List of former Danish colonies

This is a list of Danish colonies and protectorates of the former Danish colonial empire.

Overview

Europe

* Faeroe (1380/1536/1814 to present, although it exercises a large degree of autonomy from Denmark.
* Iceland (1380/1536/1814 to 1918, after that fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king and since 1944 an independent parliamentary democratic republic.)
* Danish Estonia (1206-1645)

Fishing and whaling were very important to the European settlements.Fact|date=May 2008

Arctic

* Greenland (1921 to 1979, since then largely autonomous)

From 1380/1397/1721 to 1814 Greenland was part of Norway, which was united with Denmark under a common king.

After the Viking-era settlements of the Norsemen had perished because of worsening climate in the 15th century, Greenland was re-discovered in the 18th century. 1721 Hans Egede began a protestantic mission. Economically Greenland was an important base for Denmark with respect to fishing and whaling. In 1921 Greenland declared its independency which was confirmed by the international court in Den Haag.

The actual colonization of Greenland started only in 1945 because at that point in time Greenland became a geostrategic base due to the US-Air base Thule and also because it had the technical possibilities of aircraft and icebreakers at its disposition, which gave it a supply situation similar to European conditions.

The inhabitants of Greenland are citizens of Denmark, and so are the inhabitants of Faeroe.

America

* Danish West Indies (1666 to 1917)

The Danish West Indies in the Caribbean were very important to Schleswig-Holsteinish farmers. They had black slaves and primarily cultivated sugar cane which was refined in Flensburg and Copenhagen. Today's traces of these activities in the Danish West Indies are the well preserved buildings of that time and intense Danish tourism.

Asia

The Danish colonies in Asia were called Danish East India [http://home3.inet.tele.dk/ujensen/indeks.html] , because they were all situated in the historic India. They included:
* Nicobar Islands ("Ny Danmark" - "Neu-Dänemark" 1756-1848/1868)
* Serampore (also "Frederiksnagore" in Bengal, 1755-1845)
* Tranquebar (Danish: "Trankebar", sea port in India, 1620-1845)

The most important economic aspect was spice trade and access to the east asian area, including Imperial China situated farther to the east. At first, Denmark kept no colonies in China itself, only trade bases attended to by the Danish East India Company.

Africa

Denmark established several short term bases and fortresses at the Gold Coast in West Africa, today the coast of Ghana, in the 17th and 18th centuries.
* Fort Fredensborg (Ningo: 1734-March 1850)
* Fort Christiansborg (Accra/Osu: 1658-April 1659,1661-Dec 1680, February 1683-1693,1694-1850)
* Fort Augustaborg (Tshe: 1787-March 1850)
* Fort Prinsenstein (Keta: 1780-12 March 1850)
* Fort Kongensten (Ada: 1784-March 1850)
* Carlsborg (February 1658-16 April 1659, 22 April 1663 - 3 May 1664)
* Cong (Cong Height: 1659-24 April 1661)
* Fort Frederiksborg (Amanful or Amanfro: 1659-16 April 1685)
* Fort Witsten in Takoradi (1657)
* Cape Coast Castle in Cape Coast (1659)
* Fort William (Ghana) in Anomabu (1657)
* near Ningo a Danish base existed from 1784 to 1850

External links

* [http://www.colonialvoyage.com/DanishP.html List of Danish colonial possessions] List of Danish colonial possessions