DENMARK.

The area of Denmark is 15,289 English square miles. Its population in 1890 was 2,185,335. For earlier years see Year Book," Volume I, page 16.

46

The actual revenue and expenditure for the years ending March 31 were as follows:

The estimated revenue for 1896-97 was 67,423,955 kroner, and expenditure 67,419,057 kroner. The budget estimates for 1897-98 are: Revenue, 66,634,597 kroner; expenditure, 64,986,020.

The capital of the debt is, as in 1896, 199,061,871 kroner. The total foreign debt amounted to 66,532,500 kroner. The debt is mostly 3 per cent.

The total area under wheat, according to latest returns (1888), was 3,029,404 acres; potatoes, 128,849 acres; clover, 456,585 acres: bare fallow, 637,696 acres; meadow, etc., 2,625,865 acres. The leading crops in 1895 were: Oats, 37,904,403 bushels; barley, 22,327,839 bushels; rye, 17,123,621 bushels; wheat, 4,418,534 bushels; potatoes, 19,635,254 bushels; roots, 88,920,000 bushels; besides vegetables, hay, and clover. The total value of the product in 1894 was 262,858,982 kroner; in 1893, 264,490,310 kroner. The following table shows the value, in kroner, of the imports and the exports of home produce, including precious metals:

The principal classes of commerce are shown as follows, in thousands of kroner:

The principal articles of import and export, with their respective values, in thousands of kroner

are shown as follows:

The following table shows the distribution of Danish foreign trade, in thousands of kroner:

The values of the principal imports from the United States for the year ending June 30, 1896, were: Breadstuffs, $3,135,035; cotton, unmanufactured, $703,554; oil, mineral, refined, $888,638; provisions, $1,049,124.

At the end of 1895, Denmark and colonies possessed 3,590 vessels (of 4 tons and upwards) of 330,033 registered tons, of which 422 of 144,931 tons were steamers; 27.760 vessels of 2.264,559 tons cargo entered Danish ports, and 27,736 vessels of 548,290 tons cargo cleared, besides 31,438 coasting vessels entered, and 32,368 cleared.

There are (1895) 1,407 miles of railroad open for traffic. Of this about 1,067 belongs to the State, the total cost of which has been 190,080,000 kroner.

The post-office carried, in 1894, 64,934,658 letters and post cards, and 61,741,703 samples and printed matter. There are 793 post-offices. The State telegraphs carried, in 1894, 1,796,527 messages, of which 627,564 were internal, 1,130,198 international, and 38,765 official. The length of State lines at end of 1895 was 3,246 miles; length of wire, 8,686 miles; number of offices, 171.

The monetary unit, the krone of 100 öre, is of the value of 26.8 cents.

Gold coins are 20 and 10 kroner pieces. The 20-kroner piece weighs 8.960572 grammes .900 fine, and thus contains 8.0645 grammes of fine gold.

The 2-kroner silver piece, or rigsdaler, weighs 15 grammes .800 fine, and thus contains 12 grammes of fine silver.

The standard of value is gold. Silver is legal tender up to 20 kroner.
NOTE. For monetary system see "Year Book," Volume I, page 75.

On July 31, 1895, the accounts of the National Bank balanced at 130,408,181 kroner. The assets included 30,047,761 kroner in bullion, and 24,937,392 in specie. The liabilities included 83,000,000 kroner note issue, 27,000,000 kroner of capital, and 3,000,000 kroner reserve fund. In Denmark there are about 40 other banks for commercial, agricultural, industrial, and other purposes. In 1893 there were 539 savings-banks, with 943,594 depositors, and deposits amounting to 540,041,425 kroner, or 572 kroner to each account.

NORWAY.

The area of Norway is 124,445 square miles; and at the census of 1891 the population was 2,000,217, of which 76.3 per cent, were rural and 23.7 per cent. urban.

Emigration to the United States was as follows: 1889, 12,597; 1890, 10,898; 1891, 13,249; 1892, 16,814 1893, 18,690; 1894, 5,591; 1895, 6,153.

FISCAL AFFAIRS.

The following statement shows the principal items of the budgets of 1896 and 1897:

The revenues and expenditures for the years ending June 30, in thousands of kroner, have

Total..

61,000,000 64,700,000

The following shows the amortization, growth, and interest of the public debt, years ending June 30:

Of the total area, 75 per cent. is unproductive, 22 per cent. forest, and 3 per cent. under cultivation. At the end of 1890 there were 146,355 farms, mostly worked by their owners.

In 1890, the area under cereals was 185,605 hectares; potatoes, 39,128 hectares. The estimated yield of cereals was 5,962,353 hectolitres; of potatoes, 8,441,403 hectolitres. The total value of the produce was for cereals, 38,262,761 kroner; for potatoes, 24,807,136 kroner.

The value of cereals imported (including flour) was 31,784,700 kroner in 1895; the principal article being rye, 14,647,200 kroner. The import of butter amounted to 1,667,900 kroner, and of bacon and meat to 7,261,900 kroner. The total value of the coastwise fisheries in 1884 was $6,137,261.

The total area covered with forests is estimated at 26,320 square miles, of which 73 per cent. is under pine trees. The State forests occupy 3,870 square miles, administered by a forest staff under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. The value of unwrought or partly wrought timber exported from Norway in 1895 was 27,777,800 kroner, and of wrought timber, 15,833,000 kroner.

The total imports and exports of Norwegian and foreign goods were as follows, in thousands of kroner:

The values of the precious metals imported and exported by Norway from 1885 to 1895 are shown as follows:

The countries comprising the principal portion of the foreign trade are: Sweden, imports, 33,535,100 kroner; exports, 23,141,000 kroner; Germany, imports, 58,590,200 kroner; exports, 17,414,900 kroner; and Great Britain and Ireland, imports, 64,277,200 kroner; exports, 47,881,600 kroner. The values of the imports and exports, in thousands of kroner, were as follows:

On January 1, 1896, the Norwegian vessels engaged in foreign trade were: Sailing, 3,377 of 1,202,497 tons; steam, 515 of 299,106 tons; total, 3,892, of 1,501,603 tons.

The total length of State railways in 1895 was 1,014 miles, and 59 miles worked by two companies. In 1895, there were transmitted by the post-office department 35,852,500 letters, 3,268.300 postal cards, 658,000 registered letters, 37,539,700 journals, 6,167,300 other printed matter, and 690,900 samples and parcels.

Statistics of telegraph lines are as follows: Length of lines (1896) belonging to State, 5,199 miles; wire, 11,167 miles; belonging to railroads, 1,071 miles line, 1,962 miles wire.

*Of this amount 19,131,560 kroner were applied to the redemption of a former loan.

MONEY.

By a treaty signed May 27, 1873, with additional trea'y of October 16, 1875, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark adopted the same monetary system.

The Swedish krona and Norwegian krone, each of 100 öre, is of the value of 26.08 cents, or 18. 1d., or about 18 kroner to the pound sterling.

The gold 20-kroner piece weighs 8.960572 grammes .900 fine, containing 8.0645 grammes of fine gold, and the silver krona weighs 7.5 grammes .800 fine, containing 6 grammes of fine silver.

The standard of value is gold. In Sweden, National Bank notes for 5, 10, 50, 100, and 1,000 kroner are legal means of payment, and the bank is bound to exchange them for gold on presentation. The case is the same in Norway, where there are also notes for 500 kroner.

On December 31, 1895, the Norwegian coins in circulation were as follows: Gold coin, 15,858,490 kroner; silver coin, 7,569,050 kroner; bronze coin, 529,695 kroner; total, 23,957,235 kroner. There is no Government paper money in Norway.

BANKING.

There are two State banks, the Norges Bank and the Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank. The Norges Bank is a joint-stock bank, which is largely owned by the State. It has a head office at Trondhjem, and twelve branch offices. It is the only bank in Norway authorized to issue notes for circulation. The balance-sheets of the bank for 1895 show: Assets at end of year-Bullion, 36,759,465 kroner; outstanding capital, mortgaged estates, foreign bills, etc., 43,242,721 kroner: total, 80,002,186 kroner. Liabilities-Notes in circulation, 50,970,375 kroner; the issue of notes allowed was 60,759,465 kroner; deposits, checks, unclaimed dividends, unsettled losses, etc., 9,828,885 kroner (of which the deposits amounted to 9,345,183 kroner); dividends payable for the year, 1,276,773 kroner; total, 62,076,– 033; balance, 17,926,154 kroner.

The Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank, established in 1852, is properly a mortgage bank. Its capital is furnished by the State, and amounted to 14,000,000 kroner in 1895. The bank has, besides, a reserve fund amounting in 1895 to 1,000,000 kroner. At the end of 1895 the total amount of bonds issued was 111,446,400 kroner. The loans on mortgage amounted to 110,740,162 kroner.

There are now 35 private non-issuing banks, most of them having but a small capital stock, and only seven a capital exceeding 1,000,000 crowns. The resources and operations of the Norwegian banks have been as follows at different periods:

The status of the savings-banks of Norway is shown by the following figures:

With the exception of (1890) 19,505 Finns, 6,846 Lapps, and some thousands others, the Swedish population is entirely of the Scandinavian branch of the Aryan family.

The following table shows the leading occupations of the people in 1890, including the families and dependents of those directly employed:

Sweden has sent a steady contribution of emigrants to the United States, as will appear from the following statement:

The revenues and expenditures of the State are illustrated in the following budgets for 1895, 1896, and 1897: