DENMARK (Dan. Danmark), capital, Copenhagen, the smallest of the three Scandi navian kingdoms, is situated between 54° and 57° 44' 50° n. lat., and 8° 5' and 12° 45' e. long., excepting the small island of Bornholm in the Baltic, about 90 in. e. of See land, which lies in 15° e. longitude. D. is bounded on the n. by the Skagerak, a gulf of the North sea; on the e. by the Cattegat, the Sound, and the Baltic; on the s. by the states of the German empire; and on the w. by the North sea, which the Danes call the " Western ocean." The following table gives the main divisions of the kingdom of D. and its principal colonies: The continental portion of D.. which since the treaty of Vienna, of Oct. 30, 1864, has been almost wholly limited to Jutland, in point of fact, the north-western extremity of the German continent. The entire coast-line of D., along the North sea, Skagerak, Cattegat, Sound, Baltic, and Little Belt, exceeds 800 m.; but many parts of this range are entirely unavailable for purposes of maritime intercourse, in consequence of the shallowness of the water, or of the numberless sand-banks, bars, and small islands which skirt the coasts. Seeland, or Salland, the largest of the islands, and the seat of the metropolis, Copenhagen, has an area of about 2,000 sq. miles. Its surface is in gen eral very flat, and only a few feet above the level of the sea, and the highest of its few isolated elevations is not 500 ft. above the sea. The island is generally fertile and well wooded, more especially in the s., but in the n. the soil is in many parts arid. Fiinen (Dan. Fyn), the island next in extent, with an area of about 900 sq.m., is divided from Seeland by the Great Belt, and from Jutland by the Little Belt. It is less wooded than Seeland, and is intersected by a range of hills of inconsiderable height. The smaller islands of Laaland, Langeland, Falster, and Moen, with an area of 2,000 sq.m., are grouped to the s. of Ffinen and Seeland, and exhibit the same physical and geological characters. They evidently, at some earlier epoch of the world's history, formed, together with those two larger islands, one connected whole, with Jutland on the w., and Sweden on the east. The n.e. shores of Seeland ara separated from the latter coun
try by a channel 70 rn. in length, and only 1 m. in breadth at its narrowest point, known as the Sound, or the Ore Sund, Ear sound, so denominated from its resemblance to the human ear. This channel varies from 10 to 19 fathoms in depth. The western coasts of .Seeland are divided from FlInen by the Great Belt, a channel 9 in. wide at its narrowest 'point, and from 5 to 25 fathoms in depth—while the western shores of Filnen are separated from the peninsula of Slesvig and Jutland by the Little Belt, which is about four-fifths of a mile wide. The peninsula of Jutland, whose area is about 9,600 sq.m., was anciently, and even comparatively recently, covered with forests; but since their wasteful destruction, extensive tracts have become converted into sandy heaths, and in some parts it has been found necessary to sow bent-grass and plant trees, in order to prevent the mischief accruing to the cultivated hinds by the clouds of dust raised by the wind. One third of Jutland has been rendered unfruitful by these causes, but where the few forests still remain, the neighboring districts are productive and well cultivated. Efforts have been made within the last few years to plant the heaths and drain the marshes of Jutland, and the results have on the whole been successful, more especially in regard to the latter, which are of considerable importance, since they supply large quantities of turf for fuel.
The coasts of D., both on the continent and in the islands, are indented with numerous bays or fjords, the largest of which is Limfjord, which intersects Jutland, and since 1825 has insulated its northern extremity by breaking through the narrow isthmus which had separated it from the North sea. It covers an area of 250 sq. miles. D. abounds in small lakes, the most considerable of which are Arre, Esrozn, Pure, and Bawls°, all in the n. and w. parts of Seeland. But as no inland point is more than 30 or 40 m. from the sea, and the ranges of hills are low and interrupted, the country has no rivers prop erly so called. Intercommunication is, moreover, facilitated in the islands and in Jut land by various canals.