This article is about Danes as a nation and ethnic group. For the Iron Age Germanic tribe, seeDanes (tribe). For other uses, seeDanes (disambiguation).
Danes (Danish:danskere,pronounced[ˈtænskɐɐ]), orDanish people, are anethnic group andnationality native toDenmark and a modernnation identified with the country of Denmark.[28] This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Denmark has been inhabited by variousGermanic peoples since ancient times, including theAngles,Cimbri,Jutes,Herules,Teutones and others.[29]A 2025 study inNature found genetic evidence of an influx of central European population after about 500 ce into the region later ruled by the Danes.[30]
In 1523, Sweden won its independence, leading to the dismantling of the Kalmar Union and the establishment ofDenmark–Norway. Denmark–Norway grew wealthy during the 16th century, largely because of the increased traffic through theØresund. The Crown of Denmark could tax the traffic, because it controlled both sides of the Sound at the time.[citation needed]
In the 17th century Denmark–Norway colonizedGreenland.[29]
After a failed war with theSwedish Empire, theTreaty of Roskilde in 1658 removed the areas of theScandinavian Peninsula from Danish control, thus establishing the boundaries between Norway, Denmark, andSweden that exist to this day. In the centuries after this loss of territory, the populations of theScanian lands, who had previously been considered Danish, came to be fully integrated asSwedes.
In the early 19th century, Denmark suffered a defeat in theNapoleonic Wars; Denmark lost control over Norway and territories in what is nownorthern Germany. The political and economic defeat ironically sparked what is known as theDanish Golden Age during which a Danish national identity first came to be fully formed. The Danishliberal andnational movements gained momentum in the 1830s, and after theEuropean revolutions of 1848 Denmark became aconstitutional monarchy on 5 June 1849. The growingbourgeoisie 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 thefranchise to all adult males, as well as freedom of the press, religion, and association. The king became head of theexecutive branch.
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.[33]
As a concept,det danske folk (the Danish people) played an important role in 19th-centuryethnic 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 theDuchy ofSchleswigvis-à-vis a Danishnation-state. It describes people of Danishnationality, both in Denmark and elsewhere–most importantly, ethnic Danes in both Denmark proper and the former DanishDuchy ofSchleswig. Excluded from this definition are people from the formerly Norway,Faroe Islands, andGreenland; members of theGerman 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 theDanish 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 virulentantisemitism in Denmark and therescue of the Danish Jews, saving 99% of Denmark's Jewish population from theHolocaust.[34]
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 ofpeasant culture andLutheran 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.[35]
The ideology of Danishness has been politically important in the formulation of Danish political relations with theEU, which has been met with considerable resistance in the Danish population, and in recent reactions in the Danish public to the increasing influence ofimmigration.[36][37]
The Danishdiaspora consists of emigrants and their descendants, especially those who maintain some of the customs of their Danish culture. A minority of approximately fifty thousandDanish-identifying German citizens live in the former Danish territory ofSouthern 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,Peru andArgentina.[citation needed]
Danish Americans (Dansk-amerikanere) areAmericans of Danish descent. There are approximately 1,500,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. Most Danish-Americans live in theWestern United States or theMidwestern 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 inSolvang, California, andRacine, Wisconsin, but these populations are not considered to be Danes for official purposes by theDanish government, and heritage alone can not be used to claim Danish citizenship, as it can in some European nations.[citation needed]
According to the 2006 Census, there were 200,035Canadians with Danish background, 17,650 of whom were born in Denmark.[3][38] 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 inCopenhagen.[39]
InSouth America, we find Danish clusters in countries such asArgentina, andPeru. In the case of Argentina, the main cities where Danes settled were called the "triangle":Tandil,Necochea, andTres Arroyos. In Peru, although the migration was significantly smaller we do find a sizable amount of Danes and people of Danish descent inLima. TheRasmussen family, with their founder Jorgen Rasmussen who moved to Peru in1864. He is known for his contributions to the building of the electrical system in the country. In commemoration for his contributions, a plaque hangs in the administrative buildings of the country's electrical headquarters.
^Christopher Muscato (2018)."Denmark Ethnic Groups".University of Northern Colorado.Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved3 February 2019.
^Enoch, Yael (April 1994). "The intolerance of a tolerant people: Ethnic relations in Denmark".Ethnic and Racial Studies.17 (2):282–300.doi:10.1080/01419870.1994.9993825.
^Østergård, Uffe (January 1992). "Peasants and Danes: The Danish National Identity and Political Culture".Comparative Studies in Society and History.34 (1):3–27.doi:10.1017/S0010417500017412.
^Togeby, Lise (November 1998). "Prejudice and tolerance in a period of increasing ethnic diversity and growing unemployment: Denmark since 1970".Ethnic and Racial Studies.21 (6):1137–1154.doi:10.1080/01419879808565656.
^Rydgren, Jens (2010). "Radical Right-wing Populism in Denmark and Sweden: Explaining Party System Change and Stability".SAIS Review of International Affairs.30 (1):57–71.doi:10.1353/sais.0.0070.JSTOR27000210.Project MUSE379458.
