Denmark
The Danes, a homogenous Gothic-Germanic people, have inhabited
Denmark since prehistoric times. Danish is the principal language.
English is a required school subject, and fluency is high. A small
German-speaking minority lives in southern Jutland; a mostly Inuit
population inhabits Greenland; and the Faroe Islands have a Nordic
population with its own language. Education is compulsory from ages
seven to 16 and is free through the university level.
Although religious freedom is guaranteed, the state-supported
Evangelical Lutheran Church accounts for about 95% of those persons
claiming religious affiliation. Several other Christian
denominations, as well as other major religions, find adherents in
Denmark. Islam is now the second-largest religion in Denmark. |
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During the Viking period (9th-11th centuries), Denmark was a great
power based on the Jutland Peninsula, the Island of Zealand, and the
southern part of what is now Sweden. In the early 11th century, King
Canute united Denmark and England for almost 30 years.
Viking raids brought Denmark into contact with Christianity, and in
the 12th century, crown and church influence increased. By the late
13th century, royal power had waned, and the nobility forced the
king to grant a charter, considered Denmark's first constitution.
Although the struggle between crown and nobility continued into the
14th century, Queen Margrethe I succeeded in uniting Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland
under the Danish crown. Sweden and Finland left the union in 1520;
however, Norway remained until 1814. Iceland, in a "personal union"
under the king of Denmark after 1918, became independent in 1944.
The Reformation was introduced in Denmark in 1536. Denmark's
provinces in today's southwestern Sweden were lost in 1658, and
Norway was transferred from the Danish to the Swedish crown in 1814,
following the defeat of Napoleon, with whom Denmark was allied.
The Danish liberal movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and in
1849 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy. After the war with
Prussia and Austria in 1864, Denmark was forced to cede
Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia and adopt a policy of neutrality.
Toward the end of the 19th century, Denmark inaugurated important
social and labor market reforms, laying the basis for the present
welfare state.
Denmark remained neutral during World War I. Despite its declaration
of neutrality at the beginning of World War II, it was invaded by
the Germans in 1940 and occupied until liberated by the Allied
forces in May 1945. Resistance against the Germans was sporadic
until late 1943. By then better organized, the resistance movement
and other volunteers undertook a successful rescue mission in which
nearly the entire Jewish population of Denmark was shipped to Sweden
(whose neutrality was honored by Germany). However, extensive
studies are still being undertaken for the purpose of establishing a
clearer picture of the degree of Danish cooperation--official and
corporate--with the occupying power. Denmark became a charter member
of the United Nations and was one of the original signers of the
North Atlantic Treaty. |
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