United Kingdoms of Scandinavia
United Kingdoms of Scandinavia De Forenede Kongerige i Skandinavien (Danish) De forente kongeriker i Skandinavia (Norwegian) De förenade kungariket av Skandinavien (Swedish) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Motto: "Forenet i sammenhold" (Danish) "Forent i samhold" (Norwegian) "Förenade i samhörighet" (Swedish) "United in Togetherness" | |
 | |
| Capital | Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm |
| Largest | Stockholm (Swedish Capital) |
| Official languages | Danish Norwegian Sámi Swedish |
| Recognised national languages | Romani Scandoromani Finnish Sámi Meänkieli Yiddish |
| Recognised regional languages | Faroese Greenlandic German Kven |
| Ethnic groups | Danish Faroese Inuit German Norwegian Sámi Jewish Traveller Forest Finn Romani Kven |
| Religion | Christianity No religion Islam Others |
| Demonym(s) | Scandinavian (incl. Danish, Norwegian, Swede) |
| Government | Confederated unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchies |
• Monarch | Margaret Christina |
| Mette Frederiksen | |
• Prime Minister (Norway) | Erna Solberg |
• Prime Minister (Sweden) | Stefan Löfven |
| Henrik Dam Kristensen | |
| Tone W. Trøen | |
| Andreas Norlén | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Grand Chamber | |
| Folketing (Denmark) Stortinget (Norway) Riksdag (Sweden) | |
| Establishment | |
| 14 January 1814 | |
• Charles XIV of Sweden was elected King of Denmark | 3 December 1839 |
• Current Constitution | 10 December 1839 |
| 16 October 1875 | |
| Area | |
• | 3,056,432 km2 (1,180,095 sq mi) (8th) |
• Water (%) | 15.43 |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 21,751,819 (58th) |
• Density | 176.65/km2 (457.5/sq mi) (147th) |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | $1.21 trillion (18th) |
• Per capita | $56,325 (19th) |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $1.26 trillion (16th) |
• Per capita | $60,718 (16th) |
| Gini | 26.5 low (133rd) |
| HDI | 0.947 very high (6th) |
| Currency | Danish krone Norwegian krone Swedish krone (DKK, NOK, SEK) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 CET UTC+2 CEST |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .sc |
The United Kingdoms of Scandinavia, formally known as the United Kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden is a multi-nation, and a multi-state union of three respective kingdoms, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Based in the subregion of Scandinavia, it is bordered by Finland, and to a certain extent, Russia to the east, by Germany to the south, and by the United Kingdom to the west, over the North Sea which divides the two nations. The total collective area of the United Kingdoms is 1,180,099 square miles (3,056,432 km2).
The United Kingdoms, in general terms, is a fully decentralised union of kingdoms that practices both a system of parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The reigning monarch is Margaret Christina, whom has reigned since April 2020. In conjunction with its fully decentralised nature, it has no fixed capital, and instead considers the three main Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish capitals respectively as its constituent capitals. Unlike the United Kingdom which practices a devolution system, the three constituent countries, or kingdoms in the union are mostly independent of one another and are each accorded to with equal power and responsibilities in regards to their own local matters.
Following the dissolution of the Kalmar Union in 1539, it was first reestablished following Sweden's conquest of Norway from Denmark in 1814, before the unification process itself was fully completed with the incorporation of Denmark into the former Union between Sweden and Norway, with the election of its inaugural founder and monarch, Charles I, as the King of Denmark.
The United Kingdoms currently has the world's sixteenth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product, and the eighteenth-largest by purchasing power parity. It also has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 6th in the world. While it is arguably considered as a great power, the United Kingdoms is nevertheless generally accepted as being a major regional power, with considerable influence and alike.
The United Kingdoms is a founding member of the United Nations, a member of the Council of Europe, the G10, the G20, OECD, and the World Trade Organisation.
Etymology and terminology
As prescribed in the Constitution of 1839, the United Kingdoms is formally defined as a "Union of three independent kingdoms of Scandinavia, equal in both prestige and power". In a much-shortened manner, the term "United Kingdoms" has been generally used to refer to the union, along with the much simpler term of "Scandinavia". However, on occasions that involve a single constituent country itself, the United Kingdoms is solely referred to by the said constituent kingdom, or country involved.
History
Geography
Politics
Although the United Kingdoms, in regards to each of its three constituent countries, generally practice a combination of the parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy systems, it distinctly retains a unique system of its own in which unlike the United Kingdom in particular, where the prime minister generally outranks the executive leaders of each constituent countries, the executive leaders of each three constituent countries in the union, namely the prime ministers, are all equally ranked amongst each other, with the monarch being the highest figure of authority above the prime ministers, albeit as a ceremonial one instead.
Government
The United Kingdoms is both collectively a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. In regards to the parliamentary system, it lacks the existence of a single unified parliament, with the lower chambers of the "Scandinavian Parliament" being composed entirely of the three constituent parliaments, while the upper chamber of parliament, the Grand Chamber, is considered as a combination of all three constituent parliaments, although only an exact amount of hundred representatives from each kingdom are allowed to represent their respective countries in the upper chamber. Furthermore, unlike most parliamentary democracies, due to the fact that each of the three constituent parliaments are all of a unicameral nature, a bill affecting only the domestic affairs of a particular nation needs to only be passed in the respective parliaments, along with the traditional royal assent. In contrast, the upper chamber itself is rarely summoned, as the stated purpose of the upper chamber of the "Scandinavian Parliament" is to solely debate on issues that concern the whole union only.
There is no single executive prime minister in the United Kingdoms. Instead, the union is represented by the three prime ministers hailing from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden respectively. Nevertheless, the monarch solely appoints each of the three prime ministers, with each prime ministers being normally chosen from the party that holds the most seats in their respective parliaments. Each prime ministers, as it is the norm, advise the monarch on most principal issues, and commands the respective cabinets of each constituent countries.
Foreign Relations
The United Kingdoms is a founding member of the United Nations, a member of the G10, the G20, the OECD, and the World Trade Organisation. In regional terms, the union is said to possess a "Scandinavian" bond with the countries of Finland and Iceland, both of which the union shares similar cultures and identities with.
Military
Owing to its fully decentralised nature, the United Kingdoms itself lacks a single and unified military, as it is instead replaced with the constituent militaries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, all three of which regularly participate in military exercises and training with one another. Nevertheless, the monarch is the head and supreme commander of all three of the constituent militaries. As prescribed in the constitution, all three constituent militaries are formally described as being "the protectors of mutual interests of the United Kingdoms, and of its people as a whole".