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2/3rds of Denmark's income was charging boats to pass the Baltic Sea. Those who didn't pay were sunk!

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2/3rds of Denmark's income was charging boats to pass the Baltic Sea. Those who didn't pay were sunk!

The Sound is the strait that separates the Danish island of Zealand from the southern part of Sweden. It is just 2.5 miles across but is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The Sound is one of three straits that connects the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1429, King Eric of Pomerania introduced a toll for those who used The Sound. All foreign ships passing through the strait had to stop at Helsingor and pay money to the Danish crown. If they did not do so, cannons were fired at them, and the ship was sunk.

In 1567, Denmark changed the law so that each ship had to pay 1-2% of the value of their cargo rather than a flat toll. This tripled the revenue. These "sound dues" made up nearly three quarters of Denmark's income during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Copenhagen Convention in 1857 abolished the dues.

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