(
Danish:
Danmark)
Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the
Scandinavian countries.
Denmark, itself, is made up of three main islands (
Jylland,
Sjælland and
Fyn), and the island of
Bornholm -- though the country itself is made up
of some 406 islands. Denmark is largely flat, compared to her neighbours
Norway,
Sweden, and
Germany. She is a member of
NATO, and the
European
Union. The capital is
Copenhagen (Danish:
København).
Denmark's
monarchy is one of the oldest in Europe, and dates back to the early 10th
century, when Gorm the Old -- son of the Viking chieftain Hardegon who
conquered the Jutland peninsula -- conquered the whole of Denmark. His son
Harald Bluetooth, and succeeding Danish kings, finished this process,
converted the nation to Christianity, and went on to invade England (see
the "Danelaw"), and to conquer most of the Baltic region]
.
In 1397,
Margrethe I, Queen of Denmark, united the three Scandinavian countries
under a common monarchy, the so-called Kalmar Union, formed in order to
counteract the influences of the already strong Hanseatic League, which had
come to dominate the region's trade. Sweden withdrew from the union in 1523,
and subsequent years saw many border skirmishes, and wars, culminating in the
Thirty Years' War, in which Denmark lost Skåne, and her other posessions
on the Swedish mainland. Norway remained under Danish rule until
1814.
Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849, when
Frederik VII was forced to relinquish most of his political power to an
elected parliament. Denmark lost the teritories of Schleswig, and
Holstein to German in 1864. She remained neutral during WWII, and was
only under direct German administration between August 1943, and the end of
the war.
She now has one of the world's highest per capita GNPs, a high
standard of living, and an extensive cradle-to-grave welfare system.