The borders of Denmark are cultural because Denmark is separate from Sweden and Germany by culture. There are also physical borders because the Norwegian Sea separates Denmark from Norway, Sweden, and the UK.
The dispute over the ownership of the tiny Hans Island, located between Canada and Greenland, started in 1973 when Canada planted their flag on the island, claiming ownership over it. This was a problem because of the fact that the island was located in the territorial waters (12 mi offshore) of both Canada and Danish controlled Greenland. With this being said, technically, both states could claim control over the small 1.3 square kilometer island. Soon after the Canadians "claimed" the island, the Danish retaliated and planted a flag of their own on the island. In the 2000s, debate about Hans Island arose again and both countries attempted to solve the issue by "splitting" the island in half. However, with the growing presence of Russia in the Arctic, Hans Island has been given little thought and the issue remains unsolved. Therefore, nothing has changed and technically both countries control the island until the dispute is settled.
Denmark is a fragmented state. The advantages that this type of territorial morphology presents is that it is harder for an invading state to occupy and control Denmark because of the fact that it is spread out. However, a disadvantage that this morphology presents is that it is hard to manage the state as a whole, at times. This is so because, like it is harder for an invading state to occupy and control, Denmark has land that is separated from its mainland by ocean. Another disadvantage is that due to its separation from the mainland, exclaves of Denmark will start to obtain a culture different from that of mainland Denmark.
Denmark has a few exclaves and they are Greenland, Bornholm, and the Faroe Islands .
It was around AD 700 when Denmark formed a central government. Beforehand, Denmark was a territory of a collection of villages and towns under the Frankish Empire.
Denmark is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
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Denmark's Chief of State: Queen Margrethe II
Denmark's Head of Government: Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen |
The capital of Denmark is Copenhagen.
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Everyone who is 18 years or older has rights of suffrage in Denmark.
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One centripetal force that affects Denmark is its language. This is a centripetal force for Denmark because of the fact that since the majority of Denmark all speak Danish, there will not be as many communication issues. This is still an ongoing centripetal force.
Another centripetal force that affects Denmark is the sense of place that the Danish have. Because of the fact that the Danish are patriotic about their land, they would feel very strongly about their land and want to defend it. This would therefore bind them together. As language is still an ongoing centripetal force, so is the sense of place. |
A centrifugal force that affects Denmark is the fact that Denmark is fragmented. Because Greenland (and other islands) is separated by water from Denmark and is far away, the few people living in these islands under Denmark's control will begin to have a different culture and way of doing things from the Danish culture in mainland Denmark.
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Denmark has a core region which is Hovedstaden.
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Denmark is apart of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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The UN ambassador from Denmark is Ib Petersen