Denmark, as Danes like to tell you, is a little country. But it used to be a much bigger country, a bit of an empire.
Norway was once part of Denmark. Iceland was once part of Denmark. The southern half of Sweden and a bit of northern Germany used to be part of Denmark. What is now called the US Virgin Islands used to be part of Denmark.
And Denmark had colonies in Africa and India, which is why when you’ll go into many Danish supermarkets – even online supermarkets – you’ll see a section called Kolonial, or Colonial.
It features long-life products, like spices and nuts, that used to come from trading posts in the faraway Danish colonies.
Royals in folk costumes
Over time, through war losses and independence movements, the Danish Empire shrank…and today we’re going to talk about how it might shrink further.
Today’s Danish realm is made up of mainland Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland.
King Frederik X and Queen Mary in Greenland
Denmark takes this realm seriously. The only time you’ll see Danish Royals photographed in traditional folk costumes is on their regular trips to the Faroe Islands or Greenland.
The Faroe Islands costumes are beautiful, a bit like a fantasy book or movie, lots of corsets and capes.
In Greenland, the Danish Royals wear Inuit clothing and sealskin boots, at least for the photo session.
Denmark’s greatest living royal, the former monarch Queen Margrethe, had Greenland and the Faroes in mind when she designed her own sarcophagus, where she will spend eternity in Roskilde Cathedral, along with all the other Danish Queens and Kings.
Queen Margrethe’s sarcophagus, as yet unoccupied
The 84-year-old former Queen chose Greenlandic Marble, and volcanic stone from the Faroe Islands, along with sandstone from the Danish mainland. She will lie in state supported by stones from every part of the current Danish Realm.
But…there’s been talk in recent weeks about the Danish Realm losing a bit of territory.
The question of Greenland
A new leader in the US thinks Greenland should perhaps be part of his country, for commercial and military security reasons.
Meanwhile, the political head of Greenland says the country is ready for independence, or at least to leave Denmark behind, and that perhaps a referendum should be held on the topic.
Personally, I don’t know Greenland well – I’ve never been there, even though the Greenlanders have been working hard to develop their tourism industry.
Right now, they mostly live from fishing and from heavy, heavy subsidies from Denmark, which make up more than half of their public budget. What would replace those subsidies if Greenland were independent isn’t clear.
The Danish reaction
When it comes to the potential loss of Greenland, the Danes I talk to have mixed feelings.
I will say that there is certainly a bit of anger, and hurt pride, in Denmark that a part of the Danish Realm is being eyed up by a 500-pound gorilla of a country, which is supposedly an ally, led by a man most Danes don’t like at all.
The new king, King Frederik X, said in his televised New Year’s Speech that Denmark and Greenland belong together, then paused and looked meaningfully into the camera. I saw a lot of applause for that online.
In addition, the Royal Coat of Arms, which hasn’t been changed in 50 years, was updated last month to emphasize the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
Dog patrols
Meanwhile Denmark’s political leadership sent extra military resources to Greenland, including two new patrol boats, two new drones, and two new dogsled patrols, which are very practical there. In his younger days, the king himself drove a dogsled across Greenland.
Some Danes point out that Greenland has been Danish or Norwegian for centuries, and that the Norwegian Erik the Red had a settlement there long before the arrival of the Thule Inuits, who currently make up most of Greenland’s population.
Some Danes are ready to let go
But….I also hear from Danes who are ready to let go of Greenland. Some complain that the Greenlanders are ungrateful about all Denmark has done for them, all that money, all the schools and hospitals and airports Denmark has built. Some Danes feel the Greenlanders don’t like them.
A Greenlandic representative who insisted on speaking Greenlandic in the Danish parliament caused a lot of bad feelings recently.
Some Danes say, hey, the Greenlanders have been saying they want independence for quite some time, so why not give it to them? It’ll save us some money!
Whether or not 58,000 people, which is the total population of Greenland, can maintain full independence on that very big island is another story.
The Americans are serious
I’m not a politician, but I am a citizen of both Denmark and the USA, and I can tell you the Americans are serious about getting ahold of Greenland. It’s not a joke.
Each new US president sends an ambassador to Denmark, and this is usually an afterthought. They focus on ambassadors to the big countries like Russia and India and then usually get to Denmark after 9 or 10 months. In the Biden administration it took a full year to send an ambassador to Denmark.
Not this time. This time, the ambassador to Denmark was chosen before the ambassador to Russia or India, and they selected a man who could be confirmed quickly, because he has already been Ambassador to Sweden. This fellow is clearly being sent to pry Greenland away from Denmark’s grasp.
Will he succeed? I don’t know. I can’t see the future.
A commercial and cultural empire
But I do know that Denmark still does have an empire – but it is commercial and cultural, not territorial.
Danish design furniture and interior design influences what is considered good taste all over the world. And Denmark is a leader in sustainable urban design and architecture.
Danish merchant ships carry goods all over the world – Maersk has 15% of the world’s container ship fleet, pretty impressive for a country with fewer than 6 million people.
Novo Nordisk, Denmark’s largest company, distributes diabetes and weight loss medicines like Ozempic and Wegovy far beyond Denmark’s borders.
And children all over the world play with LEGOs.
Denmark has an empire of influence, not spice trading posts or sugar plantations thousands of miles away.