Conference turris::scandia

    From: [email protected] (Frans Lichtenberg)                        
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Dannebrog
    Date: 31 Jul 90 14:35:33 GMT
    Organization: Sheridan College, Ont., Canada
 
 
                           Dannebrog:
 
              THE DANISH FLAG FELL FROM THE SKY!
 
                by Rolf Buschardt Christensen
 
    Every schoolboy in Denmark knows the origin of Dannebrog - the Danish
    flag. It fell from heaven during the Battle of Lyndanise in Estonia in
    1219, when King Valdemar the Victorious was leading a crusade against
    the heathen Estonians. With this banner, a white Christian cross on a
    red cloth, the Danes were victorious, and subsequently converted the
    Estonians to Christianity.

    Beginning in the year 1206, King Valdemar led a succession of crusades
    to convert the peoples of the eastern Baltic to Christianity. In 1219,
    the Danish king launched a major crusade against Estonia, with about
    1,000 ships. The Pope in Rome had specifically asked King Valdemar and
    Archbishop Anders Sunesen met with the Estonian chieftains, who out of
    fear, it seemed at the time, promised that all Estonians would convert
    to Christianity. It is estimated that the Danish forces numbered
    between 60,000 and 70,000 troops.

    Then came the evening of July 15, 1219. The Danish troops had gone to
    sleep, as everybody thought the war was over. But suddenly a large
    Estonian army descended on the Danish camp. The Danes were thrown into
    confusion by the unexpected attack. For a while it looked as if the
    whole Danish army would fall into Estonians hands.

    On a ridge above the battlefield, the Archbishop was praying for a
    Christian victory. According to legend when the Archbishop raised his
    arms towards heaven, the Danes would win, and when he lowered his arms,
    the Estonians would gain the upper hand. His arms growing tired, two
    priests had to hold them up for him.

    During the battle, a Dannebrog fell from the sky - "as a sign from
    heaven above". With this banner, and crying "Forward to victory under
    the sign of the Cross"' the Danish crusaders turned near-defeat into
    victory.

    After his victory, Valdemar the Victorious ruled over all of northen
    Estonia, Which was devided into two bishoprics. However, already the
    following year, Valdemar had to return to Estonia with more troops and
    missionaries. Estonia remained under the Danish crown for over 125
    years, being sold to the Teutonic Knights in 1346.

    Many scholars have questioned this old and beautiful legend, as the
    earliest account of Dannebrog's descent from heaven in 1219, dates from
    1529. Some suggest that the red - and - white cross flag was a gift
    from the Pope for the crusade against the Estonians. It is also
    interesting to note that the Coat of Arms of Tallinn is a white croos
    on a red background.
 
    Many people believe that Dannebrog means 'cloth of the Danes', but  the
    name probably derives from the Frisian word 'dan' (red) and 'broge'
    (coloured cloth).

    While all countries in the world have a flag, the Dannebrog is very
    special to Danes, and they will use it on any and all accasions, such
    as visits, birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. And when they have
    erected a new house they will place a flag on the roof tree - and
    celebrate 'rejsegilde'. As well, the Danes use small flags as
    decorations on birthday and wedding cakes, on cheese trays, and even on
    the Christmas tree. The Danes take pride in the fact that the Dannebrog
    is the oldest flag in the world. Moreover, June 15th is celebrated
    every year in Denmark, as Valdemar's Day, where small Danish flags are
    sold - very successfully.
 
		Frans.........

    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    From: [email protected] (Frans Lichtenberg)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Crusades
    Date: 31 Jul 90 15:18:04 GMT
    Organization: Sheridan College, Ont., Canada
 
    to the group with the permission of the source:
 
    	Scandinavian Forum is published quarterly in March,June,September
    and December by

	E.Terp Enterprises Inc.
	54 Lesgay Crescent, Willowdale, Ontario M2L 2J1 Canada
	Tel.(416)495-8591/493-1594
 
    -----------------------------------------
 
			The Northern Crusades
                              1147 - 1525
 
    The Battle of June 15, 1219 in Estonia was part of a series of crusades
    to extend and protect the Catholic faith in the Baltic area. The
    Northern Crusades, inspired by a Papel call for Holy War against the
    Northern heathens in the Baltic began in 1147, when Danes by the sea
    and Germans by land, invaded the southwest Baltic. The conquest and
    settlement was carried out by Scandinavian kings and German military
    monks, the Teutonic Knights. On the eve of the Reformation, the
    crusading impulse came to a halt along a stabilized Catholic/Orthodox
    frontier. Though less spectacular than the wars for the Holy Land, the
    Northern Crusades brought about deeper and more lasting changes.
 
		Frans........

   From: [email protected]
   Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe,clari.biz.finance
   Subject: S&P raises Denmark's long-term debt rating
   Date: 8 Oct 91 15:30:53 GMT
 
 
	NEW YORK (UPI) -- Standard & Poor's Corp. Tuesday raised the rating of
Denmark's long-term debt to reflect the European kingdom's improving
economy.
	The leading rating agency said it raised the rating to "AA-plus"
from "AA."
	S&P awards a maximum "AAA" rating to the soundest government and
corporate debt. Denmark's rating is just one notch below the top rating.
	S&P also affirmed the country's U.S. and Eurocommercial paper at a
strong "A-1-plus."
	"The upgrade reflects expected continued improvement in Denmark's
external payments position and debt burden, following several years of
tight fiscal policy, exchange-rate stability and low wage inflation,"
the rating firm said.
	In 1990, and for the first time in 27 years, Denmark recorded a
current account surplus amounting to 1.2 percent of its gross domestic
product.
	"Denmark is expected to record a surplus of 1.4 percent of GDP this
year," S&P said. "As a result, net foreign debt relative to exports
and net transfers will have fallen by an estimated 55 percent over the
past four years to less than 80 percent in 1991."
	Low inflation -- 2.6 percent in 1990, and one of the lowest rates
among industrialized countries -- is another major contributing factor to
Denmark's improving economy.
	"Accumulated gains in competitiveness, and an expected continued
moderate wage and price inflation, combined with an anticipated
disciplined fiscal policy, should ensure external surpluses over the
medium term," S&P said. "The payment surpluses should sustain the
declining trend in the still relatively heavy debt burden."
	S&P, while citing Denmark's improved economic track record, warned
that growing exports were achieved "at the expense of reduced output
growth and rising unemployment."
	"Further progress in lessening labor market rigidities is needed to
secure sustained reductions in unemployment and to provide the
consistent growth in labor productivity needed to assure that renewed
economic growth will not lead to the re-emergence of large external
payment deficits," S&P said.
	The rating firm expected Denmark's economy to grow at a stronger pace
in 1992 and 1993 on a combination of stronger exports and domestic
demand.
	"The biggest challenge facing policymakers is to ensure that current
account pressures will not emerge when domestic demand begins to
recover," S&P also said.

    
Denmark

------------ Geography
Total area: 43,070 km2; land area: 42,370 km2; includes the island
of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but
excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland
 
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of
Massachusetts
 
Land boundaries: 68 km with Germany
 
Coastline: 3,379 km
 
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 4 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
 
Disputes: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland,
Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement
in the Rockall area); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims
between Greenland and Jan Mayen
 
Climate: temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and
cool summers
 
Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains
 
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone
 
Land use: arable land 61%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 6%; forest and woodland 12%; other 21%; includes irrigated 9%
 
Environment: air and water pollution
 
Note: controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
 
------------ People
Population: 5,132,626 (July 1991), growth rate NEGL% (1991)
 
Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)
 
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
 
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
 
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1991)
 
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1991)
 
Nationality: noun--Dane(s); adjective--Danish
 
Ethnic divisions: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German
 
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman
Catholic 2%, other 7% (1988)
 
Language: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect); small
German-speaking minority
 
Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980 est.)
 
Labor force: 2,581,400; private services 36.4%; government services
30.2%; manufacturing and mining 20%; construction 6.8%; agriculture,
forestry, and fishing 5.9%; electricity/gas/water 0.7% (1990)
 
Organized labor: 65% of labor force
 
------------ Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of Denmark
 
Type: constitutional monarchy
 
Capital: Copenhagen
 
Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark--14 counties (amter,
singular--amt) and 1 city* (stad); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg,
Fyn, Kobenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde,
Sonderjylland, Staden Kobenhavn*, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjaelland,
Viborg; note--see separate entries for the Faroe Islands and Greenland
which are part of the Danish realm and self-governing administrative
divisions
 
Independence: became a constitutional monarchy in 1849
 
Constitution: 5 June 1953
 
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative
acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
 
National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
 
Executive branch: monarch, heir apparent, prime minister, Cabinet
 
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Folketing)
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
 
Leaders:
 
Chief of State--Queen MARGRETHE II (since January 1972);
Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26
May 1968);
 
Head of Government--Prime Minister Poul SCHLUTER (since 10
September 1982)
 
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic, Svend AUKEN;
Conservative, Poul SCHLUTER;
Liberal, Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN;
Socialist People's, Holger K. NIELSEN;
Progress Party, Pia KJAERSGAARD;
Center Democratic, Mimi Stilling JAKOBSEN;
Radical Liberal, Marianne JELVED;
Christian People's, Flemming KOTOED-SVENDSEN;
Left Socialist, Elizabeth BRUN-OLESEN;
Justice, Poul Gerhard KRISTIANSEN;
Socialist Workers Party, leader NA;
Communist Workers' Party (KAP), leader NA;
Common Course, Preben Moller HANSEN;
Green Party, Inger BORLEHMANN
 
Suffrage: universal at age 21
 
Elections:
 
Parliament--last held 12 December 1990 (next to be held by
December 1994);
results--Social Democratic 37.4%, Conservative 16.0%, Liberal 15.8%,
Socialist People's 8.3%, Progress Party 6.4%, Center Democratic 5.1%,
Radical Liberal 3.5%, Christian People's 2.3%, other 5.2%;
seats--(175 total; includes 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe
Islands) Social Democratic 69, Conservative 30, Liberal 29,
Socialist People's 15, Progress Party 12, Center Democratic 9, Radical
Liberal 7, Christian People's 4
 
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM,
CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-9, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, OECD,
PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG,
UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG;
Chancery at 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 234-4300; there are Danish Consulates General at Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, and New York;
 
US--Ambassador Keith L. BROWN; Embassy at Dag Hammarskjolds Alle
24, 2100 Copenhagen O (mailing address is APO New York 09170);
telephone [45] (31) 42 31 44
 
Flag: red with a white cross that extends to the edges of the flag;
the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side and that
design element of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) was subsequently
adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and
Sweden
 
------------ Economy
    
    Overview: This modern economy features high-tech agriculture,
    up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government
    welfare measures, comfortable living standards, and high dependence on
    foreign trade. The Danish economy is likely to maintain its slow but
    steady improvement in 1991. GDP grew by 1.3% in 1990 and probably will
    grow by about 1.25% in 1991; unemployment is running close to 10%. In
    1990 Denmark had the lowest inflation rate in the EC, a record trade
    surplus, and the first balance-of-payments surplus in 26 years. As the
    government prepares for the economic integration of Europe during 1992,
    growth, investment, and competitiveness are expected to improve,
    reducing unemployment, inflation, and debt.
 
GDP: $78.0 billion, per capita $15,200; real growth rate 1.3%
(1990)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (1990)
 
Unemployment rate: 9.5% (1990)
 
Budget: revenues $62.5 billion; expenditures $60 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA billion (1989)
 
Exports: $34.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
 
commodities--meat and meat products, dairy products, transport
equipment, fish, chemicals, industrial machinery;
 
partners--EC 52.2% (Germany 19.5%, UK 10.9%, France 6.1%), Sweden
12.5%, Norway 5.8%, US 5.0%, Japan 4.3% (1990)
 
Imports: $31.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
 
commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain
and foodstuffs, textiles, paper;
 
partners--EC 57% (Germany 25.6%, UK 8.4%), Sweden 12.7%, US 6.7%
(1990)
 
External debt: $45 billion (1990)
 
Industrial production: growth rate 2.1% (1989)
 
Electricity: 11,215,000 kW capacity; 30,910 million kWh produced,
6,030 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and
clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and
other wood products
 
Agriculture: accounts for 5% of GNP and employs 6% of labor force
(includes fishing and forestry); farm products account for nearly 15%
of export revenues; principal products--meat, dairy, grain, potatoes,
rape, sugar beets, fish; self-sufficient in food production
 
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89) $5.9 billion
 
Currency: Danish krone (plural--kroner); 1 Danish krone
(DKr) = 100 ore
 
Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1--5.817 (January
(1991), 6.189 (1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987), 8.091
(1986), 10.596 (1985)
 
Fiscal year: calendar year
 
------------ Communications
Railroads: 2,675 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Danish State
Railways (DSB) operate 2,025 km (1,999 km rail line and 121 km rail ferry
services); 188 km electrified, 730 km double tracked; 650 km of
standard-gauge lines are privately owned and operated
 
Highways: 66,482 km total; 64,551 km concrete, bitumen, or stone
block; 1,931 km gravel, crushed stone, improved earth
 
Inland waterways: 417 km
 
Pipelines: crude oil, 110 km; refined products, 578 km; natural
gas, 700 km
 
Ports: Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia;
numerous secondary and minor ports
 
Merchant marine: 281 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,888,064
GRT/7,131,949 DWT; includes 13 short-sea passenger, 85 cargo, 15
refrigerated cargo, 35 container, 40 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar
carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 14 chemical
tanker, 22 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 14 bulk, 1 combination
bulk; note--Denmark has created its own internal register, called the
Danish International Ship Register (DIS); DIS ships do not have to
meet Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience
within the Danish register; by the end of 1990, 258 of the Danish-flag
ships belonged to the DIS
 
Civil air: 69 major transport aircraft
 
Airports: 129 total, 112 usable; 27 with permanent-surface
runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast
services; 4,509,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 15 (39 repeaters) FM, 27
(25 repeaters) TV; 7 submarine coaxial cables; 1 earth station operating
in INTELSAT, 4 Atlantic Ocean, EUTELSAT, and domestic systems
 
------------ Defense Forces
Branches: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air
Force
 
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,369,684; 1,179,991 fit for
military service; 36,991 reach military age (20) annually
 
Defense expenditures: $2.4 billion, 2% of GDP (1990)
 
 
                                               

    From: [email protected] (Bodil Gram)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Re: Karnaval i Danmark
    Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 11:44:15 +0100
    Organization: Open University of Copenhagen
 
    We have the remains of a carnival culture.  Here it has been
    transformed into a feast mainly for children.  The little tykes dress
    up, brandish bundles of gilded beech twigs ornamented with paper
    flowers, candy, etc, and hit wooden barrels with sticks until they
    burst and whatever candy possibly placed inside tumbles out. The first
    child to seriously damage the barrel becomes the Cat Queen
    (irrespectable of sex), the kid who batters the last piece of wood down
    becomes the Cat King.  Both get paper crowns. We call this feast
    "fastelavn".  "faste" means, well, "to fast", so there is a similar
    thought behind fastelavn as behind "carne vale" = "goodbye meat".
 
 
    [email protected]
  
____________________________________________________________________
   Ladies do not need those huge signatures to bolster their egoes

   Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
   From: [email protected] (Jari Partanen)
   Subject: Statistics: This is DENMARK
   Sender: [email protected] (Usenet News admin)
   Organization: University of Turku, Finland
   Date: Thu, 16 Nov 1995 09:03:03 GMT
 
    I have in my hand the booklet "Taskutilasto: Suomi ja muut EU-maat"
    (Tilastokeskus, 1995). It contains about two hundred different   
    statistics about countries of European Union. 
 
    Now you can check, if your image of DENMARK is the same as the
    extremes. In the following I shall tell those statistics, in which
    Denmark was in the top (or bottom) of the list of 15 EU-countries.
    Thus, these features are most typical of Denmark. (Actually, there were
    rather few statistics where the moderate Danes were the extreme.)
    
______________________________
 
Denmark is the oldest country of EU, independent since ca. 800.
 
Denmark is EU's flattest, the height of Yding Skovhoj is only 173 m.
 
Most of the area is covered by farmland (60.1%, highest percentage in EU).
 
The Danish economy is service-oriented: 73.4% of the GNP comes from the
services (the highest percentage in EU).
 
The Danes are EU's best fishermen, catching 1995000 tons of fish every year
(1992).
 
They are also effective cattlemen: Denmark's meat production is 329 %
of Denmark's annual meat consumption (1992, highest percentage in EU).
 
And the Danes consume meat more than any other EU-citizens (329 kg/year,
in 1992; how can every Dane eat almost 1 kg of meat every day????).
 
The Danes still find place in their stomach for the sweet dessert:
the consumption of sugar, 40kg/Dane/year, is EU's record.
 
Whether or not because of this culinarism, life in Denmark is deadly
dangerous: the annual death rate is 1.18 % (1994), the highest in EU.
 
Especially the Danish women die "young": their life expectancy is only 77.8
years (1993), the lowest in EU.
 
The Danes prefer living by themselves: the average size of households
is only 2.05 (in 1993), the lowest in EU.
 
The Danes do not want to be lazy: 55.4% of them are available in the
labour market (1993; highest percentage in EU).
 
Also women want to work: 77.4% of women in age 15-64 are in the labour
market, more than anywhere else in EU.
 
Salaries of Danish industrial workers rise very slowly: in 1993 they
were only 13% higher than in 1990 (slowest rise of salaries in EU).
 
Denmark is EU's most expensive country. The consumer prices are 12 % more
expensive than in the second expensive Finland (in May 1995).
 
The empathic Danes want to help: they give more development aid, 1.03%
of the GNP, than any other EU-country.
______________________________ 
 
Best regards,
 
Jari P.       http://www.utu.fi/~partanen