Portal:Denmark

Welcome to the Denmark Portal!
Velkommen til Danmarksportalen!

Flag Coat of arms
Location of Denmark within Europe

Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Unified in the 10th century, it is also the oldest. Located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, south-west of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is located in northern Europe. From a cultural point of view, Denmark belongs to the family of Scandinavian countries although it is not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The national capital is Copenhagen.

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

Denmark has been a constitutional monarchy since 1849 and is a parliamentary democracy. It became a member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973. The Kingdom of Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wide-ranging home rule. The Danish monarchy is the oldest existing monarchy in Europe, and the national flag is the oldest state flag in continuous use.

Selected biography

N. F. S. Grundtvig.

Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872) was a Danish teacher, writer, poet, philosopher, historian, minister, and even politician. He is one of the most influential people in Danish history, his philosophy giving rise to a new form of non-aggressive nationalism in Denmark in the last half of the 19th century. He was married three times, the last time in his seventy-sixth year.

Grundtvig and his followers, Grundtvigians, are credited with being very influential in the formulation of modern Danish national consciousness. Their attitude is well illustrated in the very different reaction of Danes to their national defeat in 1864 against Prussia versus the national trauma of German defeat in World War I.

Recently selected: Ole Rømer – Hans Christian Ørsted – Bjørn Lomborg


Selected picture

Otto Bache, "The conspirators riding from Finderup".
Otto Bache, "The conspirators riding from Finderup".
Otto Bache: "The conspirators riding from Finderup barn following the murder of Eric Klipping".

Image credit: Otto Bache (1882). Image located at the Frederiksborg Museum.

Selected article

The more blue a country has, the more newspapers that printed the cartoons in that country. The more red a country has, the more major protests and boycotts a country had.
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005. The newspaper announced that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship.

Danish Muslim organizations, who objected to the depictions, responded by holding public protests attempting to raise awareness of Jyllands-Posten's publication. The controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries.

This led to protests across the Muslim world, some of which escalated into violence with police firing on the crowds (resulting in more than 100 deaths, altogether), including setting fire to the Danish Embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran, storming European buildings, and desecrating the Danish, Norwegian and German flags in Gaza City. While a number of Muslim leaders called for protesters to remain peaceful, other Muslim leaders across the globe, including Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas, issued death threats. Various groups, primarily in the Western world, responded by endorsing the Danish policies, including "Buy Danish" campaigns and other displays of support. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II.

Selected place

A view over Frederikshavn
Frederikshavn is a town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbour". Frederikshavn has a population of 23,331 (1 January 2010), and is an important traffic portal with its ferry connections to Sweden and Norway. The town is well known for fishing, and its fishing and industrial harbours. The Danish term "frederikshavner" ("Someone from Frederikshavn") is used to denote a quality plaice fish, probably the most popular eating fish in Denmark.

Due to its advantageous proximity to the entrance to the Baltic Sea, Frederikshavn has historically been a naval base of some strategic importance. Peder Tordenskjold barricaded himself here in the fortress that German troops had already built in the 17th century.

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories
Denmark
Denmark-related lists
Buildings and structures in Denmark
Culture of Denmark
Economy of Denmark
Education in Denmark
Environment of Denmark
Geography of Denmark
Government of Denmark
Health in Denmark
History of Denmark
Images of Denmark
Organizations based in Denmark
Danish people
Politics of Denmark
Society of Denmark
Denmark stubs

Denmark topics

Things you can do

TASKS

  • Expand stubs:

Geography stubs · People stubs · Denmark stubs in general
Help us extend these stubs and make them real articles!

  • Categorize:

Help us categorize Denmark-related articles

  • WikiProjects:

Have a look at WikiProject Denmark, WikiProject Faroe Islands, WikiProject Greenland and WikiProject Norse history and culture

  • Noticeboard:

Have a look at the Danish Wikipedians' notice board

  • Geotag:

Find coordinates for these locations and tag them: articles missing geocoordinate data

Associated WikiMedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.