DENMARK. 



former representatives in the legislature, and 

 the remainder are elected indirectly by the 

 people for the term of eight years. The clas- 

 sified electoral system on which the members 

 of the upper house are returned, gives much 

 the largest proportion of votes to the rural 

 aristocracy and the capitalistic class of the 

 towns. The popular chamber, called the Folke- 

 thing, consists of 102 members, elected by di- 

 rect universal male suffrage for three years. 

 The only classes debarred from the franchise 

 are those that have been recipients of public 

 charity and persons in service who have no 

 households of their own. The former class 

 can regain the right by repaying the sums re- 

 ceived. The limitation of age is thirty years. 

 The Folkething decides in the first instance on 

 all money bills presented by the Government. 

 The Rigsdag meets annually on the first Mon- 

 day in October. The Landsthing appoints 

 every four years four of its members to form 

 with the judges of the Supreme Court the Rigs- 

 ret, which is the highest tribunal and has cog- 

 nizance of legislative impeachments. 



Government. The reigning King is Christian 

 IX, born April 8, 1818, fourth son of Duke 

 William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg- 

 Glucksburg. He was appointed to the succes- 

 sion by the Treaty of London, concluded May 

 8, 1852, and the Danish law of succession of 

 1853, and succeeded to the throne on the death 

 of Frederick VII, Nov. 15, 1863. The heir- 

 apparent is Frederick, born June 3, 1843. 



The ministry, first organized June 11, 1875, 

 is composed of the following members : J. B. 

 S. Estrup, Minister of Finance and President 

 of the Council ; S. H. S. Finsen, appointed 

 Aug. 29, 1880, Minister of the Interior ; J. V. 

 M. Nellemann, Minister of Justice and Minister 

 for Iceland ; Baron O. D. Rosenorn-Lehn, Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs, appointed Oct. 11, 

 1875; Commander N. F. Ravn, Minister of 

 the Navy, appointed Jan. 4, 1879 ; Colonel J. 

 J. Bahnsen, Minister of War, appointed Sept. 

 13, 1884 ; J. F. Scavenius, Minister of Worship 

 and Public Instruction, appointed Aug. 24, 

 1880. 



Area and Population. In 1880 the city of Co- 

 penhagen, covering an area of 7 square miles, 

 contained 234,850 inhabitants ; the islands of 

 the Baltic, with an area of 4,025 square miles, 

 865,678 inhabitants; and the peninsula of Jut- 

 land, with an area of 9,752 square miles, 868,- 

 511 inhabitants; total area of the kingdom, 

 13,784 square miles; total population, 1,969,- 

 039 persons, divided into 967,360 males and 

 1,001,679 females. The number of marriages 

 in 1882 was 15,496; of births, 65,070; of 

 deaths, 39,164; natural increment, 25,906. Of 

 the births 10 per cent, were illegitimate. Emi- 

 gration is mainly to the United States. The 

 number of emigrants was 2,972 in 1878 ; 3,118 

 in 1879 ; 5,667 in 1880 ; 7,985 in 1881 ; and 

 11,614 in 1882. The foreign-born population 

 in 1880 included 33,152 Germans, of whom 

 22,007 werel>orn in Schleswig ; 24,148 Swedes, 

 VOL. xxv. 19 A 



and 2,823 Norwegians. The population of the 

 towns numbered 515,758, that of the couutry 

 1,453,280. Out of every 1,000 inhabitants, 469 

 were dependent on agriculture, 229 on manu- 

 facturing industries, 08 on commerce, and 27 

 on navigation and fishing. The law forbids 

 aggregation of farmsteads to form large estates, 

 but encourages the subdivision of freeholds. 

 A tenant farmer has complete control of hi 

 land as long as his rent is paid. Of the total 

 area of Denmark about 75 per cent, is pro- 

 ductive, one sixth of the remainder consisting 

 of peat-bogs. About 6 per cent, of the pro- 

 ductive portion is forest, and the rest is al- 

 most equally divided into pasture, meadow, 

 and arable land. The grain acreage in 1882 

 was 2,681,691 acres, the product 86,706,937 

 bushels. The number of cattle increased from 

 1,238,898 in 1871 to 1,470,079 in 1881. There 

 were exported in 1881 84,586 head of cattle, 

 and imported only 2,126. The net export of 

 sheep numbered 55,499; of swine, 235,856. 

 The number of horses in the country in 1881 

 was 347,561; of sheep, 1,548,613, the latter 

 showing a decrease in late years; of pigs, 

 527,417. The export of wool in 1881 was 

 22,300 cwt. The national wealth was esti- 

 mated in 1879 at about $500,000,000. 



Education. Denmark is a very advanced 

 country in respect to education. Attendance 

 in school is obligatory from the eighth to the 

 fifteenth year of age. The state supports the 

 University of Copenhagen, with 84 professors 

 and 1,261 students; the Polytechnic School 

 connected with it, with 183 students; 13 gym- 

 nasia; 27 scientific schools; and 2,940 ele- 

 mentary parochial schools, with 231,935 pu- 

 pils. Of the conscripts of 1881, only 0'36 per 

 cent, could not read nor write. 



Commerce. The imports in 1882 were 253,- 

 070,216 kroner in value, showing a constant 

 increase from 190,418,869 kroner in 1878. The 

 exports were 188,011,084 kroner in 1882, 

 against 183,472,415 kroner in 1881, and 196,- 

 556,930 kroner in 1880. Of the imports in 

 1882, 38-5 per cent, came from Germany, 23'2 

 per cent, from Great Britain and her colonies, 

 12 6 per cent, from Sweden, 5'3 per cent, 

 from the United States, and the remainder 

 chiefly from Russia, Norway, and the Danish 

 colonies. Of the exports, 39 per cent, were to 

 Great Britain, 32 per cent, to Germany, 14'2 

 per cent, to Sweden, 6*5 per cent, to Norway, 

 and 2 per cent, to the United States. Flour, 

 live animals, and butter, constitute two thirds 

 of the total exports. About half as much 

 grain is imported as is exported. The other 

 loading imports are woolen goods, sugar, coal, 

 timber, minerals, and metals. 



Colonies* The aggregate population of the 

 Danish colonial possessions, which have an ex- 

 tent of 87,124 square miles, is 127,186. The 

 area of the Faroe Islands, 17 of which are in- 

 habited, is 510 square miles; their population, 

 11.221 souls; the area of Iceland, 39.726 sonare 

 miles, population 72,445 ; the area of the Dan- 



