>>2225617Denmark existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in the steppes of Jutland, Denmark eventually stretched from Scandinavia to the Gulf of Finland, extending northwards into Greenland, eastwards and southwards into the Germany and the Baltic, and westwards as far as the Danish West Indies.
Denmark emerged from the unification of nomadic tribes in the Danish homeland under the leadership of Harald Bluetoth, whom a council proclaimed ruler of all the Danes in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants, who sent invasions in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the east with the west with an enforced Pax Daniae, allowing the dissemination and exchange of trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies across Eurasia.
