Emergence of the Nation. denmark is a constitu¬tional monarchy and the oldest kingdom in Europe. According to historical sources it dates back to theninth century, but myth dates it as far back as the sixth century. The recent history of the nation fea¬tures an outward-looking people focused on trade, welfare, equality, and democracy, which in Danish means ‘‘people’s government’’ (folkestyre). Funda¬mental values include a striving for freedom and equality, accomplished after battling for years with neighboring countries in the eighteenth and nine¬teenth centuries. After centuries of sovereign rule by the king, the first common constitution was com¬pleted and signed in 1849, initiating a government with an assembly consisting of a lower house (Folketing) and upper house (Landsting). The mak¬ing of a common constitution was an important element in the nineteenth century’s political empha¬sis on the formation of nationhood.
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