Overview
Denmark is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. It serves as the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, also known as the Danish Realm—a constitutionally unitary state that also includes two autonomous territories in the north Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
Geography
The core of the country, often referred to as Metropolitan Denmark, "continental Denmark," or "Denmark proper," is made up of the northern Jutland peninsula along with an extensive archipelago comprising 406 islands. This makes Denmark's landscape a distinctive mix of mainland territory and coastal islands.
Denmark holds the distinction of being the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries. Its location places it southwest of Sweden, south of Norway, and north of Germany, with which it shares a relatively short land border. Geographically, Metropolitan Denmark is bordered by two major bodies of water:
- The North Sea to the west
- The Baltic Sea to the east
The Kingdom of Denmark
Beyond its European borders, Denmark's constitutional structure extends across the Atlantic. As the leading constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark, the country maintains a political relationship with two autonomous territories:
- The Faroe Islands
- Greenland
This arrangement makes the Danish Realm a unique transatlantic kingdom, linking Northern Europe with the north Atlantic Ocean region.