Where is Danish spoken, and by how many?

Danish is spoken in Denmark, in South Schleswig in northern Germany, and as a second language in the Faroe Islands and Greenland. About six million people speak it, almost all of them in Denmark. Here is where, by how many, and how Danish sits next to its neighbours.

Which countries speak Danish?

Only one country has Danish as its main language: Denmark. But Danish is used in four places, and in each one it plays a different role.

Outside these four places you will find Danish speakers in Iceland, where Danish is still a school subject, and in Danish communities in Sweden, Norway, the UK, the USA and elsewhere. Danish is also one of the official languages of the European Union.

How many people speak Danish?

Den Store Danske, the Danish national encyclopedia, says about six million. That number is easy to understand: Statistics Denmark counted 5,992,734 people in Denmark on 1 January 2025, and most of them speak Danish. Add the minority in Germany, the Danes abroad and the Faroese and Greenlanders who use Danish as a second language, and subtract the people in Denmark who have just arrived. You land at roughly six million.

Different websites give different numbers, from about 5.3 to 6 million, because they count different things: first language only, or everybody who speaks it well. For a learner the honest answer is the same: Danish is a small language, and nearly all the people you will speak it with live in Denmark.

Danish in Germany: South Schleswig

South Schleswig, Sydslesvig in Danish, is the area just south of the border, around Flensburg, Flensborg. It belonged to Denmark until 1864. The Danish minority there today is about 50,000 people, according to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it has its own kindergartens, schools, churches, libraries and a daily newspaper. Many people in the minority speak German at home and Danish at school and in the minority’s clubs.

Danish in the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Both are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Rigsfællesskabet, and both have their own language. In the Faroe Islands people speak Faroese, and Danish is the second official language: children learn it at school, and most adults read and understand it well. In Greenland, Greenlandic is the official language, and Danish is used a lot in the public sector, in higher education and in Nuuk. Some Greenlanders speak only Greenlandic, some only Danish, and many speak both.

Is Danish closer to German or Swedish?

Swedish, by far. Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are the three mainland Scandinavian languages, and they come from the same Old Norse. Written down, Danish and Norwegian are very close; Swedish is a little further away. Spoken, Danes and Swedes often struggle, and Norwegians tend to understand Danes better than Swedes do. Many Danes, Swedes and Norwegians can talk to each other, each in their own language, if they speak slowly.

German is a cousin, not a sibling. You will see German-looking words everywhere (German Hund, dog, is hund in Danish), and the word order rules are similar, but a German speaker does not understand spoken Danish without learning it.

Are Dutch and Danish similar?

A little. Both are Germanic languages, so there are many related words, like hus (Dutch huis, house) and vand (Dutch water). But Dutch belongs to the West Germanic branch with German and English, and Danish to the North Germanic branch. A Dutch speaker can guess a lot of written Danish, and almost nothing of spoken Danish. The sound of Danish is the hard part for everyone; the pronunciation guide explains why.

What does it mean for you as a learner?

• You learn it for Denmark. There is no big Danish-speaking world outside, so the best reason to learn Danish is to live, work and make friends here.
• You get two languages for the price of one and a half. Once you read Danish, written Norwegian is surprisingly easy.
• Danes switch to English quickly. Because so few people speak Danish, Danes are used to speaking English to foreigners. Ask them to stay in Danish: Kan vi tale dansk? Jeg lærer dansk. (Can we speak Danish? I’m learning Danish.)

Questions people ask

Is Danish an official language outside Denmark?

Yes, in the Faroe Islands, next to Faroese. In Germany it is a protected minority language in Schleswig-Holstein. It is also an official language of the EU.

Do people speak Danish in Greenland?

Many do, especially in the towns and in the public sector, but the official language has been Greenlandic since 2009, and many Greenlanders speak Greenlandic as their first language.

Do Icelanders speak Danish?

Many learn it. Danish has long been a compulsory subject in Icelandic schools, but today English comes first, and most young Icelanders speak English with Danes.

How do Danes say hi?

Hej, like “high”. See hello in Danish for the other greetings.

Sources

• Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik): population on 1 January 2025, published February 2025.
• Den Store Danske (lex.dk): the Danish language, about six million speakers; Faroese, more than 90 percent first-language speakers.
• Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (um.dk): the Danish minority in South Schleswig, about 50,000 people.
• Greenland Self-Government Act, section 20, in force 21 June 2009: Greenlandic is the official language.