to continental Europe at Jutland's 42-mile (68-kilometre) boundary with Germany. Other than this connection, all the frontiers of Denmark with surrounding nations are maritime, including that with Great Britain to the west across the North Sea. Norway and Sweden lie to the north, separated from Denmark by sea lanes linking the North Sea to the Baltic Sea by way of passages called (from west to east) the Skagerrak, the Kattegat, and The Sound (resund). Eastward in the Baltic Sea lies the Danish island of Bornholm. Though small in territory and population, Denmark has nonetheless played a notable role in European history. In prehistoric times, Danes and other Scandinavians reconfigured European society when the Vikings undertook marauding, trading, and colonizing expeditions. During the Middle Ages, the Danish crown dominated northwestern Europe through the power of the Kalmar Union. In later centuries, shaped by geographic conditions favouring maritime industries, Denmark established trading alliances throughout northern and western Europe and beyond, particularly with Great Britain and the United States. As an important contribution to world culture, Denmark developed humane governmental institutions and cooperative, nonviolent approaches to problem solving. The Kingdom of Denmark is more than just the land of the Danes. Two remote island worlds in the Atlantic Ocean became integral parts of the Danish state when their colonial status was transformed by full incorporation into the Danish nation. One is the Faroe (Faeroe) Islands, which support a distinctive language and culture. The most remote part of the kingdom is Greenland, an 840,000-square-mile Arctic wilderness, mostly covered by ice, that is the ancestral homeland of scattered coastal communities of Inuit-speaking Greenlanders (also known as Inuit or Eskimos) who formerly lived by hunting and fishing. Many contemporary inhabitants of Greenland are of mixed Danish and aboriginal ancestry. Home rule was granted to the Faroes in 1948 and to Greenland in 1979, though foreign policy and defense remain under Danish control. Each area is distinctive in history, language, and culture. This article covers the land and people of continental Denmark. For a discussion of its dependent states, see the articles Greenland and Faroe Islands. Additional reading Geography Kenneth E. Miller (comp.), Denmark (1987), contains an annotated bibliography of various 19th- and 20th-century publications. Ed Thomasson, Danish Quality Living: The Good Life Handbook (1985), provides a casual introduction to how Danes sometimes describe themselves to foreigners. Robert T. Anderson, Denmark: Success of a Developing Nation (1975), offers a historical and anthropological introduction to contemporary Danish culture, stressing particularly the contrast of the present with depressed conditions in Denmark around 1900. Judith Friedman Hansen, We Are a Little Land: Cultural Assumptions in Danish Everyday Life (1980), describes the social and cultural values that characterize the Danish lifestyle as a distinctive variant of modern Euro-American civilization. Robert T. Anderson and Barbara Gallatin Anderson, The Vanishing Village: A Danish Maritime Community (1964), is an easy-to-read study of Danish life as it changed from that of a small inner-focused community to that of a mid-20th-century suburb of Copenhagen. Herbert Henden, Suicide and Scandinavia: A Psychoanalytic Study of Culture and Character (1964), examines the high rate of suicide in Scandinavia as it appears to have differing causation in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Clemens Pedersen (ed.), The Danish Co-operative Movement, trans. from Danish (1977), offers an authoritative history of how Danish cooperatives first became influential in shaping the modernization of agriculture in Denmark and how they now function. Thomas Rrdam, The Danish Folk High Schools, 2nd rev. ed., trans. from Danish (1980), describes historically the movement initiated by N.S.F. Grundtvig that culminated in the folk high school movement as a means of putting education to the service of defining national goals of equality and self-respect for a peasant ancestry. Eric S. Einhorn and John Logue, Modern Welfare States: Politics and Policies in Social Democratic Scandinavia (1989), extensively describes and analyzes the expansion of the public sector in developing and managing the social welfare system that characterizes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Erik Allardt et al., Nordic Democracy (1981), is a well-documented, densely informative description of political institutions in Scandinavia. Stanley V. Anderson, The Nordic Council: A Study of Scandinavian Regionalism (1967), a rather technical account from the perspective of political science and international law, studies how Danish communal values find expression through international cooperation with other Scandinavian nations. History General works include Stewart Oakley, A Short History of Denmark (also published as The Story of Denmark, 1972), a readable work; W. Glyn Jones, Denmark: A Modern History, rev. ed. (1986), a well-written survey; Palle Lauring, A History of Denmark, 7th ed. (1986); and Bent Rying, Danish in the South and the North, vol. 2, Denmark: History, trans. from Danish (1988), which deals with the development from the Stone Age to present times, with excellent pictures. For more advanced studies, consult Olaf Olsen (ed.), Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarkshistorie (1988 ), with 7 vol. published by 1989; and the series Dansk socialhistorie, 7 vol. (197982), on social history from the Stone Age to 1978vol. 1 has appeared in an English trans. as The Prehistory of Denmark, by Jrgen Jensen (1982). Danish prehistory and archaeology are examined by Palle Lauring, Land of the Tollund Man (1957; originally published in Danish, 1954), covering the first settlers of hunting nomads to the Vikings; P.V. Glob, Denmark: An Archaeological History from the Stone Age to the Vikings (also published as Danish Prehistoric Monuments, 1971; originally published in Danish, 1942), a scholarly survey, The Mound People: Danish Bronze-Age Man Preserved (1974, reissued 1983; originally published in Danish, 1970), a thoroughly illustrated technical monograph, and The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved (1969, reissued 1988; originally published in Danish, 1965); and Else Roesdahl, Viking Age Denmark (1982; originally published in Danish, 1980), an extensive description of Viking activities. Ruth Mazo Karras, Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia (1988), draws on a wide variety of primary sources and archaeological data about the social, legal, and economic aspects of slavery. Svend Ellehj (ed.), Christian IVs verden (1988), correlates the findings and views of modern scholarship on the king and his times. Svend Aage Hansen, konomisk vkst i Danmark, 2 vol. (197274), gives a broad view of the economic growth in the period 17201970, with statistics. Fridlev Skrubbeltrang, Den danske Landbosamfund 15001800 (1978), concerns agriculture. Jrgen Hstrup, Secret Alliance: A Study of the Danish Resistance Movement, 19401945, 3 vol. (197677; originally published in Danish, 1954), analyzes the movement in detail, based on illegal documents and personal accounts by leading members of the Resistance. Harry Haue, Jrgen Olsen, and Jrn Aarup-Kristensen, Det ny Danmark 18901985: Udviklingslinjer og tendens, 3rd ed. (1985), deals with modern history. For current research, three journals are useful: The Scandinavian Economic History Review (3/yr.); Scandinavian Journal of History (quarterly); and Scandinavian Political Studies (quarterly). Robert T. Anderson Stanley Victor Anderson Michael I.A. Linton Administration and social conditions Government The constitution of June 5, 1953, provides for a unicameral legislature, the Folketing, with 179 members (including two from the Faroe Islands and two from Greenland). The prime minister heads the government, which is composed additionally of cabinet ministers who run the various departments, such as justice, finance, and agriculture. The monarch signs acts passed by the Folketing upon the recommendation of the cabinet sitting as a Council of State. To become law, the acts must also be countersigned by at least one cabinet member. Faced with a vote of no confidence, the cabinet must resign. In addition to establishing unicameralism, the 1953 constitution mandates popular referenda (used, for example, to secure public approval for Danish entry into the EEC) and postulates the creation of an ombudsman officethe first outside Sweden, its country of origin. The Succession to the Throne Act, which accompanied the 1953 constitution, provides for female succession. This allowed the accession of Queen Margrethe II in 1972. Denmark is divided into 14 counties and 275 municipalities. It has universal adult suffrage by voluntary and secret ballot, with a voting age of 18 for both national and local elections. All voters are eligible to run for office. The voter turnout in national elections approaches 90 percent. Elections are held on the basis of proportional representation, in which each political party gains seats in the Folketing, or in the city council, in proportion to its strength among the voters. As a result the national government is usually composed of a coalition of parties that does not enjoy a majority, and the government must piece together a majority for each item of legislation. Members of the Folketing are elected to a four-year term, but the prime minister may dissolve the legislature and call for new elections at any time. Despite the splintering of parties, Denmark has enjoyed stable government, with new elections on an average of once every three years. The largest Danish political party, the Social Democratic Party, led most Danish governments from the 1930s to the early 1980s; since then, coalition governments have predominated, including those of nonsocialist parties headed by the Conservative People's Party and the Liberal Party in 198193. All of Denmark's political parties support the continuation of the welfare state, except for the tax-protest Progress Party, which also expresses anti-immigration sentiments. The Christian People's Party criticizes the laws that liberalize abortion and decriminalize pornography. The Socialist People's Party is against Denmark's affiliation with NATO and is part of the movement that opposes Danish membership in the European Union (EU). Justice Minor infractions in Denmark are tried in the police courts. Most other criminal charges and civil disputes fall within the jurisdiction of the 84 municipal courts. Two High Courts hear appeals from the municipal courts and serve as courts of original jurisdiction in serious criminal cases, in which 12-person juries are impaneled. In some nonjury criminal cases, lay judges sit alongside professional judges and have an equal vote. A special Court of Complaints may reopen a criminal case and order a new trial. In Copenhagen there is a Maritime and Commercial Court, which also uses lay judges. The Supreme Court sits at the apex of the legal system. Cultural life Daily life Danes traditionally faced life from the security of the nuclear family, as has been true throughout Europe. During the late 20th century, substantial changes have taken place. For example, marriage is no longer entered into by young adults as an almost inevitable social institution. Historically, the Danes easily tolerated sexual relations between individuals who were engaged to be married. In earlier centuries it was not uncommon for marriage to take place after a baby was born, although it was considered immoral and unacceptable not to marry eventually. Now, the inevitability of marriage has fallen away. Cohabitation without the formalities of engagement and wedding is common. Nearly one-fifth of all unions in Denmark are by cohabitation rather than formal marriage. Consistent with the decline of contracted marriages, the incidence of divorce has risen. One marriage in four may be expected to end in dissolution. Forty percent of live births now take place out of wedlock, as compared with only 10 percent a generation ago. These children are not necessarily raised by single parents, however. Children are born to approximately 40 percent of consensual unions, and two children or more are found in 15 percent of such relationships. The changes in marriage and divorce statistics and the growing incidence of consensual unions are primarily due to the changed role of women in society. Women have experienced greater independence as well as increased responsibility for economic survival and child care. They are educated on a more equal basis with men, and they participate more equally in the job market, although not yet with equal pay. The availability of contraceptive methods and free abortions has also increased women's options. In the mid-1960s slightly fewer than 50 percent of married women between the ages of 20 and 50 engaged in paid employment. Twenty years later more than 80 percent of married women were working. The ability to earn their own incomes has made marriage less necessary for women to provide security for themselves and their children. It has also made divorce less punitive in socioeconomic terms. The arts and sciences Although the Danes are few in population, they have been numerous in contributing to the growth of world civilization. Tycho Brahe (15461601) was a major figure in the early telescopic exploration of the universe; Thomas Bartholin (161680) was the first anatomist to describe the human lymphatic system; Nicolaus Steno (163886) established geology as a science; Ole Rmer (16441710) measured the speed of light for the first time; Caspar Thomeson Bartholin, Jr. (16551738) discovered the ductus sublingualis major and the glandula vestibularis major, both of which bear his name as Bartholin's duct and gland; Hans Christian rsted (17771851) discovered electromagnetism; Niels Finsen (18601904) won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on the medical uses of ultraviolet rays, and Johanes Fibiger (18671928) won the same award for his research on cancer; Valdemar Poulsen (18691942) developed a device for generating radio waves; Niels Bohr (18851962) won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his achievements in quantum physics, a prize which was later won by his son, Aage Bohr; and Carl Peter Henrik Dam (18951976) won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of vitamin K. Saxo Grammaticus (d. 1204) contributed a book of history, Gesta Danorum, to world literature; Rasmus Rask (17871832) founded comparative philology; N.F.S. Grundtvig (17831872) founded a theological movement and pioneered in education relating to human rights; Sren Kierkegaard (181355) helped to shape existentialist philosophy; Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770?1844) achieved renown as a sculptor in a neoclassic style; Hans Christian Andersen (180575) authored fairy tales that are read throughout the world; Carl Nielsen (18651931) composed classical music of international fame; Carl T. Dreyer (18891968), a film director, is respected internationally; Jrn Utzon won world recognition as the architect of the Sydney Opera House; and Karen Blixen (18851962) achieved world acclaim writing under the name of Isak Dinesen. The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to the novelist Henrik Pontoppidan (18571943) in 1917 and to Johannes V. Jensen (18731950), whose works included the novel The Long Journey (Den lange rejse), in 1944.