Delimitations and boundaries. – The surface of Denmark (42,927 sq. Km.) Is slightly less than that of Lombardy and Venice itself combined; the population (3,434,555 residents in 1925) is however lower than that of Venice alone. Denmark is made up of the peninsula of Jütland (Jylland) and a hundred inhabited islands, as well as a number of islets. Politically, the Faroe archipelago (v.), In the Atlantic, also belongs to Denmark. The whole country is bathed by the sea, with the exception of a stretch of 65 km., Which borders with Germany and which almost always follows the course of the Wied Au and its tributaries. The seas around Denmark are: towards the West the North Sea (in Danish Vesterhavet), to the NW. the Skagerrak, NE. the Kattegat, to the SE. and to S. the Baltic Sea (in Danish Østersøen); this the latter takes the name Belthavet in its western part, on this side from the Gedser Odde-Darsser Ort line. The northern end of Denmark falls in Cape Skagen (57 ° 44′55 ″ lat. N.), the southern end in Gedser Odde (54 ° 33′51 ″ lat. N.); the westernmost point is Blaavands Huk (80454n long. E.), while the easternmost one is Kristiansø on Bornholm Island (15 ° 11′50 ″ long. E.). The peninsula of Jütland rejoins the plains of central Europe and is divided by the Lim Fjord from an extreme northern part which is an island (north Jütland). To E. of Jütland and beyond the Little Belt (the westernmost point is Blaavands Huk (80454n long. E.), while the easternmost one is Kristiansø on Bornholm Island (15 ° 11′50 ″ long. E.). The peninsula of Jütland rejoins the plains of central Europe and is divided by the Lim Fjord from an extreme northern part which is an island (north Jütland). To E. of Jütland and beyond the Little Belt (the westernmost point is Blaavands Huk (80454n long. E.), while the easternmost one is Kristiansø on Bornholm Island (15 ° 11′50 ″ long. E.). The peninsula of Jütland rejoins the plains of central Europe and is divided by the Lim Fjord from an extreme northern part which is an island (north Jütland). To E. of Jütland and beyond the Little Belt (Lille Belt) is the archipelago of Funen (Fyn): Fyn with the surrounding islands, which the strait of the Great Belt (Store) separates from the archipelago of Seeland (Sy œlland); the island chain continues towards S. with Laaland (Lolland), Falster and numerous smaller islets. In the Baltic there is Bornholm Island, which morphologically is a fragment of Scandinavia.

According to smber, little is known about Denmark and the Danes of antiquity. On Ptolemy’s map we find Jütland (Cimbria) outlined with three islands further east, in very wrong form. Some Roman North Sea fleets are believed to have landed in Denmark at that time. The denomination daner (= men, indigenous) is encountered for the first time in the literature of the century. VI, but probably the Cimbri and the Teutons came from Denmark, who were therefore the first Danish representatives in the civilized countries of southern Europe. However, the Danes and Denmark did not really know each other until the beginning of the Middle Ages, when the great exodus of the Vikings to the south took place. The Danes sacked the coasts of Europe and occupied parts of Great Britain and France (see History). Soon the Danes entered into relations with their neighbors; their culture gained there and they felt the desire to explore the country. The first modern complete survey was carried out from 1762 to 1820 by the Videnskabernes Selskab (Society of Sciences).

Coasts. – There is a clear contrast between the course of the coastline in the North Sea and in the Kattegat on the one hand, in the south-eastern part of Jütland and in the Danish archipelago on the other. Here the topography, characterized by the very minute texture of the inlets, by the island fringes and by the frequent and wide shallows, betrays better, better preserved as it is, its locally varied origin: now in relation to the glacial action of excavation (Køge Bugt, Præstø Bugt, Ise Fjord), now with the development of more or less conspicuous terminal moraines (Kalundborg Fjord), now with the presence of ancient river valleys (SE coast of Jütland). Along the W and NE sides. of the Jütland, on the other hand, the action of the currents, which develop in the open sea, has slowly built up several series of coastlines (altogether about 350 km long. iron coast). The economic consequences are different. While in the archipelago it is possible to find ample and suitable shelter for ships almost everywhere, the western and northern coasts of Jütland lack natural conditions favorable to the construction of ports; on the other hand, the development of the coastal strips determines the formation of lagoon areas that reach their maximum width between the Jammerbugt and Blaavands Huk, in the North Sea.