Denmark

Denmark (Dan. Danmark), the smallest of the three Scandinavian kingdoms, consists of the peninsula of Jutland and a group of islands in the Baltic, and is situated between 54° 33' and 57° 45' N. lat., and 8° 4' and 12° 34' E. long., excepting the small island of Bornholm, which lies in 15° 10' E. long. Denmark is bounded on the N. by the Skagerrak; on the E. by the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Baltic; on the S. by the Baltic, Little Belt, and Sleswick; and on the W. by the North Sea. The area of Denmark Proper is a little less, the population a little more, than half that of Scotland. The population of Denmark Proper in 1870 was 1,784,741; in 1890 it had increased to 2,182,380. In 1890 the population of Copenhagen was 312,859 (with suburbs, 375,251); and there were besides five Danish towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants—viz., Aarhus (33,308), Odense (30,277), Aalborg (19,503), Horsens (17,290), and Randers (16,617).

The following table gives the main divisions of the kingdom, along with its dependencies :

Except in Bornholm (q.v.), the surface of Denmark is very similar in every part of the kingdom, and is uniformly low, reaching its highest point in Eiers-Bavnehøj, in south-east Jutland, which is only 564 feet above sea-level. The country presents little variety, except in its low isolated hills, but does not leave an impression of monotony; in the islands and in the south-east of Jutland the landscape is broken by noble forests, green meadows, and fertile fields; and even in the west and north of the mainland the wide stretches of moorland are clothed with heather, and have a solemn beauty of their own. The coast seldom rises even to low cliffs; generally it is flat, skirted by sand-ridges and shallow lagoons, especially along the west side, where the dunes cover an area of nearly 225 sq. m. The east coast is much indented by bays, useful for navigation and valuable for their fisheries; and here and in the islands are many good harbours. Both the continental portion and the islands are penetrated deeply by numerous fjords, the largest being Limfjord, which intersects Jutland, and has insulated the northern extremity of the peninsula since 1825, when it broke through the narrow isthmus which had separated it from the North Sea. There are about seventy lighthouses along the shores of Denmark, and seven lightships (see SOUND). From its formation, the kingdom can have no rivers, properly so called; its streams, called Aa, are mostly large brooks. There are several important canals, however, including in Jutland works for the canalisation of the Guden-Aa, its largest stream, and of the Limfjord; and lakes abound in all parts of the kingdom, the most considerable being found in Zealand. The centre and west of Jutland is nearly bare of wood, but in the other parts of the peninsula the forests cover about 215,000 acres, and in the islands over 291,000 acres. The beech, which flourishes more luxuriantly in Denmark than in any other land, is almost universally predominant, although three centuries ago the oak, now comparatively rare, was the characteristic Danish tree. Peat, which is got in abundance from the bogs, brown coal or lignite, and seaweed generally take the place of wood as fuel. In minerals Denmark is poor. Porcelain clay and some coal are found in Bornholm, and fuller's earth, potter's clay, saltpetre, chalk, and a poor marble occur in several parts of the kingdom, while some amber is collected on the west coast of Jutland. The climate is modified by vicinity to the sea, and is considerably milder, and the air more humid, than in the more southern but continental Germany. Mists are frequent, as are also sea-fogs on the west coast; and rain, snow, or hail falls over the country on 150 days on an average in the year. The annual rainfall is 23 to 25 inches. Westerly winds prevail; in the spring a cold, dry wind, known as the skai, blows from the north-west, and whirls clouds of fine sand from the coast inland, frequently doing irreparable damage to the crops. The mean temperature ranges from 44° to

47° F. The transitions from winter to summer are rapid, and scarcely broken by the intervention of spring or of autumn. The climate is, however, not unhealthy, except in the low-lying islands, such as Laaland, where the short and sudden heat of the summer occasions fevers.

The soils of Jutland are generally light, but those in the south-east part and in the islands are stronger; about 80 per cent. of the area of Denmark is productive, and of the remainder about one-sixth is in peat-bogs. Nearly half the population is engaged in agriculture; the land for the most part is parcelled out into small holdings, and this is encouraged by the laws, which since 1849 have prohibited the throwing of small farms into large estates. In 1890, of 223,892 tenancies not 2000 were over 144 acres in extent; there were 150,000 cottars and labourers cultivating land of from three to twelve acres; and the 'peasant farms,' varying from 12 to 144 acres—the majority under 50—numbered close upon 72,000. A third of the whole kingdom is arable, while over two-fifths is in meadow, pasture, or fallow land. Nearly four-fifths of the arable land is under oats, barley, or rye, and little over a twenty-third part under wheat. Flax, hemp, potatoes, and leguminous plants are also raised; lucerne has been introduced, and the cultivation of the beet-root has increased of late years. Barley is largely exported, but the imports of breadstuffs greatly exceed the exports. The raising of cattle is taking more and more the place of arable farming in Denmark, and has now become one of the chief sources of wealth. Much progress has of late been made in this direction owing to the efforts of government and of various institutions; bull and stallion shows have been promoted by royal grants, breeding farms have been similarly encouraged, and the farmers have been instructed by lectures on the various forms of cattle disease and other subjects. The stock of horses, cattle, and sheep is very large, and in 1895-98 there were exported annually 20,000 horses, 81,000 head of cattle, and 6000 sheep, mostly to Great Britain. Dairy produce has also largely developed, owing to improved methods and to the co-operative dairy system, which is now worked successfully on a large scale. The value of the butter exported to Great Britain rose from £767,190 in 1870 to £7,309,831 in 1898, the value of eggs from £67,654 in 1878 to £685,447 in 1898, and in 1898 the value of bacon so exported was over £2,700,000. The total value of the exports to the United Kingdom in 1893 was £8,936,835, and in 1898 £11,703,384; while the value of the imports from the United Kingdom was in 1893 £3,337,743. Other exports to Britain are fresh beef, pork (fresh and salted), hides, fish, and fish-oil. Much brandy and beer is produced.

About 25 per cent. of the inhabitants are returned as engaged in manufacturing industries, which, although not yet of great importance, show a marked advance within recent years. Machinery, porcelain and delf wares, and bricks are leading manufactures; beet-root sugar refineries are increasing, and the distilleries, though declining, are still numerous; there are ironworks, over eighty tobacco-factories, and several paper-mills in Copenhagen, Silkeborg, and elsewhere; and there are many large steam corn-mills. Generally, in spite of the scarcity of fuel in the country, steam-mills are taking the place of the windmills, and though the peasants still continue to manufacture much of what they require within their own homes, linens and woollens, as well as wooden shoes, are now increasingly made in factories. The fisheries (including the lobster and oyster fisheries) and the mercantile marine employ less than 3 per cent. of the people.

The principal articles of export are cattle, sheep, swine, butter, hams, hides, wool, grain, fish, eggs, meat, and wooden goods. Among the imports are textile fabrics, cereals, and flour, manufactures of metal and timber, coal, oil, salt, coffee, sugar, and tobacco. About two-thirds of the export trade is carried on in native vessels. The total value of the imports in 1890-97 ranged from £17,057,000 to £23,155,000; and of the exports in the same period, from £12,990,000 to £18,229,000. The bulk of the foreign trade is with Germany, Great Britain, and Norway and Sweden. The mercantile marine consists of 3700 vessels, including 370 steamships, with a total tonnage of 340,000. There are 1600 miles of railway open, of which about 1100 miles belong to the state; and there are in all about 3700 miles of telegraph lines, of which nearly 3000 belong to the state.

Elementary education is widely diffused, although in this regard Denmark is no longer so prominent as formerly; it is compulsory for children between the ages of seven and fourteen years, poor parents paying only a nominal sum towards the government or parochial schools, of which there are about 3000. There are training colleges for teachers, and classical and other higher education is afforded by a large number of colleges in the more important towns, with the university of Copenhagen (1300 students) for the centre of the entire system. Denmark has also a theological seminary, a royal surgical college, a veterinary and agricultural school, and numerous military, technical, and commercial schools, while fifty 'people's high schools' provide instruction in agricultural subjects. There are three public libraries in Copenhagen, of which the Royal Library, with 500,000 volumes, is especially rich in oriental and Icelandic MSS. The established religion is Lutheran, to which the king must belong; but complete toleration is enjoyed in every part of the kingdom. The Reformation was introduced in 1536, when the church revenues were seized by the crown. Denmark is divided into seven dioceses, in which there are 1360 parishes. There are only 31,000 persons not belonging to the Lutheran Church, of whom 4000 are Jews, 3600 Roman Catholics, 2300 Methodists, 1000 Mormons, 4600 Baptists, and 2600 Irvingites.

The government of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, the king being assisted by a cabinet of seven ministers. The crown was elective until 1660, when the people and clergy, impelled by hatred towards the nobles, invested the sovereign (Frederick III.) with absolute power, and declared the succession to the throne hereditary. From that time the crown exercised absolute rule till 1831, when a constitution was granted. This proving unsatisfactory, was superseded in 1848 by the form of government which, with some alterations, Denmark now enjoys. The national assembly or Rigsdag consists of the Folkething and Landstthing, which meet annually, the members receiving a fixed allowance during their sittings. The Landstthing is composed of sixty-six members, of whom twelve are nominated for life by the king, while the remainder are elected for a term of eight years by certain bodies representing the large taxpayers of the kingdom. The members of the Folkething, whose number is fixed by statute in the proportion of one to every 16,000 of the population, are elected for three years by practically universal suffrage. To this body all budgets must first be submitted; but in the years 1877-87, when the government had a minority in the lower house, the king was induced to give the royal ratification to successive 'provisionary budgets,' which had never received the assent of the Rigsdag. Nevertheless the financial condition of Denmark is sound and prosperous. The total revenue in the period 1885-95 fluctuated from £3,000,000 to £3,200,000 a year; while the expenditure has repeatedly exceeded £3,600,000. Since the war of 1866, the government has maintained a comparatively large reserve fund, to meet any sudden emergency. That fund stood in 1887 at £990,000. The total national debt is over £10,000,000, or about £5 per head of the population; but as the investments of the state (in telegraphs, &c.) amount to nearly £5,000,000, this proportion is reduced to less than £3. The decimal system was introduced in 1875, the unit being the krone, or crown, of 100 øre; the average rate of exchange is 18 kroner to the pound sterling. The Danish army numbers 1200 officers and 46,000 men, inclusive of the landwehr; but only a sufficient establishment for garrison purposes is maintained, and the peace strength is 750 officers and 13,000 men. The total war strength is about 50,000 men, to which an extra reserve of 14,000 could be added on emergency. Conscription prevails, and the period of military service is divided into eight years in the line and reserve, and eight in the extra reserve. The navy is recruited by levies from the coast districts. The fleet comprises some forty steamers (of which ten are ironclads, but only one a first-class battleship); there are 150 officers and 1500 men. The navy numbered in 1897, 290 officers and 1150 men. Besides Copenhagen (q.v.), there are no defensible fortresses, though there are antiquated forts at Helsingör (Elsinore) and Fredericia. The arsenal is at Copenhagen.

History.—The early history of Denmark is lost in the twilight of the saga-period, out of which loom dimly the figures of its heroes, their brave deeds, and daring voyages. Within its borders the Celts had first their home, and from its shores the Angles and Saxons sailed in the 5th century to the conquest of England; while in their place the Danes from Zealand settled on the deserted lands, extending their sway as far south as the Eider. One of their earliest kings, Harald Hildetand, fell in battle against the Swedes in 695; and shortly afterwards a branch of the Ynglinger occupied Jutland, where they held a footing for two centuries. One of their kings, Harald Klak, received baptism in 826 from Ansgar (q.v.); but the introduction of Christianity did not at once place any check on the long-accustomed inroads on Frankish territory, or on the piratical expeditions of the Vikings, although the country was soon torn by dissensions between the adherents of the old and new faiths. Gorm the Old, who drove the Ynglinger from the peninsula, and first united the mainland and islands under one rule, was the bitter enemy of Christianity; and although his death in 936 gave fresh vigour to the diffusion of the new faith, yet even its ultimate success was only insured by the zealous support it received from Gorm's grandson, Canute (q.v.). On his death in 1035 the three kingdoms of his Anglo-Scandinavian empire separated, and his sister's son, Svend Estridsen (1047-76), ascended the throne of Denmark, founding a princely line that flourished 400 years. Internal dissensions and external wars weakened the country, and the introduction of a feudal system raised up a powerful nobility, and ground down the once free people to a condition of serfdom. Waldemar I. (1157-82) added Rügen to the other Wendish districts of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, and extended his sway over Norway also. Under Waldemar II. the conquests of Denmark extended so far into German and Wendish lands, that the Baltic was little more than an inland Danish sea. The jealousy of the German princes and the treachery of his vassals combined to rob him, however, of these brilliant conquests, and his death in 1241 was followed by a century of