DENMARK INFO

The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is located at 56° N 10° E in northern Europe. The national capital is Copenhagen. Denmark is regarded as a Scandinavian country, although it is not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The kingdom of Denmark (Danmarks Rige) includes Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland, which borders northern Germany, plus a large number of islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Vendsyssel-Thy, Lolland and Bornholm as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark has historically controlled the approach to the Baltic Sea, and these waters are also known as the Danish straits. Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849 after having been an absolutist state since 1660 and has been a parliamentary democracy since 1901. Having existed for more than 1000 years, the Danish monarchy is the second oldest in the world, right after the Japanese. Denmark is a part of the European Union. The Kingdom of Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wideranging home rule. Since the mid-20th century, Danish society has been partly defined by the "Scandinavian Model" of public services.

History of Denmark
The earliest Danish archaeological findings date back to 130,000-110,000 BC in the Eem interglacial period. People have inhabited Denmark since about 12,500 BC, and agriculture has been in evidence since around 3,900 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age (1,800-600 BC) in Denmark was marked by burial mounds, which left an abundance of findings, including lurs and the Sun Chariot. During the Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC - AD 1), native groups began migrating south. The Roman provinces maintained trade routes and relations with native tribes in Denmark, and Roman coins have been found in Denmark. Evidence of strong Celtic cultural influence dates from this period in Denmark and much of northwest Europe, and is among other things reflected in the finding of the Gundestrup cauldron. The first Danish people came to Denmark between the Pre-Roman and Germanic Iron Age, in the Roman Iron Age. Before the arrival of precursors to the Danes, who came from Scandinavia and spoke an early form of north Germanic, most of Jutland and part of the islands had been vacated or partly vacated by the earlier Jutes, who settled in Britain together with the Angles and the Saxons to form the Anglo-Saxons. The exact origin of Denmark has been lost in history, but a short note[5] about the Dani in "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths" from 551 AD by historian Jordanes is believed by some to be an early mention of the Daner, one of the ethnos from which are descended the modern Danish people. The Danevirke defence structures were built in several phases from the 3rd century forth, and the sheer size of the construction efforts in 737 are attributed to the emergence of a Danish king. The new runic alphabet was first used at the same time, and Ribe, the oldest town of Denmark, was founded about 700. From the 8th to the 10th century, the Danes were known as Vikings. Together with Norwegians and Swedes, they colonised, raided and traded in all parts of Europe. Viking explorers first discovered Iceland by accident in the 9th century, on the way towards the Faroe Islands and eventually came across "Vinland" (Land of wine) also known today as Newfoundland, in Canada. The Danish Vikings were most active in England and France where they temporarily conquered parts of England, known as the Danelaw, Ireland and France, founded Normandy. More Anglo-Saxon pence of this period have been found in Denmark than in England. As attested by the Jelling stones, the Danes were united and Christianised about 965 by Harald Bluetooth, the second recognised king of Denmark. In the early 11th century, Canute the Great won and united Denmark, England and Norway for almost 30 years. Throughout the High and Late Middle Ages, Denmark also included Skåneland (Skåne, Halland and Blekinge) and Danish kings ruled Danish Estonia, as well as the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Most of the latter two now form part of northern Germany. In 1397, Denmark entered the Kalmar Union with Norway and Sweden. The union was a personal union with the individual states maintaining their nominal independence. Scandinavia remained unified under this arrangement until Sweden broke away in 1523. The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in the 1530s, and following the Count's Feud civil war, Denmark converted to Lutheranism in 1536. Later that year, Denmark entered into a union with Norway. Two and a half centuries of wars with Sweden followed. King Christian IV attacked Sweden in the 1611-13 Kalmar War but failed to accomplish his main objective of forcing Sweden to return to the union with Denmark. The war led to no territorial changes, but Sweden was forced to pay a war indemnity of 1 million silver riksdaler to Denmark, an amount known as the Älvsborg ransom. Christian used this money to found several towns and fortresses, most notably Glückstadt (founded as a rival to Hamburg), Christiania (following a fire destroying the original city), Christianshavn, Christianstad, and Christiansand. Christian also constructed a number of buildings, most notably Børsen, Rundetårn, Nyboder, Rosenborg, a silver mine and a copper mill. Inspired by the Dutch East India Company, he founded a similar Danish company. Christian had planned to claim Sri Lanka as a colony but the company only managed to acquire Tranquebar on India's Coromandel Coast. In the Thirty Year's War, Christian tried to become the leader of the Lutheran states in Germany, but suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lutter resulting in a Catholic army under Albrecht von Wallenstein occupying and pillaging Jutland. Denmark managed to avoid territorial concessions, but Gustavus Adolphus' intervention in Germany was seen as a sign that the military power of Sweden was rising and the power of Denmark falling. In 1643, Swedish armies invaded Jutland and in 1644 Skåne. In the 1645 Treaty of Brømsebro, Denmark surrendered Halland, Gotland, the last parts of Danish Estonia, and several provinces in Norway. In 1657, king Frederick III declared war on Sweden and marched on Bremen-Verden. This led to a massive Danish defeat and the armies of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden conquered both Jutland, Funen and much of Zealand before signing the Peace of Roskilde in February 1658 which gave Sweden control of Skåne, Blekinge, Trøndelag and the island of Bornholm. Charles X Gustav quickly regretted not having destroyed Denmark completely and in August 1658 he began a two-year long siege of Copenhagen but failed to take the capital. In the following peace settlement, Denmark managed to maintain its independence and regain control of Trøndelag and Bornholm. Denmark tried to regain control of Skåne in the Scanian War (1675-79) but this attempt was a failure. Following the Great Northern War (1700-21), Denmark managed to restore control of the parts of Schleswig and Holstein ruled by the house of Holstein-Gottorp in 1721 and 1773, respectively. In the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark originally tried to persue a policy of neutrality and trade with both France and the United Kingdom and joined the League of Armed Neutrality with Russia, Sweden and Prussia. The British considered this a hostile act and attacked Copenhagen in both 1801 and 1807, in one case carrying off the Danish fleet, in the other, burning large parts of the Danish capital. This led to the so-called Danish-British Gunboat War, but the British control of the waterways between Denmark and Norway proved disasterous to the union's economy and in 1813, Denmark-Norway went bankrupt. The Danish-Norwegian union was dissolved by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814. Norway entered a new union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Denmark kept the colonies of Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Apart from the Nordic colonies, Denmark ruled over Danish India (Tranquebar in India) from 1620 to 1869, the Danish Gold Coast (Ghana) from 1658 to 1850, and the Danish West Indies (the U.S. Virgin Islands) from 1671 to 1917. The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European Revolutions of 1848 Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on 5 June 1849. After the Second War of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig) in 1864, Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks on the Danish national identity. After this point Denmark adopted a policy of neutrality, as a result of which Denmark stayed neutral in World War I. After the defeat of Germany, the Versailles powers offered to return the then-German region of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. Fearing German irredentism, Denmark refused to consider the return of the area and insisted on a plebiscite concerning the return of Schleswig. The two Schleswig Plebiscites took place on 10 February and 14 March, respectively. On 10 July 1920, after the plebiscite and the King's signature (9 July) on the reunion document, Northern Schleswig (Sønderjylland) was recovered by Denmark, thereby adding 163,600 inhabitants and 3,984 km². The reunion day (Genforeningsdag) is celebrated every year 15 June on Valdemarsdag. Despite its continued neutrality, Denmark was invaded by Germany (Operation Weserübung), on 9 April 1940. Though accorded self-rule (which ended in 23 August 1943 because of a mounting resistance movement, which was upsetting the German military leadership), Denmark remained militarily occupied throughout World War II. The Danish sympathy for the Allied cause was in general strong, but in spite of this fact the economical cooperation between Germany and Denmark continued throughout the war. In 1944, 1,900 Danish police officers were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the concentration camp Buchenwald, from which many never returned alive. During the war, Iceland claimed independence and in 1948 the Faroe Islands gained home rule. After the war, Denmark became one of the founding members of the United Nations and NATO and, in 1973, joined the European Economic Community (later, the European Union). In 1979, Greenland gained home rule.



Geography of Denmark
Denmark's northernmost point is Skagens point (the north beach of the Skaw) at 57° 45' 7" northern latitude, the southernmost is Gedser point (the southern tip of Falster) at 54° 33' 35" northern latitude, the westernmost point is Blåvandshuk at 8° 4' 22" eastern longitude, and the easternmost point is Østerskær (Eastern Skerry) at 15° 11' 55" eastern longitude. This is in the archipelago Ertholmene 18 kilometres northeast of Bornholm. The distance from east to west is 452 km (over 280 mi), from north to south 368 km (228 mi). Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland (Jylland) and 443 named islands. Of these, 76 are inhabited, with the largest being Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn). The island of Bornholm is located somewhat east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the larger islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden, the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand, and the Little Belt Bridge connects Jutland with Funen. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Århus, Aalborg and Esbjerg (on Jutland) and Odense (on Funen). Along with Equatorial Guinea it is one of two countries in the world with its mainland on a continent and its capital city on an island. The country is mostly flat with little elevation; the country's average height above sea level is only 31 metres (101 feet) and the highest natural point is Møllehøj, at 170.86 metres (560.6 ft). Other hills in the same area southwest of Århus are Yding Skovhøj at 170.77 metres (560.3 ft) and Ejer Bavnehøj at 170.35 metres (558.9 ft).[11] The area of inland water is: (eastern Denmark) 210 km² (81 sq mi); (western D.) 490 km² (189 sq mi). Denmark is split into 443 named islands which results in a long coastline, 7,314 kilometres (4,544 mi). A perfect circle enclosing the same area as Denmark would have a circumference of only 742 kilometres (461 mi). Another feature that shows the close connection between the land and ocean is that no location in Denmark is farther from the coast than 52 kilometres (32.3 mi). The size of the land area of Denmark cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and because of human land reclamation projects (to counter erosion). On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 metres (3 to 6.5 feet), and the coastline moves outward and inward on a 10 kilometres (6 mi) stretch. The climate is in the temperate zone. The winters are not particularly cold with mean temperatures in January and February of 0.0 °C and the summers are cool with mean temperature in august 15.7 °C. There is a lot of wind, which is stronger during the winter and weaker during the summer. Denmark has an average of 170 rainy days. The greatest rainfall comes in September, October and November. Because of Denmark's northern location, the length of the day with sunlight varies greatly. There are short days during the winter with sunrise coming around 8 a.m. and sunset 3:30 p.m., as well as long summer days with sunrise at 3:30 a.m. and sunset at 10 p.m. The shortest and longest days of the year have traditionally been celebrated. The celebration for the shortest day corresponds roughly with Christmas (Danish: jul) and modern celebrations concentrate on Christmas Eve, 24 December. The Norse word jól is a plural, indicating that pre-Christian society celebrated a season with multiple feasts.

Culture of Denmark
Perhaps the most famous Dane is actually a fictional character, Hamlet, the title character of William Shakespeare's famous play, which was set in the real castle of Kronborg in Helsingør. The play was inspired by an old Danish myth of the Viking Prince Amled of Jutland, and his quest for vengeance against his father's killer. Another widely known Dane is Hans Christian Andersen, in Denmark referred to as H. C. Andersen, a writer mostly famous for such fairy tales as "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", and "The Ugly Duckling". Also playwright Ludvig Holberg, Karen Blixen (pen name: Isak Dinesen), Nobel laureate author Henrik Pontoppidan, and the Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard are renowned world wide. Also Niels Bohr, the famous physicist who developed the first working model for the atom and the quantum theory concept of complementarity. The most popular sport in Denmark is football (soccer). The lengthy coastline also provides good opportunity for sailing and other water sports. The "Around Zealand Regatta" is a yacht race that begins in Helsingør and continues for 2-3 days. Because of the level terrain, another common sport is cycling, and of late Copenhagen has been nicknamed the "City of Cyclists" for the frequent use of bicycles for transportation and the designated roadtracks for cyclists. Indoor sports such as badminton, handball and various forms of gymnastics are also popular because of the lengthy winters. Denmark has also been noticed internationally on the music scene, with acts like Aqua, Whigfield, Michael Learns to Rock, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and D-A-D in the 90's, as well as acts like Junior Senior, Safri Duo, Mew, Infernal, The Raveonettes and Tina Dickow in the millennium. Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich, is Danish as well. Also the heavy metal musician King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen) was born and raised in Hvidovre, Copenhagen. However the country also has a huge national music scene, and in 2001, Copenhagen hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, and again in 2006, it hosted the MTV European Music Awards. Denmark has a proud tradition of acting and film, and has bred many names on the international acting scene, historically as well as today.

Meet Single Girls and Guys for Dating!

Paralumun New Age Village