Danish Realm
The Danish Realm (Danish: Danmarks Rige; Faroese: Danmarkar Ríki; Greenlandic: Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark; Faroese: Kongsríki Danmarkar; Greenlandic: Kunngeqarfik Danmarki), is the area over which the monarch of Denmark is head of state. It consists of metropolitan Denmark—the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark proper" (Danish: egentlige Danmark)—and the realm's two autonomous regions: the Faroe Islands in North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is also known as The unity of the Realm (Danish: Rigsfællesskabet; Faroese: ríkisfelagsskapurin; Greenlandic: naalagaaffeqatigiinneq).
Kingdom of Denmark
| |
|---|---|
| Anthems: Der er et yndigt land (English: "There is a lovely country") Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (English: "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") | |
Clockwise from top left (sizes not to scale): maps of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark | |
| Capital and largest city | Copenhagen |
| Official languages | Danish |
| Recognised regional languages | Faroese Greenlandic German |
| Demonym(s) | |
| Countries (non‑sovereign parts) | |
| Government | Devolved unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Frederik X |
| Mette Frederiksen | |
| Aksel V. Johannesen | |
| Múte Bourup Egede | |
| Legislature | |
| History | |
• Unification | c. 965 |
• Faroese home rule | 24 March 1948 |
• Greenlandic home rule | 1 May 1979 |
• Faroese takeover act | 29 July 2005 |
• Greenlandic self rule | 21 June 2009 |
| Area | |
• Denmark | 2,220,093 km2 (857,183 sq mi) (12th) |
• Faroe Islands | 1,396 km2 (538.999 sq mi) |
• Greenland | 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Q2 2023 estimate | 6,049,579 (112th) |
• Denmark | 5,941,388 |
• Greenland and Faroe Islands | 108,191 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2022 estimate |
• Total | €380 billion |
| HDI (2021) | 0.948 very high |
| Currency | Danish krone (DKK) Faroese króna |
| Time zone | |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | |
| ISO 3166 code | DK |
| Internet TLD | |
The Kingdom of Denmark is not a federation; it is a concept encompassing the three autonomous legal systems of Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, united under its monarch. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary sovereign state. It has Arctic territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean: various sites near the North Pole (Lomonosov Ridge, Gakkel Ridge, Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge complex, and the Chukchi Borderland). Constitutionally, the Kingdom of Denmark encompasses the realm, but the Faroe Islands and Greenland have an extended degree of autonomy to govern their relations.
The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been under the Crown of Denmark since 1397 (de facto) when the Kalmar Union was ratified, and part of the Danish Realm since 1814 (de jure). However, due to their separate historical and cultural identities, these parts of the Realm now have an extensive degree of self-government and have assumed legislative and administrative responsibility in a substantial number of fields.
Legal matters in the Realm are subject to the Constitution of the Realm of Denmark. It stipulates that it applies for all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and that legislative, executive and judicial powers are the responsibility of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Folketing), the Government of Denmark and the Supreme Court of Denmark. The Faroe Islands were granted home rule via an independence referendum in 1946, and Greenland did so in a 1979 referendum. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received "self rule", thus leaving the government of Denmark with little influence over the matters of internal affairs that are devolved to the local governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The realm has land borders with Germany and Canada (Hans Island), and a road and rail bridge that connects to Malmö, Sweden.