Danish overseas colonies
Danish overseas colonies and Dano-Norwegian colonies (Danish: De danske kolonier) were the colonies that Denmark–Norway (Denmark after 1814) possessed from 1536 until 1953. At its apex, the colonies spanned four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
Danish overseas colonies Danish: Danske kolonier | |||||||||||
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| 1536–1953 (Denmark) 1536–1814 (Norway) | |||||||||||
| Motto: Ske Herrens vilje "The Lord's will be done" | |||||||||||
| Anthem: Der er et yndigt land (English: "There is a lovely country") (1835–1953) Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (English: "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") | |||||||||||
All territories ever owned by Denmark–Norway | |||||||||||
| Capital | Copenhagen | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Official language: Danish Regional languages: Norwegian, German, Icelandic, Greenlandic, Faroese | ||||||||||
| Religion | Evangelical Lutheranism | ||||||||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||
• 1535–1559 | Christian III (first) | ||||||||||
• 1947–1952 | Frederik IX (last) | ||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 1848–1852 | Adam Wilhelm Moltke (first) | ||||||||||
• 1950–1953 | Erik Eriksen (last) | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Rigsdagen | ||||||||||
• Upper house | Landstinget | ||||||||||
• Lower house | Folketing | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1536 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1953 | ||||||||||
| Currency | Rigsdaler | ||||||||||
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The period of colonial expansion marked a rise in the status and power of Danes and Norwegians in the Kalmar Union. Danes and Norwegians during this time increasingly saw themselves as citizens of the same "State Fatherland" (Statsfædrelandet), the realm of the Oldenburg monarchs.
In the 17th century, following territorial losses on the Scandinavian Peninsula, Denmark–Norway began to develop forts with trading posts in West Africa, and colonies in the Caribbean, and the Indian subcontinent. Christian IV first initiated the policy of expanding Denmark–Norway's overseas trade, as part of the mercantilist wave that was sweeping Europe. Denmark–Norway's first colony was established at Tranquebar (Trankebar) on India's southern coast in 1620. Admiral Ove Gjedde led the expedition that established the colony.
After 1814, when Norway was ceded to Sweden following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark retained what remained of Norway's great medieval colonial holdings.
Today, the only remaining vestiges are two originally Norwegian dependencies that are currently within the Danish Realm, the Faroe Islands and Greenland; the Faroes were a Danish county until 1948, while Greenland's colonial status ceased in 1953. They are now autonomous territories within the Kingdom of Denmark with home rule, in a relationship referred to as the "Unity of the Realm".