Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/89

Rh The exports of Denmark to the United Kingdom consist entirely of agricultural produce, mainly corn. The total exports of the latter article amounted to the value of 1,087,571 £. in the year 1869, including 479,475 £. for barley; 277,175 £. for wheat; and 187,840 £. for oats. The exports of horned cattle, formerly very considerable, decreased greatly in recent years, the value of the same not amounting to more than 91,936 £. in 1869. Of British imports into Denmark, the principal are coals and iron, the first of the value of 242,876 £., and the latter of the value of 251,644 £. in the year 1869.

On March 31, 1868, the commercial fleet of Denmark consisted of 3,132 ships, with a tonnage of 175,554 tons. The port of Copenhagen possessed, at the same date, 381 ships, of 49,087 tons. The shipping of the kingdom included 80 steamers, of 4,566 horse-power. From its insular position, the coasting trade of Denmark is very considerable, and there being no commercial and fixed restrictions, it is largely participated in by foreigners. In the year ending March 31, 1868, there took part in it 15,972 foreign vessels, of which number 40 per cent. belonged to Sweden, 24 per cent. to Norway, 23 per cent. to Germany, and 4 per cent. to Great Britain.—(Report of the Royal government to the Statesman's Year-book.)

Colonies.

The colonial possessions of Denmark consist of the islands of Faroë, Iceland,, and Greenland in Europe; the first-named—17 in number—having a population in 1860 of 8,922; Iceland of 66,987; and Greenland of 9,880 souls. The West India possessions, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, with a number of smaller islands, have a population of 37,137, according to the census of 1860. The establishments on the coast of Guinea, forts Christianborg, Fredensborg, and various other places, were ceded to Great Britain, by purchase, in 1850. The town of Tranquebar with the surrounding district, on the Coromandel coast, ceded to Denmark by the rajah of Tanjore, in 1620, and the small territory of Serampore—Danish Frederiksnagor—in Bengal, founded by the Danish East India Company in 1755, were transferred to Great Britain in 1846. The Nicobar Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, were taken possession of by the Danish Government in 1756, and for some time were in a flourishing state, the population amounting to above 6,000 in the year 1840. Eight years later, however, in 1848, they were abandoned as useless, nominally on account of their insalubrity.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Denmark, and the British equivalents, are as follows:—