The northern Jutland peninsula meets an archipelago of 406 islands in Northern Europe. A circle enclosing the same area as Denmark would be 358 kilometers in diameter with a circumference of 1,127 kilometers. No location in Denmark is farther from the coast than 52 kilometers. The highest natural point is Møllehøj at 171 meters above sea level. This elevation is by far the lowest high point in the Nordic countries and less than half of the highest point in Southern Sweden. Post-glacial rebound raises the land by a bit less than one millimeter per year in the north and east. Lammefjorden near Audebo sits deeper than 10 meters below sea level. The coastline stretches for 7,314 kilometers including small bays and inlets. The island of Bornholm lies some 150 kilometers east of the rest of the country in the Baltic Sea. Many larger islands connect via bridges like the Great Belt Fixed Link between Funen and Zealand. Ferries or small aircraft link to smaller islands that lack road access.
Viking Kings And Christian Stones
Gorm the Old established his reign in the early 10th century according to runic evidence. Harald Bluetooth Christianised the Danes around 965 AD on the Jelling stones. These two monuments serve as the baptismal certificate of Denmark. The population of the wider Scandinavian region was called Vikings by non-Scandinavians from the 8th to the 10th century. They traded down to Constantinople while raiding local settlements in Western Europe. King Sweyn Forkbeard settled parts of England known as the Danelaw in 1013. Canute the Great united Denmark, England, and Norway for almost 30 years with a Scandinavian army. Queen Margaret I formed the Kalmar Union with Norway and Sweden in 1397. Sweden broke off the union on the 17th of June 1523 when King Gustav Vasa conquered Stockholm. Denmark converted to Lutheranism in 1536 following the Count's Feud civil war. The Protestant Reformation spread to Scandinavia during the 1530s. A rising Christian power in Europe called the Holy Roman Empire threatened invasion. Harald built six fortresses around Denmark called Trelleborg as a deterrent against this threat.