Kingdom of Denmark - Norway is the historiographical name for a former political entity consisting of the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, including the originally Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Following the strife surrounding the break-up of its predecessor, the Kalmar Union, the two kingdoms entered into another personal union in 1536 which lasted until 1814.
The term Kingdom of Denmark is sometimes used to include both countries in the period 1536–1814, since the political and economic power emanated from Copenhagen, Denmark. The term covers the royal part of the Oldenburgs as it was in 1460, excluding the ducal part of Schleswig and Holstein. The administration used two official languages, Danish and German, and for several centuries both a Danish and German Chancery existed.
royal part
ducal part
Denmark and Norway parted when the union was dissolved in 1814. Iceland, which legally became a Danish colony in 1814, became an independent country in 1944.
The term Denmark–Norway has didactic merits and reflects the historical and legal roots of that union. It is adopted from the Oldenburg dynasty's official title. The kings always used the style King of Denmark and Norway, the Wends and the Goths. Denmark and Norway officially had separate legal codes and currencies, as well as mostly separate governing institutions, although following the introduction of absolutism in 1660 the centralisation of government meant a concentration of institutions in Copenhagen. The term Sweden-Finland is sometimes, although with less justification, applied to the contemporary Swedish realm between 1521 and 1809. Finland was never a separate kingdom, and was completely integrated with Sweden, while Denmark was the dominant component in a political union.
King of Denmark and Norway, the Wends and the Goths