DENMARK as much as 20 feet above the present level. But the upheaval does not seem to affect all parts equally. Even in historic times it has vastly changed the aspect and configuration of the country. It will easily be understood from the foregoing that the mineral products of Denmark are insignificant. Coal is found in Bornholm, several seams cropping out amongst the strata belonging to the Jurassic system. But the Bornholm coal is too hygroscopic to bear transport, and its heating power falls far short of that of English coal. The mines which have at different times been opened have proved failures, and their produce is only used for domestic purposes on the island itself. There is in Bornholm a deposit of kaolin of good quality, from which the Copenhagen porcelain factories take their supply. The Flora and Fauna of Denmark offer no peculiarities worthy of notice here. In ancient times extensive pine and fir forests existed, of which abundant remains are found in the peat bogs ; but they have disappeared long ago, and at the present time firs and pines occur in Denmark only in plantations. The forests of Denmark consist of oak and beech, of which the latter is gradually getting the upper hand. The elm is comparatively rare in Denmark. The peat bogs are numerous, and supply a large proportion of the fuel used in the country. The sea fisheries are of importance, and a not inconsiderable quantity of fresh fish is exported to the interior of the Continent. Oysters are still found in some places, but have disappeared from many localities, where their abundance in ancient times is proved by the shell mounds on the coast. Such mounds occur in other countries too, but it was in Denmark that they were first recognized as being but the accumulated remains of the meals of the ancient population, which largely fed on oysters. Gudenaa is the only salmon river in Denmark. The climate of Denmark does not differ materially from that of Great Britain in the same latitude ; but whilst the summer is a little warmer, the winter is colder, so that most of the evergreens which adorn an English garden in the winter cannot be grown in the open in Denmark. During 30 years the annual mean temperature varied from 43'SS0 to 46 •22° in different years and different localities, the mean average for the whole country being 45 •14°. The islands have, upon the whole, a somewhat warmer climate than Jutland. The mean temperature of the four coldest months, December to March, is 33-26°, 31-64°, 31-82°, and 33-98° respectively, or for the whole winter 32-7°; that of the summer, June to August, 59 -2°, but considerable irregularities occur. Frost occurs on an average on 20 days in each of the four winter months, but only on a couple of days in either October or May. A fringe of ice generally lines the greater part of the Danish coasts on the eastern side for some time during the winter, and both the Sound and the Great Belt are at times impassable on account of ice. In some winters the latter is sufficiently firm and level to admit of sledges passing between Copenhagen and Malmd. The annual rainfall varies between 21-58" and 27-87" in different years and different localities. It is highest on the west coast of Jutland; the small island/ of Anholt in the Cattegat has an annual rainfall of only 15-78 . More than half the rainfall occurs from July to November, the wettest month being September, with an average of 2-95"; the driest month is April, with an average of 1-14". Thunderstorms are frequent in the summer. South-westerly winds prevail from January to March, and from September to the end of the year. In April the east wind, which is particularly searching, is predominant, while westerly winds prevail from May to August. According to the census taken on 1st February 1901, the total population of Denmark was 2,449,540, as comPopuiation.
pared with 929 001 on the same
. ’ date in 1801, showing an increase during the century in the proportion of 100 : 263. As compared with the total in 1890, namely, 2,172,380, the returns for 1901 are 12 "76 per cent, higher, corresponding to an average annual increase of 1 "09 per cent, during the ten years. The first four years of the decade were, however, far from favourable, owing to a great increase of mortality and at the same time of emigration, which latter cause reduced the increase which should have followed from the excess of births over deaths by nearly one-half. The actual annual increase during these years varied only from 0"54 per cent, to 0"68 per cent. In 1901 the average density of the population of Denmark was at the rate of 165"2 to the square mile, but varied much in the different parts. Jutland, which represents three-fifths of the total area of Denmark, and in 1901 had a population of 1,063,792, showed an average of only 109 inhabitants per square mile, whilst on the islands, which had a total population of 1,385,537,
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the average stood at 272 "95, owing, on the one hand, to the fact that large tracts in the interior of Jutland are almost uninhabited, and on the other to the fact that the capital of the country, with its proportionately large population, is situated on the island of Sealand. The latter had a population of 960,053, or 336"2 inhabitants to the square mile including Copenhagen (with the suburbs of Fredriksberg and Sundby), but without the capital only 169"2. Not reckoning Sealand, the density of the population on the islands was at the rate of 191 "7 to the square mile. In 1901, 936,565 persons were living in towns in Denmark, i.e., 38"24 per cent, of the total population, whilst 1,512,975, or 61"77 per cent., were living in purely rural districts. In 1890 the town population amounted to / 35,554, or 33"86 per cent, of the total, leaving but 1,436,826, or 66T4 per cent., for the rural districts. The movement of the population to the towns which is indicated by these figures commenced about the middle of the 19th century, and increased until very near its end. It has been stronger on the islands, where the rural population has increased by 5"3 per cent, only in eleven years, whereas in Jutland the increase of the rural population between 1890 and 1901 amounted to 12"0 per cent. (But for some of the causes of this increase see Jutland.) During the same years the population of Copenhagen increased by 24‘94 per cent., namely, to 476,876 (491,340 with the environs); and the population of the provincial towns above 10,000 inhabitants by 43'6 per cent. ; but in the smaller towns the augmentation only amounted to 20"5 per cent. According to the census of 1890, the population of Denmark was divided as follows according to occupation, the figures including dependants:— Per Num- cent, of ber. Population. Agriculture 882,336 40-6 Trades 534,428 24-6 Commerce. 172,929 7-9 General labour 162,928 7-5 Fisheries . 32,912 1-5 Navigation 26,082 1-29 Transport, posts, telegraphs, &c. 42,730 1-9 Occupation.
Per Num- cent, of ber. Population. Professions 135,790 6-1 Capitalists 34,974 1-6 Pensioners. 17,723 0-8 Annuitants 40,276 1-8 No certain livelihood 44,667 2-0 Paupers 39,014 1-79 Prisoners . 1,822 Insane 3,753 Occupation.
In 1901, 1,193,448, or 48"72 per cent., of the population of Denmark were males ; 1,256,092, or 51-28 per cent., were females. The number, of marriages has increased, with little oscillation, from 14,975 in 1891 to 18,499 in 1900, that is, in a considerably greater ratio than the population. The number of divorces in 1900 was 391. The birth-rate appears to have oscillated during the period in question between 29'3 and 38-8 per thousand, the highest number of children born alive being 72,141 in 1900. On an average, 51 "3 per cent, of the children born annually are boys, and the male sex remains in excess until about the 20th year, from which age the female sex preponderates in increasing ratio with advancing age. Of all children born annually an average of 9-6 per cent, are illegitimate. In some rural districts the ratio is as low as 3-5 per cent., but in Copenhagen it reaches 20-2 per cent. 12 per cent, of the illegitimate children born alive had mothers who were under 20 years of age. The still-born numbered, in 1899, 2-47 per cent, of all births, but amongst them 12-8 percent. were illegitimate. Between the middle and the end of the 19th century the rate of mortality decreased most markedly for all ages. The annual death-rate per thousand may be taken to have varied during 1890-1900 between 19'5 in 1891 and 15'l in 1898 (17 "4 in 1900). The annual number of suicides, which used to average 555, declined towards the close of the 19th century, and was 523 for the period 1896-1900. Emigration, which for some time seriously affected the population of Denmark, diminished in the ’nineties. In 1892 the number of emigrants to Transatlantic places rose to 10,422, but in 1900 it was only 3570. The great bulk of them go to the United States ; next in favour is Canada. In 1890 there were 70,900 persons, foreigners, living in Denmark, of whom 33,802 were born in Sweden, 20,824 were Schleswigers, 10,823 were natives of other parts of Germany, and 3385 were Norwegians. From 1891 to 1900 2525 foreigners were naturalized. S. III. —52
