Ethnic group native to Denmark
This article is about Danes as a nation and ethnic group. For the Iron Age Germanic tribe, see
Danes (tribe)
. For other uses, see
Dane
.
Ethnic group
Danes
Danskere
|
c.
8 million
|
|
Denmark
| 5,961,249
[1]
|
---|
United States
| 1,430,897
[2]
|
---|
Canada
| 207,470
[3]
[4]
|
---|
Norway
| 52,510
[5]
|
---|
Brazil
| 52,000
[6]
[7]
[8]
|
---|
Australia
| 50,413
[9]
|
---|
Germany
| 50,000
[10]
|
---|
Argentina
| 48,000
[11]
[12]
|
---|
Sweden
| 42,602
[13]
|
---|
United Kingdom
| 18,493
(Danish born only)
[14]
|
---|
Spain
| 10,000
[15]
|
---|
France
| 7,000
[16]
|
---|
Switzerland
| 4,251
[17]
|
---|
Iceland
| 4,214
[18]
|
---|
New Zealand
| 3,507
[19]
|
---|
Italy
| 2,084
[20]
|
---|
Portugal
| 1,528
[21]
|
---|
Austria
| 1,281
[22]
|
---|
Ireland
| 809
[23]
|
---|
Japan
| 500
[24]
|
---|
Lebanon
| 400
[25]
|
---|
|
Danish
|
|
Lutheranism
(
Church of Denmark
)
[26]
Further details:
Religion in Denmark
|
Danes
(
Danish
:
danskere
,
pronounced
[?tænsk??]
) are an
ethnic group
and
nationality
native to
Denmark
and a modern
nation
identified with the country of Denmark.
[27]
This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard themselves as a
nationality
and reserve the word "ethnic" for the description of recent immigrants,
[28]
sometimes referred to as "new Danes".
[29]
The contemporary Danish national identity is based on the idea of "Danishness", which is founded on principles formed through historical cultural connections and is typically not based on ethnic heritage.
[30]
History
Early history
Denmark
has been inhabited by various
Germanic peoples
since ancient times, including the
Angles
,
Cimbri
,
Jutes
,
Herules
,
Teutones
and others.
[31]
Viking Age
The first mention of Danes within
Denmark
is on the
Jelling Rune Stone
, which mentions the conversion of the Danes to
Christianity
by
Harald Bluetooth
in the 10th century.
[32]
Between
c.
960
and the early 980s, Bluetooth established a kingdom in the lands of the Danes, stretching from Jutland to Scania. Around the same time, he received a visit from a German
missionary
who, by surviving an
ordeal by fire
according to legend, convinced Harold to convert to
Christianity
.
[33]
The following years saw the Danish
Viking expansion
, which incorporated
Norway
and
England
into the Danish
North Sea Empire
. After the death of
Canute the Great
in 1035,
England
broke away from Danish control. Canute's nephew
Sweyn Estridson
(1020?74) re-established strong royal Danish authority and built a good relationship with the
archbishop
of
Bremen
, at that time the archbishop of all
Scandinavia
. Over the next centuries, the Danish empire expanded throughout the southern
Baltic
coast.
[31]
Under the 14th century king
Olaf II
, Denmark acquired control of the
Kingdom of Norway
, which included the territories of
Norway
,
Iceland
and the
Faroese Islands
. Olaf's mother,
Margrethe I
, united Norway, Sweden and Denmark into the
Kalmar Union
.
[31]
Denmark?Norway
In 1523, Sweden won its independence, leading to the dismantling of the Kalmar Union and the establishment of
Denmark?Norway
. Denmark?Norway grew wealthy during the 16th century, largely because of the increased traffic through the
Øresund
. The Crown of Denmark could tax the traffic, because it controlled both sides of the Sound at the time.
The
Reformation
, which originated in the
German
lands in the early 16th century from the ideas of
Martin Luther
(1483?1546), had a considerable impact on Denmark. The
Danish Reformation
started in the mid-1520s. Some Danes wanted access to the
Bible
in their own language. In 1524, Hans Mikkelsen and
Christiern Pedersen
translated the
New Testament
into
Danish
; it became an instant best-seller. Those who had traveled to
Wittenberg
in
Saxony
and come under the influence of the teachings of Luther and his associates included
Hans Tausen
, a Danish monk in the
Order of St John Hospitallers
.
In the 17th century Denmark?Norway colonized
Greenland
.
[31]
After a failed war with the
Swedish Empire
, the
Treaty of Roskilde
in 1658 removed the areas of the
Scandinavian peninsula
from Danish control, thus establishing the boundaries between Norway, Denmark, and
Sweden
that exist to this day. In the centuries after this loss of territory, the populations of the
Scanian lands
, who had previously been considered Danish, came to be fully integrated as
Swedes
.
In the early 19th century, Denmark suffered a defeat in the
Napoleonic Wars
; Denmark lost control over Norway and territories in what is now
northern Germany
. The political and economic defeat ironically sparked what is known as the
Danish Golden Age
during which a Danish national identity first came to be fully formed. The Danish
liberal
and
national
movements gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the
European revolutions of 1848
Denmark became a
constitutional monarchy
on 5 June 1849. The growing
bourgeoisie
had demanded a share in government, and in an attempt to avert the sort of bloody revolution occurring elsewhere in Europe,
Frederick VII
gave in to the demands of the citizens. A new constitution emerged,
separating the powers
and granting the
franchise
to all adult males, as well as freedom of the press, religion, and association. The king became head of the
executive branch
.
Identity
Danishness
(
danskhed
) is the concept on which contemporary Danish national and ethnic identity is based. It is a set of values formed through the historic trajectory of the formation of the Danish nation. The ideology of Danishness emphasizes the notion of historical connection between the population and the territory of Denmark and the relation between the thousand-year-old Danish monarchy and the modern Danish state, the 19th-century national romantic idea of "the people" (
folk
), a view of Danish society as homogeneous and socially egalitarian as well as strong cultural ties to other Scandinavian nations.
[34]
As a concept,
det danske folk
(the Danish people) played an important role in 19th-century
ethnic nationalism
and refers to self-identification rather than a legal status. Use of the term is most often restricted to a historical context; the historic German-Danish struggle regarding the status of the
Duchy
of
Schleswig
vis-a-vis
a Danish
nation-state
. It describes people of Danish
nationality
, both in Denmark and elsewhere?most importantly, ethnic Danes in both Denmark proper and the former Danish
Duchy
of
Schleswig
. Excluded from this definition are people from the formerly Norway,
Faroe Islands
, and
Greenland
; members of the
German
minority; and members of other ethnic minorities.
[
citation needed
]
Importantly, since its formulation, Danish identity has not been linked to a particular racial or biological heritage, as many other ethno-national identities have.
N. F. S. Grundtvig
, for example, emphasized the
Danish language
and the emotional relation to and identification with the nation of Denmark as the defining criteria of Danishness. This cultural definition of ethnicity has been suggested to be one of the reasons that Denmark was able to integrate their earliest ethnic minorities of Jewish and Polish origins into the Danish ethnic group with much more success than neighboring Germany. Jewishness was not seen as being incompatible with a Danish ethnic identity, as long as the most important cultural practices and values were shared. This inclusive ethnicity has in turn been described as the background for the relative lack of virulent
antisemitism
in Denmark and the
rescue of the Danish Jews
, saving 99% of Denmark's Jewish population from the
Holocaust
.
[35]
Modern Danish cultural identity is rooted in the birth of the Danish national state during the 19th century. In this regard, Danish national identity was built on a basis of
peasant
culture and
Lutheran theology
, with Grundtvig and his popular movement playing a prominent part in the process. Two defining cultural criteria of being Danish were speaking the Danish language and identifying Denmark as a homeland.
[36]
The ideology of Danishness has been politically important in the formulation of Danish political relations with the
EU
, which has been met with considerable resistance in the Danish population, and in recent reactions in the Danish public to the increasing influence of
immigration
.
[37]
[38]
Diaspora
The Danish
diaspora
consists of emigrants and their descendants, especially those who maintain some of the customs of their Danish culture. A minority of approximately fifty thousand
Danish-identifying German citizens
live in the former Danish territory of
Southern Schleswig
(
Sydslesvig)
, now located within the borders of Germany, forming around ten percent of the local population.
[
citation needed
]
In Denmark, the latter group is often referred to as "Danes south of the border" (
De danske syd for grænsen
), the "Danish-minded" (
de dansksindede
), or simply "South Schleswigers". Due to immigration there are considerable populations with Danish roots outside Denmark in countries such as the United States,
Brazil
,
Canada
,
Greenland
and
Argentina
.
[
citation needed
]
Danish Americans
(
Dansk-amerikanere
) are
Americans
of Danish descent. There are approximately 1,500,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. Most Danish-Americans live in the
Western United States
or the
Midwestern United States
.
California
has the largest population of people of Danish descent in the United States. Notable Danish communities in the United States are located in
Solvang, California
, and
Racine, Wisconsin
, but these populations are not considered to be Danes for official purposes by the
Danish government
, and heritage alone can not be used to claim Danish citizenship, as it can in some European nations.
According to the 2006 Census, there were 200,035
Canadians with Danish background
, 17,650 of whom were born in Denmark.
[3]
[39]
Canada became an important destination for the Danes during the post war period. At one point,
[
when?
]
a Canadian immigration office was to be set up in
Copenhagen
.
[40]
In
Greenland
, a
self-governing territory under Danish sovereignty
, there are approximately 6,348
Danish Greenlanders
making up roughly 11% of the territory's population.
[41]
Genetics
The most common
Y-DNA haplogroups
among Danes are
R1b
(37.3 %) and
I1
(32.8 %).
[42]
See also
References
- ^
"Befolkningstal"
(in Danish). Dst.dk
. Retrieved
15 February
2024
.
- ^
[1]
Archived
13 November 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
a
b
"Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada ? Data table"
. 2.statcan.ca. 6 October 2010. Archived from
the original
on 1 November 2009
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
"Ethnic Origin, both sexes, age (total), Canada, 2016 Census ? 25% Sample data"
.
Canada 2016 Census
.
Statistics Canada
. 20 February 2019.
Archived
from the original on 12 November 2020
. Retrieved
30 January
2020
.
- ^
Statistics Norway.
"Persons with immigrant background by immigration category, country background and sex. 1 January 2009 (Immigrants and Norwegian-norn to immigrant parents + Other immigrant background)"
. Archived from
the original
on 12 November 2011
. Retrieved
27 August
2009
.
- ^
"World Migration | International Organization for Migration"
. Archived from
the original
on 1 May 2019
. Retrieved
7 August
2020
.
- ^
Sa, Carlos Augusto Trojaner de.
"Por uma busca de dinamarqueses no Brasil: um estudo de caso inicial"
(PDF)
.
Revista do Historiador
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 9 August 2021
. Retrieved
7 August
2020
.
- ^
"Reportagens"
.
revistagloborural.globo.com
. Archived from
the original
on 28 January 2016.
- ^
"Improved access to historical census data"
. Censusdata.abs.gov.au.
Archived
from the original on 13 September 2019
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
[2]
Archived
24 June 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Flott, Søren (2020).
Rejsen mod syd. Historien om de danske udvandrere til Argentina
.
Lindhardt og Ringhof
. p. 315.
ISBN
978-8711906675
.
Archived
from the original on 28 September 2023
. Retrieved
2 October
2020
.
- ^
[3]
Archived
16 January 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Tabeller over Sveriges befolkning 2005"
(PDF)
. Scb.se.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 3 March 2016
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
"UK | Born Abroad | Denmark"
.
BBC News
.
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2008
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
"Global Migration Map: Origins and Destinations, 1990?2017"
.
Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project
.
Archived
from the original on 30 June 2019
. Retrieved
13 August
2021
.
- ^
Gynther Adolphsen.
"6000?7000 danskere bor ved den franske Riviera ? Frankrig"
. Udvandrerne.dk. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
"Hvor mange dansker bor i udlandet"
. Statsborger.dk. 28 June 2010. Archived from
the original
on 23 February 2015
. Retrieved
2015-03-11
.
- ^
"Population by country of birth, sex and age 1 January 1998-2022"
. Statistics Iceland.
Archived
from the original on 28 August 2023
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
[4]
Archived
24 March 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Danesi in Italia ? statistiche e distribuzione per regione"
.
Archived
from the original on 14 September 2019
. Retrieved
19 September
2019
.
- ^
"Sefstat"
(PDF)
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 23 June 2022
. Retrieved
28 May
2023
.
- ^
[5]
Archived
12 August 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Bevolkerung nach Staatsangehorigkeit und Geburtsland"
.
www.statistik.at
.
Archived
from the original on 4 September 2015
. Retrieved
31 July
2015
.
- ^
Kent Dahl.
"500 danskere i Tokyo ? Japan"
. Udvandrerne.dk. Archived from
the original
on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
[6]
Archived
23 November 2011 at the
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- ^
Fler lamnade kyrkan i Danmark
Archived
13 April 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
3.1.2015 Kyrkans tidning
- ^
Christopher Muscato (2018).
"Denmark Ethnic Groups"
.
University of Northern Colorado
.
Archived
from the original on 27 March 2019
. Retrieved
3 February
2019
.
- ^
Jeffrey Cole
(2011).
Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia
. ABC-CLIO. p. 103.
ISBN
978-1-59884-302-6
.
Archived
from the original on 28 September 2023
. Retrieved
3 February
2019
.
- ^
Jorgen Nielsen (2011).
Islam in Denmark: The Challenge of Diversity
. Lexington Books. p. 233.
ISBN
978-0-7391-7013-7
.
Archived
from the original on 28 September 2023
. Retrieved
3 February
2019
.
- ^
"Denmark Demographics"
.
WorldAtlas
. 31 August 2018.
Archived
from the original on 24 April 2019
. Retrieved
3 February
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Waldman & Mason 2006
, pp. 211?213
- ^
"daner | Gyldendal - Den Store Danske"
. Denstoredanske.dk.
Archived
from the original on 21 October 2012
. Retrieved
11 March
2015
.
- ^
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- ^
Jenkins, Richard.
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(PDF)
.
The University of Sheffield
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 13 November 2011
. Retrieved
12 July
2011
.
- ^
Yael Enoch. 1994. The intolerance of a tolerant people: Ethnic relations in Denmark. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Volume 17, Issue 2, 1994
- ^
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- ^
Lise Togeby (1998). "Prejudice and tolerance in a period of increasing ethnic diversity and growing
unemployment. Denmark since 1970". Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21, 6: 1137?115
[
page needed
]
- ^
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- ^
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. Statcan.ca. Archived from
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. Retrieved
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2015
.
- ^
Bender, Henning.
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- ^
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. CIA.
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.
- ^
Kushniarevich, Alena; Utevska, Olga; Chuhryaeva, Marina; Agdzhoyan, Anastasia; Dibirova, Khadizhat; Uktveryte, Ingrida; Mols, Mart; Mulahasanovic, Lejla; Pshenichnov, Andrey; Frolova, Svetlana; Shanko, Andrey; Metspalu, Ene; Reidla, Maere; Tambets, Kristiina; Tamm, Erika (2 September 2015). Calafell, Francesc (ed.).
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.
PLOS ONE
.
10
(9): e0135820.
Bibcode
:
2015PLoSO..1035820K
.
doi
:
10.1371/journal.pone.0135820
.
ISSN
1932-6203
.
PMC
4558026
.
PMID
26332464
.
Sources
External links
Media related to
Danes
at Wikimedia Commons
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