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The term 'Dane' may refer to:

★ People with a Danish ancestral or ethnic identity, whether living in Denmark, emigrants, or the descendants of emigrants.

★ Members of the Danish ethnic minority in Southern Schleswig, a former Danish province.

★ Anyone whose mother tongue is Danish.

★ Nationals or citizens of Denmark, which also includes a German minority in South Jutland.

★ In history, any speaker of Old Norse, the ancestor of Scandinavian languages; that is, any Scandinavian, whether from the territory of modern Norway, Sweden or Denmark. Over the time window from about the 8th to the 11 centuries, "Dane" was synonymous with "Northman." Subsequent historical developments gradually limited the use of the term to modern Danish and Denmark.
This article refers to the two definitions, ethnic Danes and their descendants plus the minority in Germany.

Contents

Origins

Danes in Denmark

The Danish Nation in a political context

See also

References

Origins

Danes/Daner were an ancient North Germanic tribe residing in modern day southern Sweden and on the Danish islands. They were not mentioned by Tacitus, whose famous work Germania mentions the Gothones (Geats and/or Goths?) and the Suiones (Swedes). They seem to be, however, mentioned by Jordanes and Procopius, as the Dani. The name Daner is the etymological root of Dane. Jordanes maintains that the Dani were of the same stock as the Suetidi (Swedes, Suithiod?) and expelled the Heruli and took their lands. If Tacitus simply did not overlook the Dani, and if Jordanes's information was correct, it is possible that they first appeared, as an off-shoot of the Swedes, sometime in the 2nd or 3rd century A.D.

Danes in Denmark

Almost five million ethnic Danes live in Denmark today. The Danes are a Scandinavian ethnic group, and are the descendants of the Norse - better known as Vikings - along with Norwegians, Swedes, Icelanders, Faroese, and to some extent, the English, due to the settlement of many Danes, along with the Anglo-Saxons in England during the Migration period and during the Danelaw period. The average Dane enjoys a comfortable standard of living. Some Danes today also live in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A minority of approx. 50,000 Danes live in Southern Schleswig in Germany, a former Danish territory, forming around 10% of the local population. In Denmark, the latter group is often referred to as ''De danske syd for grænsen'' (literally: the Danes south of the (Danish-German) border) or ''sydslesvigere'' (South Schleswigers).

The Danish Nation in a political context

''Det danske folk'' (''The Danish people'') as a concept, played an important role in 19th century ethnic nationalism and refers to self-identification rather than a legal status. Use of the term is most often restricted to a historical context; the historic German-Danish struggle regarding the status of the Duchy of Schleswig vis-à-vis a Danish nation-state. It describes people of Danish nationality, both in Denmark and elsewhere. Most importantly, ethnic Danes in both Denmark proper and the former Danish Duchy of Schleswig. Excluded from this definition are people from the formerly Norwegian Faroe Islands and Greenland as well as members of the German minority as well as members of other ethnic minorities. Some Danes now also live in St.Petersburg, Russia just like the Swedes.
The term should not be confused with the legal concept of nationality, ''danske statsborgere'' (''Danish nationals'') i.e. individuals holding Danish citizenship.

See also

★ List of Danes

★ Danish Americans

References