A Viking Nation
Historically, the majority of the Danish population can be considered to be of Scandinavian origin, with individuals of Inuit and Faroese origin from the autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In addition, there is an official German minority of approximately 25,000 people from the former South Jutland amt - formerly a Danish county corresponding to the German North Schleswig - and now part of the Danish Syddanmark.
The Danish ancestors can be traced back to 3000 B.C., when they were nomads living on hunting and fishing, originating from southeastern Europe. A thousand years later, Denmark was colonized by Indo-Europeans, migrants from the Middle East, and then by the Cimbres, a Danish tribe from the north of the peninsula, whose conquests are strangely reminiscent of the Viking campaigns, the famous ancestors of the Scandinavians who populated Denmark from the beginning of the 9th century. At that time, there were about two million inhabitants in the territory.
Denmark now has a population of 5.8 million, which is about 1.5% of the total population in Europe. The distribution of the population is relatively even, but with a greater concentration in the metropolitan area of Copenhagen, which accounts for just under a third of the total population: 1.3 million people. This is followed by the cities of Aarhus (315,000), Odense (175,000) and Ålborg (130,000).
As of April1, 2020, the number of immigrants (1st and2nd generations combined) represented 13.9% of the population. The Turkish community is the largest, followed by a majority of Europeans (160,000), Asians (57,000), Africans (24,000) and North Americans (6,000). This percentage is expected to stabilize or decrease in the coming years, due to an increasingly strict immigration policy. In 2002, the conservative, nationalist government imposed the so-called 24-year rule: Danes are only allowed to marry foreigners if both fiancés are over 24 years old and meet a set of drastic conditions. In 2015, the country passed a controversial confiscation law, which allows migrants to seize their cash and items worth more than 1,340 euros. In 2018, the small island of Lindholm was turned into an open-air detention center for foreigners who have been sentenced to prison but are prevented by international conventions from being sent back to their home countries. In 2019, asylum applications were at their lowest level since 2008.
An ancient language
Danish belongs to the group of Germanic languages. Old Norse, a Viking language, was spoken in Scandinavia from the 6th to the 13th century. The alphabet used then consisted of various signs called runes, traces of which can still be found on the famous runic stones of Jelling. The Scandinavian languages then diversified by introducing Old Danish, until the 16th century, then the modern Danish used today. Nevertheless, there are great similarities between Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Those who know German will not have too much trouble getting used to it, at least when reading; on the other hand, pronunciation and understanding are rather difficult!
Useful to know when consulting an index, a dictionary or a Danish directory: there are three more letters than in our alphabet, and they are found at the end of the list, after the 26 letters we know in French, in this order: æ ("è"), ø ("eu"), å ("o"). Also, the y is pronounced "u". You should also know that in Danish, the use of "vous" has been abandoned because it is considered too unequal. You can try your hand at Danish by saying tak (thank you) or farvel (goodbye) to give it a local color, but the Danes speak fluent English which makes it easier to exchange and understand small words of everyday life. Otherwise, simply use French: the words "merci" and "bonjour" are still understood, even if the French-speaking world is in decline.
On the other hand, there are situations where you will need a little vocabulary, such as deciphering a menu in a restaurant, or if you come across a closed door. As for the toilets, no worries, there is the letter D for Damer and H for Herrer, no possible confusion for the French speakers who will immediately assimilate D for "Ladies" and H for "Men" (literally "Gentlemen").
From the Faroe Islands
The Faroese are descended from the Gall Gàidheal, a people born of encounters between the Vikings and the Celts. The population in 2020 was 52,656 people, the highest figure in the history of the island, with almost half living in the capital, Tórshavn. An island where life is good since the life expectancy for men is 80.4 years and 85.3 years for women. In 2019, the number of foreign citizens and immigrants registered was 2,040 and 1,760 respectively. The islands stand out for their fertility rate of 2.4: the highest in Europe, yet many women leave the island for the mainland.
On the immigration side, 2014 statistics showed that 87% of nationals were from the Nordic countries. The Danes accounted for 77.5%, Greenland (1.5%), Iceland (2.9%), Norway (3%), Sweden (1.8%) and Finland (0.0%). The remaining 8.3% were immigrants from 90 different countries, the majority of which were European: Croatia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
Asian countries (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.) represented the largest foreign community, which is characterized by a predominantly female migration. These figures reflect the emigration of Faroese women, waiting for Faroese society to evolve towards more equality and tolerance. An exception in Scandinavia (which is rather exemplary in terms of parity) is the fact that in these conservative islands, 66% of women work part-time, and only 6% of men take parental leave.
An island language of its own
The national language is Faroese. Danish, the second official language, as well as English - an optional language that is widely used - are taught in all schools. Faroese is also a Germanic language with roots in Old Norse, as are Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. Although close to these Scandinavian languages, the Faroese are the only ones to speak it in the world and it remains a bit of a mystery, even within the Nordic language circle! So, for a French person, we let you imagine the complexity!
In 1846, Venceslaus Ulricus Hammersheimb, a Faroese Lutheran minister, developed his spelling system. To help you out with the phonetic complexities, once you're here during your stay, a free translation application has been developed: Faroe Islands Translate. You type in your word or phrase and you receive an almost instantaneous video translation by a volunteer Faroese! Easy when you need to express your feelings without delay with an " I love you " or want to say " I would like a beer "!
Solutions to the problem of integration
On the eve of the 2015 elections, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considered a report submitted by Denmark, which had established an anti-discrimination unit in the Ministry of Integration and prepared a new plan for integration on the issue of access to employment without inequality. The report, which included representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, stated that 45% of people with an ethnic minority background were discriminated against, including the Roma community. It also raised the situation of the Inuit. The rapporteur also noted the rise of xenophobic propaganda in political discourse and the media, the rise of Islamophobia and the terrorist attack against the Jewish community in February 2015.
Similarly, the issue of freedom of expression and incitement to hatred had been raised after the Danish Parliament agreed to an exhibition of racist works by a Swedish artist with several convictions for racism in his country. In conclusion, the report noted the various optimistic and positive measures taken by the Danish government to combat racism and xenophobia as well as integration measures.
The subject of immigration concerns many European countries, and fiction often deals with this issue, whether in television series - such as The Team (a police series in which Germany, Belgium, Austria and Denmark collaborated) - or in films.
