Guide turistiche

The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries if its offshore territories are excluded, and the largest if they are included. Denmark is one of the three Scandinavian countries. The mainland is located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway. Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wide-ranging home rule. The national capital is Copenhagen.

Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland, which borders northern Germany, plus a large number of islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Vendsyssel-Thy, Lolland and Bornholm as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark has historically controlled the approach to the Baltic Sea, and these waters are also known as the Danish straits.

Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849 after having been an absolutist state since 1660 and has been a parliamentary democracy since 1901. Having existed for more than 1,000 years, the Danish monarchy is the second oldest in the world, right after the Japanese. Denmark joined the European Economic Community in 1973, at which time the Faroe Islands chose to remain outside of the EEC. Greenland left the EEC in 1985, and the two provinces remain outside of the European Union and the EU customs zone.

Originally a nation relying on farming, fishing and seafaring without any major natural resources, Denmark has experienced a rapid industrialization and urbanization. Both developments started in the 19th century but accelerated in the first half of the 20th century. These trends enabled the establishment of a Scandinavian Model "welfare state" of public services, starting with the 1933 social reforms known as the Kanslergade Agreement. Denmark was occupied by Germany during World War II, and became one of the founding members of NATO in 1949, ending the traditional policy of neutrality. Economic growth and the modernization of society accelerated in the post-World War II era. According to a study published by UNESCO and the CIA, Denmark ranks as the "happiest" nation on earth


History


The earliest Danish archaeological findings date back to 130,000–110,000 BC in the Eem interglacial period. People have inhabited Denmark since about 12,500 BC, and agriculture has been in evidence since around 3,900 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age (1,800–600 BC) in Denmark was marked by burial mounds, which left an abundance of findings, including lurs and the Sun Chariot.

During the Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC – AD 1), native groups began migrating south. The Roman provinces maintained trade routes and relations with native tribes in Denmark, and Roman coins have been found in Denmark. Evidence of strong Celtic cultural influence dates from this period in Denmark and much of northwest Europe, and is among other things reflected in the finding of the Gundestrup cauldron. The first Danish people came to Denmark between the Pre-Roman and Germanic Iron Age, in the Roman Iron Age (AD 1–400).

Before the arrival of precursors to the Danes, who came from Scandinavia and spoke an early form of north Germanic, most of Jutland and part of the islands had been vacated or partly vacated by the earlier Jutes, who settled in Britain together with the Angles and the Saxons to form the Anglo-Saxons.

The exact origin of Denmark has been lost in history, but a short note about the Dani in "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths" from 551 AD by historian Jordanes is believed by some to be an early mention of the Daner, one of the ethnos from which are descended the modern Danish people. The Danevirke defence structures were built in several phases from the 3rd century forth, and the sheer size of the construction efforts in 737 are attributed to the emergence of a Danish king. The new runic alphabet was first used at the same time, and Ribe, the oldest town of Denmark, was founded about 700.

From the 8th to the 10th century, the Danes were known as Vikings. Together with Norwegians and Swedes, they colonised, raided and traded in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the 9th century, on the way towards the Faroe Islands and eventually came across "Vinland" (Land of Grass/Land of Wine) also known today as Newfoundland, in Canada. The Danish Vikings were most active in the British Isles and Western Europe. They temporarily conquered and settled parts of England (known as the Danelaw), Ireland, France and founded Normandy. More Anglo-Saxon pence of this period have been found in Denmark than in England. As attested by the Jelling stones, the Danes were united and Christianised about 965 by Harald Bluetooth. It is believed that Denmark became Christian for political reasons so as not to get invaded by the Holy Roman Empire, which was also an important trading area for the Danes. In that case Harald built six fortresses around Denmark called Trelleborg and built a further Danevirke. In the early 11th century Canute the Great won and united Denmark, England and Norway for almost 30 years

Throughout the High and Late Middle Ages, Denmark also included Skåneland (Skåne, Halland and Blekinge) and Danish kings ruled Danish Estonia, as well as the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Most of the latter two now form part of northern Germany. In 1397, Denmark entered the Kalmar Union with Norway and Sweden. The union was a personal union with the individual states maintaining their nominal independence. Scandinavia remained unified under this arrangement until Sweden broke away in 1523. The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in the 1530s, and following the Count's Feud civil war, Denmark converted to Lutheranism in 1536. Later that year, Denmark entered into a union with Norway as the Norwegian royal bloodline was extinct with the plague that ravaged Scandinavia.

Two centuries of wars with Sweden followed. King Christian IV attacked Sweden in the 1611-13 Kalmar War but failed to accomplish his main objective of forcing Sweden to return to the union with Denmark. The war led to no territorial changes, but Sweden was forced to pay a war indemnity of 1 million silver riksdaler to Denmark, an amount known as the Älvsborg ransom. Christian used this money to found several towns and fortresses, most notably Glückstadt (founded as a rival to Hamburg), Christiania (following a fire destroying the original city), Christianshavn, Christianstad, and Christiansand. Christian also constructed a number of buildings, most notably Børsen, Rundetårn, Nyboder, Rosenborg, a silver mine and a copper mill. Inspired by the Dutch East India Company, he founded a similar Danish company. Christian had planned to claim Sri Lanka as a colony but the company only managed to acquire Tranquebar on India's Coromandel Coast. In the Thirty Year's War, Christian tried to become the leader of the Lutheran states in Germany, but suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lutter resulting in a Catholic army under Albrecht von Wallenstein occupying and pillaging Jutland. Denmark managed to avoid territorial concessions, but Gustavus Adolphus' intervention in Germany was seen as a sign that the military power of Sweden was rising and the power of Denmark falling. In 1643, Swedish armies invaded Jutland and in 1644 Skåne. In the 1645 Treaty of Brømsebro, Denmark surrendered Halland, Gotland, the last parts of Danish Estonia, and several provinces in Norway. In 1657, king Frederick III declared war on Sweden and marched on Bremen-Verden. This led to a massive Danish defeat and the armies of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden conquered both Jutland, Funen and much of Zealand before signing the Peace of Roskilde in February 1658 which gave Sweden control of Skåne, Blekinge, Trøndelag and the island of Bornholm. Charles X Gustav quickly regretted not having destroyed Denmark completely and in August 1658 he began a two-year long siege of Copenhagen but failed to take the capital. In the following peace settlement, Denmark managed to maintain its independence and regain control of Trøndelag and Bornholm.

Denmark tried to regain control of Skåne in the Scanian War (1675-79) but this attempt was a failure. Following the Great Northern War (1700-21), Denmark managed to restore control of the parts of Schleswig and Holstein ruled by the house of Holstein-Gottorp in 1721 and 1773, respectively. Denmark prospered greatly in the last decades of the 18th century due to its neutral status allowing it to trade with both sides in the many contemporary wars. In the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark originally tried to pursue a policy of neutrality to continue the lucrative trade with both France and the United Kingdom and joined the League of Armed Neutrality with Russia, Sweden and Prussia. The British considered this a hostile act and attacked Copenhagen in both 1801 and 1807, in one case carrying off the Danish fleet, in the other, burning large parts of the Danish capital. These events mark the end of the prosperous Florissant Age and resulted in the Dano-British Gunboat War. British control over the waterways between Denmark and Norway proved disastrous to the union's economy and in 1813, Denmark-Norway went bankrupt. The post-Napoleonic Congress of Vienna demanded the dissolution of the Dano-Norwegian union, and this was confirmed by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. Denmark-Norway had briefly hoped to restore the Scandinavian union in 1809, but these hopes were dashed when the estates of Sweden rejected a proposal to let Frederick VI of Denmark succeed the deposed Gustav IV Adolf and instead gave the crown to Charles XIII. Norway entered a new union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Denmark kept the colonies of Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Apart from the Nordic colonies, Denmark ruled over Danish India (Tranquebar in India) from 1620 to 1869, the Danish Gold Coast (Ghana) from 1658 to 1850, and the Danish West Indies (the U.S. Virgin Islands) from 1671 to 1917.

The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European Revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on 5 June 1849.

After the Second War of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig) in 1864, Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks on the Danish national identity. After these events, Denmark returned to its traditional policy of neutrality, also keeping Denmark neutral in World War I. Following the defeat of Germany, the Versailles powers offered to return the then-German region of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. 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. On 10 July 1920, after the plebiscite and the King's signature (9 July) on the reunion document, Northern Schleswig (Sønderjylland) was recovered by Denmark, thereby adding 163,600 inhabitants and 3,984 km². The reunion day (Genforeningsdag) is celebrated every year 15 June on Valdemarsdag.

Despite its continued neutrality, Denmark was invaded by Germany (Operation Weserübung), on 9 April 1940 and surrendered after being granted assurance that Germany would respect Danish independence. This strained relationship ended 29 August 1943 due to a mounting resistance movement upsetting German military leadership. This left Denmark under complete German control for the last 1½ years of the war. The Danish sympathy for the Allied cause was in general strong, but despite of this fact the economical cooperation between Germany and Denmark continued throughout the war. In 1944, 1,900 Danish police officers were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Buchenwald, from which many never returned alive. The Danish people distinguished themselves during the war by rescuing almost the all of Denmark's Jewish population, chiefly by conveying Danish Jews to neutral Sweden in fishing boats. During the war, Iceland cut the last ties to Denmark and became an independent republic, and in 1948 the Faroe Islands gained home rule. After the war, Denmark became one of the founding members of the United Nations and NATO and, in 1973, along with Britain, joined the European Economic Community (later, the European Union). Greenland achieved home rule in 1979.