When was denmark established

Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen led her party back to power in the June general election, ending four years of centre-right rule. She campaigned on a combination of traditional centre-left calls for stronger welfare policies, combined with a promise to be tough on immigration. At 41, she is the country's youngest prime minister, and will head a minority government. She took over the party leadership in , when her predecessor and Denmark first woman prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, lost power.

TV2 is a government-owned commercial station. The main privately-owned TVs broadcast via digital terrestrial, satellite and cable. Facebook is the top social media destination. Some key dates in Denmark's history:. Denmark is the dominant power. Government accepts occupation in exchange for measure of control over domestic affairs. Thousands of Danish Jews manage to escape to Sweden. Denmark recognises Iceland's independence.

One of the most notorious periods in Danish history is the age of the Vikings. It began around AD with the raids on the English tidal island of Lindisfarne. The Vikings were eventually to establish settlements in Yorkshire in Northern England and in Normandy in the Northwestern part of France. The Viking Age lasted about years. The Vikings travelled widely outside their realm, sailing to what today is Russia and Turkey.

Their admirable navigation skills at sea also brought them as far as Greenland and North America. They continued to plunder and steal, along with more peaceful activities such as trading precious metals, textiles, glassware, jewellery, and fur. On occasion, they also bought and sold European slaves.

The newly-adopted religion, however, did not immediately turn the Danes into a peaceful people. They continued to fight to maintain and expand their territory, conquering parts of Germany and Estonia. In , with the Kalmar Union, Denmark incl. The Kalmar Union lasted until Sweden broke away in , the first shot in a long rivalry between Denmark and Sweden for dominance in the region.

In , the sovereignty of Norway was transferred to Sweden too. Iceland gained independence in This move led to the war with the Germans which Denmark won. But tensions continued and Denmark was defeated by Germany in a renewed conflict in As a result, Denmark had to cede all three duchies.

Denmark's large colonial aspirations were limited to a few key trading posts in Africa and India. In the Thirty Years' War, Christian tried to become the leader of the Lutheran states in Germany but suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lutter.

The result was that the Catholic army under Albrecht von Wallenstein was able to invade, occupy and pillage Jutland, forcing Denmark to withdraw from the war. Denmark managed to avoid territorial concessions, but Gustavus Adolphus' intervention in Germany was seen as a sign that the military power of Sweden was on the rise while Denmark's influence in the region was declining.

According to Geoffrey Parker, "The Swedish occupation caused a drop in agricultural production and a shortage of capital; harvest failure and plague ravaged the land between and ; Denmark's population fell by 20 per cent. Charles X Gustav quickly regretted not having destroyed Denmark completely and in August he began a two-year long siege of Copenhagen but failed to take the capital. Following the Great Northern War —21 , Denmark managed to restore control of the parts of Schleswig and Holstein ruled by the house of Holstein-Gottorp in and , respectively.

The British considered this a hostile act and attacked Copenhagen in both and , in one case carrying off the Danish fleet, in the other, burning large parts of the Danish capital. This led to the so-called Danish-British Gunboat War, but the British control of the waterways between Denmark and Norway proved disastrous to the union's economy and in , Denmark-Norway went bankrupt. The Danish-Norwegian union was dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in Norway entered a new union with Sweden which lasted until Denmark kept the colonies of Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland.

Virgin Islands from to The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the s, and after the European Revolutions of Denmark peacefully became a constitutional monarchy on 5 June After the Second War of Schleswig Danish: Slesvig in , Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks on the Danish national identity.

Fearing German irredentism, Denmark refused to consider the return of the area and insisted on a plebiscite concerning the return of Schleswig. The two Schleswig Plebiscites took place on 10 February and 14 March, respectively. The reunion day Genforeningsdag is celebrated every year 15 June on Valdemarsdag.

Economic co-operation between Germany and Denmark continued until , when the Danish government refused further co-operation and its navy sank most of its ships and sent as many of their officers as they could to Sweden.

During the war, the government was helpful towards the Danish Jewish minority, and the Danish resistance performed a rescue operation that managed to get most of them to Sweden and safety shortly before the Germans planned to round up the Danish Jews. Denmark led many "inside operations" or sabotage against the German facilities. Iceland severed ties to Denmark and became an independent republic, and in , the Faroe Islands gained home rule. The Maastricht treaty was ratified after a further referendum in and the subsequent addition of concessions for Denmark under the Edinburgh Agreement.

Greenland gained home rule in and was awarded self-determination in Neither Greenland nor the Faroe Islands are members of the European Union, the Faroese declining membership in EEC from and Greenland from , in both cases because of fisheries policies.

Of these, 72 are inhabited, with the largest being Zealand and Funen. The island of Bornholm is located east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands.

Denmark occupies an area of 43, square kilometres 16, 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.

It shares a border of 68 kilometres with Germany to the south and is otherwise surrounded by 7, km 4, mi of tidal shoreline including small bays and inlets. No location in Denmark is further from the coast than 52 km 32 mi. On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 m 3.

This is in the archipelago Ertholmene 18 kilometres northeast of Bornholm. The distance from east to west is kilometres mi , from north to south kilometres mi.

The country is flat with little elevation; having an average height above sea level of 31 metres ft. The area of inland water is km 2 sq mi. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Denmark can be subdivided into two ecoregions: the Atlantic mixed forests and Baltic mixed forests. The Faroe Islands are covered by the Faroe Islands boreal grasslands, while Greenland hosts the ecoregions of Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra and Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra.

Denmark has a temperate climate, characterised by mild winters, with mean temperatures in January and February of 0. Denmark has an average of days per year with precipitation, on average receiving a total of millimetres 28 in per year; autumn is the wettest season and spring the driest.

Because of Denmark's northern location, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. There are short days during the winter with sunrise coming around am and sunset pm, as well as long summer days with sunrise at am and sunset at 10 pm. Denmark has historically taken a progressive stance on environmental preservation; in Denmark established a Ministry of Environment and was the first country in the world to implement an environmental law in To mitigate environmental degradation and global warming the Danish Government has signed the following international agreements: Antarctic Treaty; Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol; Endangered Species Act.

Leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen Summit , the University of Copenhagen held the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions conference where the need for comprehensive action to mitigate climate change was stressed by the international scientific community.

Notable figures such as Rajendra K. Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, Professor Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Report and Professor Daniel Kammen all emphasised the good example set by Copenhagen and Denmark in capitalising on cleantech and achieving economic growth while stabilising carbon emissions. Denmark's green house gas emissions per dollar of value produced has been for the most part unstable since , seeing sudden growths and falls. Overall though, there has been a reduction in gas emissions per dollar value added to its market.

It lags behind other Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden. The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, in which Queen Margrethe II is head of state, but royal power has long been limited to ceremonial functions. The monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and the monarch's person is sacrosanct.

The Danish political system operates under a framework laid out in the Constitution of Denmark. Changes to it require an absolute majority in two consecutive parliamentary terms and majority approval through a referendum and the referendum majority constitutes at least 40 per cent of the electorate.

The Constitution lays out a political system based on the separation of powers into the three branches of government; the legislative, the executive and the judiciary branches.

The Folketing is the national parliament, the supreme legislative body of the kingdom. In theory it has the ultimate legislative authority according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, it is able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors.

However questions over sovereignty have been brought forward because of Denmark's entry into the European Union. Parliament consists of members elected by proportional majority, plus two members each from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Parliamentary elections are held at least every four years, but it is within the powers of the prime minister to ask the monarch to call for an election before the term has elapsed.

On a vote of no confidence, the parliament may force a single minister or the entire government to resign. The Danish political system has traditionally generated coalitions. Most Danish post-war governments have been minority coalitions ruling with the support of non-government parties. The prime minister is formally appointed by the monarch, on the advice of party leaders following an election or collapse of a government.

In practice the prime minister is chosen through negotiation between the parliament party leaders, customarily with the leader of the largest party in a coalition being appointed. Executive authority is exercised on behalf of the monarch by the prime minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, prime minister and other ministers collectively make up the government of Denmark.

He headed a right-wing government coalition consisting of Venstre a conservative liberal party and the Conservative People's Party, with parliamentary support from the national-conservative Danish People's Party.

Following the September election the right wing lost by a small margin to the opposing left-wing coalition, led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt who on 3 October formed a new government consisting of the Social Democrats, the Danish Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party. Judicial authority remains separate from the executive and legislature and lies with the courts of justice. The Kingdom of Denmark does not have a single unified judicial system — Denmark proper has one system, Greenland another, and the Faroe Islands a third.

However, decisions by the highest courts in Greenland and the Faroe Islands may be appealed to the Danish High Courts. The Danish Supreme Court is the highest civil and criminal court responsible for the administration of justice in the kingdom. Articles 62 and 64 of the Danish Constitution ensure judicial independence from Government and Parliament by providing that judges shall only be guided by the law, including acts, statutes and practice. Danish foreign policy is based on its identity as a sovereign nation in Europe.

As such its primary foreign policy focus is on its relations with other nations as a sovereign independent nation. Denmark has long had good relations with other nations. It has been involved in coordinating Western assistance to the Baltic states Estonia,Latvia, and Lithuania.

There were several serious confrontations between the U. With the end of the Cold War, however, Denmark has been supportive of U. Denmark's armed forces are known as the Danish Defence Danish: Forsvaret. During peacetime, the Ministry of Defence in Denmark employs around 33, in total.

The country is a strong supporter of international peacekeeping. Between and , there were approximately Danish soldiers in Iraq. Denmark is today pursuing an active foreign policy, where human rights, democracy and other crucial values are to be defended actively. In recent years Greenland and The Faroe Islands have been guaranteed a say in foreign policy issues such as fishing, whaling, and geopolitical concerns. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary state, however the Faroe Islands and Greenland were granted home rule political autonomy in and respectively, having previously had the status of counties.

Extensive powers have been devolved to the Faroe Islands and Greenland, which have their own governments and legislatures and are effectively self-governing in regards to domestic affairs. However, the devolved legislatures are subordinate to the Folketing where the two territories are represented by two seats each. High Commissioners Danish: Rigsombudsmand act as representatives of the Danish government.

A liberalization of import tariffs in marked the end of mercantilism and further liberalization in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century established the Danish liberal tradition in international trade that was only to be broken by the s. Property rights have enjoyed strong protection.

Denmark's economy stands out as one of the most free in the Index of Economic Freedom and the Economic Freedom of the World. The economy has high levels of international trade and Denmark is known as a free trade advocate in the European Union.

As a result of its acclaimed "flexicurity" model, Denmark has the most free labour market in Europe, according to the World Bank. Employers can hire and fire whenever they want flexibility , and between jobs, unemployment compensation is very high security. The World Bank ranks Denmark as the easiest place in Europe to do business.

Establishing a business can be done in a matter of hours and at very low costs. Denmark has a labour force of about 2. Denmark has the fourth highest ratio of tertiary degree holders in the world. GDP per hour worked was the 13th highest in As of June the unemployment rate is at 7.

Denmark's currency, the krone , is pegged at approximately 7. Although a September referendum rejected adopting the euro, the country in practice follows the policies set forth in the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union and meets the economic convergence criteria needed to adopt the euro.

The majority of the political parties in the parliament are for the euro, but as yet a new referendum has not been held, despite plans; skepticism of the EU among Danish voters has historically been strong.

Denmark is known for the Danish cooperative movement within among others farming, the food industry Danish Crown , dairy production Arla Foods , retailing Brugsen , wind turbine cooperatives and co-housing associations. Denmark has the 9th highest export per capita in the world.

StatBank is the name of a large statistical database maintained by the central authority of statistics in Denmark. Online distribution of statistics has been a part of the dissemination strategy in Denmark since By this service, Denmark is a leading country in the world regarding electronic dissemination of statistics. There are about 2 million hits every year. Denmark has considerable sources of oil and natural gas in the North Sea and ranks as number 32 in the world among net exporters of crude oil and was producing , barrels of crude oil a day in Denmark is a long time leader in wind energy, and as of May [update] Denmark derives 3.

Denmark is connected by electric transmission lines to other European countries.