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Fairy tales and football matches. Delicious pastry. A bronze mermaid sitting on a rock, looking out over a city. Fierce Vikings and Lego… there’s not one slot into which Denmark and its people can be conveniently put. This is the country where the feared Vikings came from, traveling in their longboats to distant shores; and this is, too, the land of Hans Christian Andersen whose fairy tales enthrall children even today.

Denmark is a country with a long and interesting history, a vibrant culture; but it’s also a nation that is fiercely proud of the fact that it’s a modern and developed nation, one of the most prosperous countries of West Europe. With such a combination, it’s hardly surprising that Denmark is pretty popular on tourist itineraries.

Denmark was the first European country to legalize same-sex marriages and also to provide equal rights to gay couples as for heterosexual couples in 1989.

One of the strange laws of Denmark is that the restaurants cannot charge you for the water unless you order some other item with it such as ice or lemon slice.

What comes to your mind when you hear about “The Little Mermaid”,” The Ugly Duckling” and “The Emperor’s Clothes”? Brings back the old memories of your childhood, Right? Well, all these tales were written by a Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen and these tales have been translated into more languages more than any other book in the whole world except of the Bible.

Historically Speaking

The first people to settle in Denmark were probably nomadic hunters who came here and had established communities by the time of the Stone Age. Around 500 AD, migrants from Sweden (ancestors of present-day Danes) arrived, and it is to them that much of Denmark’s present culture can be traced. By the 9th century, the Jutland Peninsula had been conquered by a group of Vikings under the chieftain Hardegon; and it was Hardegon’s son, Gorm the Old, who established Denmark’s monarchy. Initially spreading out over the nearby countries (including England), the empire eventually shrank back to Denmark after the decline in the power of the Vikings. Over the next few centuries, Denmark saw much political change, and by the late 14th century, Sweden and Norway also came under the rule of the Danish monarchy- a rule which was to remain for nearly four centuries.

The 16th and 17th centuries proved to be landmarks in Denmark’s history; Lutheranism came to the country, and a series of wars, including the disastrous Thirty Years’ War and the Napoleonic Wars, damaged Denmark considerably. By the mid 1800s, however, the country was on the road to recovery; a cultural revolution, combined with commercial development, helped Denmark gets back on its feet.

Although neutral in both world wars, Denmark was occupied by the Nazis during WWII, but managed to emerge relatively undamaged from the experience. Since the war, the Danish government has largely concentrated on developing the country’s economy and on creating a very comfortable welfare state for its people. Despite the fact that Denmark is a member of the EU, its support for the EU is very limited, and is, in day-to-day life, hardly visible

Habitat

The country of Denmark occupies roughly 43,000 sq km, and consists of mainland Denmark and the surrounding islands. Mainland Denmark, which is the Jutland Peninsula, is attached to northern Germany, with the Baltic Sea to the east and the North Sea to the west. Off the coast lie 406 isles, of which Zealand, on which Copenhagen is located, is the largest. Most of Denmark’s islands are uninhabited (only 90 have people living on them), and much of the population is concentrated either on Zealand or on its smaller neighbors, Funen.

Denmark’s topography is primarily flat-rolling green plains with very minor elevations. Much of the country’s land has fallen prey to agriculture and urbanisation over the centuries, and little remains in the way of endemic wildlife. The country’s only national park, Rebild Bakker, is situated within the 77 sq km-spread of woodland called the Rold Skov. Whatever indigenous animal life remains, is found largely in the sparse woods of beech, oak, maple, elm, chestnut and similar deciduous trees. Major forms of wildlife include the red deer, fallow deer, foxes, squirrels, roe deer, hares, badgers and some 400 odd species of birds.