The Danish Geodata Agency (GST) ( da, Geodatastyrelsen), (previously National Survey and Cadastre of Denmark ( da, Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen, short KMS)), is the Danish state owned central agency responsible for surveying, mapping and land registering of all of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

and all waters associated with these. Geodatastyrelsen is an agency under the

Danish Ministry of the Environment Ministry of the Environment of Denmark ( da, Miljøministeriet) is the Denmark, Danish ministry in charge of almost all matters concerning Environmental policy, environmental issues in Denmark. The head office is in Copenhagen. Created in 1971 as ...

. The overall goal of Geodatastyrelsen is to supply and ensure that everyone in the Danish society has access to reliable and accurate maps and information on all parts of the Realm. Until 31 December 2004, KMS was a Sector research institute for the Ministry of the Environment in the fields of

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

geodynamic Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mo ...

and geodesy. The

part was detached on 1 July 2004 and moved under the responsibility of

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland ( da, Danmarks og Grønlands Geologiske Undersøgelse, GEUS) is the independent sector research institute under the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy. GEUS is an advisory, research and survey i ...

(GEUS). On 1 January 2005, the geodesy part was detached and together with

Danish Space Research Institute Danish Space Research Institute (DSRI) ( Danish: ''Dansk Rumforskningsinstitut'', short ''DRI'' or ''DRKI'') was the space agency of Denmark from 1966 to 2005. It was a Danish sector research institute formed in 1966 under the Danish Ministry for E ...

it formed Danish National Space Center.

History

KMS was officially formed on 1 January 1989 by combining Geodætisk Institut, Søkortarkivet and Matrikeldirektoratet, in an effort to strengthen mapping in Denmark. The political decision was conceived in a Royal resolution of 10 September 1987. The definition of its responsibilities is described in law #749 of 7 December 1988. Initially it was located under the Ministry of Housing, but in 2001 it was moved to the Ministry of the Environment. On 1 January 2013, the agency changed its name to Danish Geodata Agency. In 2014, the Danish government (through the GST) launched a full 1:1 recreation of the country of Denmark in Minecraft. The game map was based on real, official measurements made public by the Danish Geodata Agency. The reason was to "use the appeal of gaming to draw the public’s attention to geographical data" and an "invitation to teachers and schools to use the data in geography, math, science and history lessons". This, of course, drew attention of cyber vandals who attacked the server by blowing up areas of the map, destroying buildings and planting American flags. It is unclear exactly why. Chris Hammeken, chief press officer at the Danish Geodata Agency, responded with "Minecraft is about building and rebuilding. ..Only a minor area was destroyed. ..It was the players who cleaned up the damage, replacing it with green grass and flowers the following morning." Regardless of the attacks ‒ which have since been fixed ‒ the replica appears to have been a success. On 1 January 2016, the Agency changed into the Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency, and links in English regarding “Denmark in Minecraft” were removed, although individual sections could still be downloaded elsewhere.

References

External links

General information on the "basic data programme"
Danish Geodata Agency (Official Homepage) {{authority control Survey and Cadastre National mapping agencies 1989 establishments in Denmark Environmental agencies in Denmark

History

See also

References

External links