1.
Municipalities of Denmark
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Denmark is divided into five regions, which contain 98 municipalities. This structure was established per an administrative reform, effective Monday 1 January 2007 which replaced the counties with five regions, the 270 municipalities were consolidated into 98 larger units, most of which have at least 20,000 inhabitants. The reason was to give the new municipalities greater financial and professional sustainability, many of the responsibilities of the former counties were taken over by the enlarged municipalities. Presented in a report put forward as a proposal by the government in April 2004, the report on the structural reform of the public sector was first presented 9 January 2004 by the commission which was set up by the government 1 October 2002. The archipelago of Ertholmene is not part of any municipality, but is administered by the Ministry of Defence, the existing coat of arms of the municipalities. The average land area of a Danish municipality is 432.59 km2,167.08 square miles, the Constitution of Denmark states, Article 82. The right of municipalities to manage their own affairs independently, under State supervision,2,522 municipal councillors were elected on Tuesday 15 November 2005 being the first councils elected since the new reform. The number of councillors was reduced to 2,468 in the 2009 elections, in 1997 there were 4,685 municipal and 374 county councillors in the then 275 municipalities and 14 counties. As an example of the reduction in the number of councillors, Bornholm then had a total of 122 councillors in five municipalities, after the merger on 1 January 2003, of the five municipalities and the county, there was one single municipal council with 27 municipal councillors. These guidelines replaced the old guidelines with the elections in 2005 after the laws initiating the structural reform were passed in parliament. Council elections are held on the third Tuesday of November every four years, the previous were held on 19 November 2013 and the next are due to be held on 21 November 2017. 32 municipalities including those of the recently formed Ærø Municipality and Bornholm Regional Municipality remained unchanged and were not merged with other municipalities, copenhagen County was not included in the municipal reform of 1 April 1970. This is probably because the municipality was extremely populous. Thus the number of municipalities was 277 from 1 April 1970 to 1 April 1974, still, the reform is called The municipal reform of 1970, because the decisive changes happened 1 April 1970, when 1098 municipalities were reduced to 277. Also on 1 April 1974, Avedøre, which was part of Glostrup Municipality, was conjoined with Hvidovre Municipality and this combination was logical, as Avedøre bordered Hvidovre, but was separated from Glostrup. This brought the number of municipalities down to 271 from 1 January 2003, the final agreement from 2005 included more parties. Until 1978 the fiscal year from 1 April to 31 March was in use in the sector since a law was passed in 1849. As a consequence of a law passed by the Folketing in 1976, many reforms and laws passed prior to 1979 therefore have effect from 1 April
2.
Regions of Denmark
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Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
3.
Region Zealand
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At the same time, smaller municipalities were merged into larger units, reducing the number of municipalities from 271 before 1 January 2006, when Ærø Municipality was created, to 98. The reform was implemented in Denmark on January 1,2007, Zealand Region consists of the former counties of Roskilde, Storstrøm, and Vestsjælland. The region is named after the island of Zealand, which it shares with the neighbouring Danish Capital Region, Zealand Region also includes the adjacent islands of Lolland, Falster, and Møn. Media related to Region Sjælland at Wikimedia Commons
4.
Maribo
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Maribo is a town in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. To the north of Maribo is Nørresø and to the south is Søndersø, Søndersø is the largest lake on Lolland. There are more islands in Søndersø than in any lake in Denmark. These include the islands of Fruerø, Hestø, Præstø, Borgø, Lindø, Askø and this is part of the Maribo Lakes Nature Park, which spans the towns of Maribo, Holeby, Sakskøbing and Nysted. The merchant town of Maribo is located centrally on Lolland and it has, among other facilities, a gymnasium, a brewery, Maribo Brewery, an open-air museum and a cultural heritage museum. The predecessor to todays Maribo Brewery was started in 1895, the brewery is Maribos second largest employer, and produces a range of beers and soft drinks. Maribo Brewery is a part of Royal Unibrew, the second largest brewery business in Scandinavia, saint Birgitta, also known as Birgitta of Vadstena, has cast her shadow on this municipality, and is shown on the municipalitys coat-of-arms. Her order established the Bridgettine Orders cloister in Maribo, when in 1416 monks from Vadstena cloister were sent to Maribo, then called Skimminge, in 1536, however, the cloister was abolished. After the old church burned down in 1596, the cloister then in place received status as town church. King Christian IVs daughter, Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, was probably the cloisters most famous resident. In 1685 after her release from 21 years imprisonment for treason from the Blue Tower in Copenhagens Castle, she spent her final years in the cloister. The bishop, however, resides in Nykøbing Falster, several times during the 1800s the church has been secured against decline. Until January 1,2007, Maribo was also a municipality in the former Storstrøm County, the municipality, which included the islands of Askø and Lilleø in the Rågø Sound, covered an area of 154 km², and had a total population of 11,098. Its last mayor was Liljan Køcks, a member of the Socialist Peoples Party political party, Maribo municipality ceased to exist as the result of Kommunalreformen. It was merged with Holeby, Højreby, Nakskov, Ravnsborg, Rudbjerg and this created a municipality with an area of 892 km² and a total population of 49,469. Maribo is also the capital of Lolland Municipality, Maribo is served by the Lolland Falster Airport. Maribo travel guide from Wikivoyage Lolland municipalitys official website Municipal statistics, NetBorger Kommunefakta, kommunedata Municipal mergers and neighbors, Eniro new municipalities map
5.
Social Democrats (Denmark)
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The Social Democrats is a social-democratic political party in Denmark. It was the coalition partner in government from the 2011 parliamentary election. After the 2015 parliamentary election, the party is no longer in government, though it is still the largest party in the Danish parliament, founded by Louis Pio in 1871, the party first entered the Folketing in 1884. By the early 20th century it had become the party with the largest representation in the Folketing and it first formed a government in 1924 under Thorvald Stauning, the longest-serving Danish Prime Minister of the 20th century. During Staunings government, the Social Democrats exerted an influence on Danish society. From 2002 to 2016 the party used the name Socialdemokraterne in some contexts, a member of the Party of European Socialists, the Social Democrats have three MEPs in the European Parliament. Since its foundation the lemma of the party has been Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood, the leader of the party is Mette Frederiksen. She succeeded Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who stepped down after the left blocs defeat in the 2015 General Election, deputy leaders are Frank Jensen, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, and Mogens Jensen. The secretary general is Henrik Dam Kristensen, the party secretary is Lars Midtiby, in the Cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the party had ten ministers including the Prime Minister. The party was founded in 1871 by Louis Pio, Harald Brix og Paul Geleff, the goal was to organize the emerging working class on a democratic and socialist basis. The industrialization of Denmark had begun in the mid 19th century, the social democratic movement emerged from the desire to give this group political rights and representation in parliament. In 1876 the Party held a conference, adopting the first party manifesto. In the 1924 parliamentary elections the Social democratic party won the majority with 36.6 percent of the vote, the same year he appointed the worlds first female minister Nina Bang, nine years after womens suffrage had been given in Denmark. Stauning stayed in power until his death in 1942, his party laying the foundations for the Danish welfare state, in January 1933 Staunings government entered into what was then the most extensive settlement yet in Danish politics — the Kanslergade settlement — with the liberal party Venstre. In 1935, Stauning was reelected with the famous slogan Stauning or Chaos, through the 1940s and until 1972 Denmark was governed by the following Social Democratic prime ministers. 1939 –1955, Hans Hedtoft 1955 –1960, H. C, the Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen maintained a parliamentary majority during the period from 1993 to 2001 by virtue of their support from the Socialist Peoples Party and the Red-Green Alliance. Towards the end of the 1990s, a surplus of 30 billion kroner turned into a deficit. To combat this, the government increased taxes, limiting private consumption, after being defeated by the Liberal Party in the 2001 election, the party chairmanship went to former finance and foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft
6.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
