Facts about Denmark

 
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*  Denmark is part of the so called Scandinavian countries, together with Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It shares its cultural and language background with those countries. Finland is also often mentioned as a Scandinavian country, though the majority of Finnish people speak Finnish, which belongs to a different language group.
With a total area of 43,098 km², Denmark is (apart from the Faroe Islands) the smallest of them, being for example 10 times smaller than Sweden.

* Denmark is formed by a peninsula (Jutland) and 407 islands, what gives the country a total of 7,314 km of coastline, corresponding to almost 1.5 meter coast per inhabitant.

* No city in Denmark is further than 50 kilometers away from the sea.

* The average temperature changes from 0ºC in January to 16ºC in August.

* In Denmark, it rains every other day.

* And the wind is (almost) always blowing.

* The Kingdom of Denmark includes the self-governing areas of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

* Population of Denmark: 5.5 million inhabitants.

* Largest urban areas and number of inhabitants:

Copenhagen (capital)

1 181 239
Århus

242 914
Odense

166 305
Aalborg

102 312
Esbjerg

71 459
Randers

60 227
Kolding 57 087
Horsens

52 998
Vejle

50 832
Roskilde

46 701

Source: Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik nr. 171. Stadig færre bor I landsdistrikter. 12th of April, 2011. http://www.dst.dk/pukora/epub/Nyt/2011/NR171.pdf

 

* Language: Danish, a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people worldwide.

* Like the other Scandinavian countries, the vast majority of the population are descendants of  Nordic Germanic tribes.

*  9.8% of the population (or about 543.000 people) are immigrants and their descendants.

* Denmark is one of the countries in the world with the most equally distributed incomes after taxes and transfer payments.

* The wages are high, as well as the taxes (an average of 50% of the income) and the prices.

* The welfare state provides free public health care, education, child care and job training as well as unemployment benefits.

* The Kingdom of Denmark is a Constitutional Monarchy and the executive authority is exercised by the prime minister.

* Denmark is part of the European Union (EU) since 1973, but preserved its currency, the Danish Krone.

* Denmark is also a founding member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO (1949) and The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or OECD (1961).

 

Famous historical Danes

  • Arne Jacobsen, architect and designer (the egg chair and the swan chair, among others)
  • August Bournonville, ballet dancer & choreographer
  • Bertel Thorvaldsen, sculptor
  • Carl Nielsen, composer
  • Hans Christian Andersen, fairy tale writer
  • Karen Blixen, author (‘Out of Africa’, among others)
  • Lauritz Melchior, opera composer
  • Niels Bohr, physicist and Nobel Prize winner
  • Piet Hein, poet
  • Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
  • Tycho Brahe, astronomer
  • Victor Borge, entertainer
  • Vitus Bering, explorer – the Bering Strait is named after him

Famous contemporary Danes

  • Brian and Michael Laudrup, former football/soccer players and brothers.
  • Caroline Wozniacki, tennis player
  • Connie Nielsen, actress
  • Helena Christensen, supermodel & photographer
  • Johan Kobborg, dancer (the Royal Ballet in London)
  • Jørn Utzon, architect (Sydney Opera House, among others)
  • Lars von Trier, film maker
  • Peter Schmeichel, former football/soccer player (Goalkeeper)
  • Sandi Toksvig, comedienne, writer and broadcaster (has a Danish father)
  • Thomas Bjørn, golfer
  • Tom Kristensen, race driver
  • Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings actor (has a Danish father)

 

Denmark is also known for…

 

* Its 3 B’s: butter, beer and bacon. In fact, there are more pigs living in Denmark than people. Pork is also the most consumed type of meat.

* The Little Mermaid, a sculpture from 1913 by Edvard Erichsen – a reference to Hans Christian Anderson´s fairy tale with the same name.

* The Vikings

* Metallica

* The ancient rune stones in the town of Jelling

* Surfing

* Coed restrooms

* Danish Design

* Legoland

* Tivoli

* Den Gamle By

* Open sandwiches (smørrebrød)

* Sexual freedom

* Danish pastry

* Cycling

* The Royal Family

* Wind mills

* Skagen and the Skagen painters

* Roskilde Festival

…and much more.