15 Things You Didn't know About Denmark
Hello Friends:
Today we're looking at 15 things you didn't know about denmark welcome to Countries Facts we've been thinking since summer is just around the corner what about a few virtual trips around the world to see which country has the best summery destination today we're setting our sights on the wonders of Denmark situated in northern Europe and made up of the youth land peninsula and more than 400 islands in the northern sea Denmark is one of the world's most prosperous countries with some of the happiest citizens in the world Denmark was once covered with trees but sadly almost all of the original forest has been chopped down the country is mostly flat with gently rolling hills shaped by glaciers that moved slowly around the landmass during the Ice Age Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and has the longest unbroken line of rulers in Europe whether you fall in love with Denmark's natural beauty landscapes or with its beautiful cities this Nordic country will put a spell on you no matter what so without further ado here are the 15 things you didn't know about Denmark for you to find out some more about this amazing country.
1 Danish ancestors were Vikings the period between 990 and 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age that was when people originally from the Scandinavian Peninsula and Northern Europe Denmark Norway and Sweden known as the Vikings ventured by sea into Europe and conquered a lot of territory it said that the Danish Vikings were the most active of them all conquering Britain France and Western Europe Vikings were pagans living by their own mythology and beliefs with powerful gods like Odin and Thor their mythology became so popular that it inspired a lot of books modern mythology fantasy movies and TV shows the Vikings ultimate purpose was to resist Christianity from spreading by all means and up to this day very few Scandinavian people are Christians
2 They have the world's happiest citizens a lot of studies show that the Danes are amongst the happiest people in the world at first it was thought that Danish people were so happy because they have low expectations but after some research the real reason was discovered and that is their government actually takes care of them Danish people get free access to health care education and to hold ten months of maternity or paternity leave yes you can definitely say a high standard of living is enjoyed in Denmark and this standard left the country to rank high in some metrics of national performance in categories like education health care protection of civil liberties democratic governance prosperity and human development.
3 The movie frozen was based on a fairy tale written by a Danish author the 2013 movie frozen popular not only amongst children but amongst parents and teenagers too is based on the original children's tale The Snow Queen written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen the author is widely known for fairy tales like the Emperor's New Clothes The Little Mermaid the nightingale the ugly duckling and Thumbelina to honor his work and his legacy the city of Copenhagen named a Boulevard after him and dedicated a statue to one of his famous characters The Little Mermaid the statue will be a hundred and five years old this year and one of the most beautiful art pieces in Denmark.
4 Lego toys are originally from Denmark Lego is originally from Billund Denmark and has been manufacturing the beloved toys since 1949 in February of 2015 Lego replaced Ferrari as the world's most powerful brand and has mega shops all around the world theme parks books jewelry and clothing for sale they produce 19 billion pieces of Lego every year and their toys are even used at NASA Kennedy Space Center for building prototype ships and learning last year they released a new collection cherishing women who helped and worked throughout the years for a better understanding of space the collection is called women of NASA and it includes minifigures of Nancy Grace Roman Margaret Hamilton Sally Ride and Mae Jameson cool thing if you ask us.
5 The richest men in the country has a net worth of five point five billion dollars with such a huge and successful company if the LEGO Group owner is by far the richest person in Denmark he's currently 70 years old and he inherited the company from his grandfather Olie kirk christiansen who founded lego almost 100 years ago the company now focuses on rebuilding itself as a sustainable brand taking into consideration how their plastic toys affect the environment the company has announced its invested one hundred and sixty five million dollars into the cause and recruited over 100 new employees in an effort to implement sustainable alternatives to existing materials by 2030 they have already started by reducing their packaging size and their carbon footprint Lego also started a campaign called build the change inspired by hundreds of letters they've received from kids all around the world through this campaign they are trying to have a positive impact over the environment and nature.
6 They have a serious problem with a low birth rate even though their citizens are among the happiest people in this world and their government takes care of them by giving them free health care free education and paid maternity or paternity leave the Danish people are not making babies anymore this issue is so serious that in 2015 Denmark's government got involved and started a series of campaigns promoting sex and having children those campaigns have some crazy ideas behind them such as promoting a trip with a hotel room and all the facilities included in order for couples to feel encouraged to have sex another one promoted making babies and getting parents grandchildren through mottos like do it for Denmark do it for mom I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
7 The Kim Wahl murder trial starts this spring in Denmark Swedish freelance journalist Kim wall disappeared during the night between the 10th and the 11th of August 2017 after she was last seen boarding Peter Madison's [ __ ] submarine you see three Nautilus Kim was writing about him and accepted his invitation to check out the submarine but sadly she ended up being killed in cold blood by Madsen with her body then cut into pieces and dumped into the sea you see three Nautilus sank afterwards but it's owner escaped there's some speculation that he even ate some of her remains prosecutors were shocked by the clues and texts they found showing the intent to murder Kim Madsen is accused of killing wall and hiding her body the trial for this murder will take place in the spring of 2018 in Copenhagen.
8 The ruling Prince didn't want to be buried next to his Queen the royal family of Denmark is one of the most respectable monarchies in the world with no scandal or controversy ever surrounding them until last year Prince Henry who is suffering from dementia announced that when he died he didn't want to be buried next to his married in the Cathedral where the remains of Danish Royals have gone for centuries breaking a four hundred and fifty nine year old tradition the Queen had already made a special sarcophagus for the couple Prince Henry was titled the Prince Consort not King even though he was Queen Margaret's husband he wasn't in the line of succession his oldest son Frederick being the heir to the throne sadly Prince Henrique died at the age of 83 in February of 2018 he was cremated and half of his ashes were scattered across the Danish seas and half placed at Frieden sporck palace.
9 The geography of Denmark helps them with industry in Denmark it rains or snows every other day around 170 days out of the year it's basically windy rainy and kind of cold with sparks of sunshine and warmth during the summer also in Denmark there are no mountains or Hills and the country is surrounded by water all of these factors forced Denmark to explore new ideas regarding the production of energy in 1970 the Danes were pioneers developing commercial wind power nowadays a substantial share of the wind turbines all around the world are produced by Danish manufacturers like Vestas and Siemens wind power this method is so effective that it generates 140 percent of the country's demand Denmark is a good example of making the most out of what you've got in their case wind and zero altitude.
10 The most expensive vodka in the world was held at a bar in Denmark and was worth 1.3 million dollars in order to honor the centenary of his company's Factory the Russian Rousso Baltic a luxury car maker created the world's most expensive bottle of vodka the bottle was handed to cafe 33 a bar in Denmark as a part of their collection the famous bottle of vodka even became a TV show phenomenon and was featured in episodes from shows like house of cards where it was portrayed as the present from the President of Russia to his US counterpart as the Danish police stated recently the bottle that is valued at 1.3 million dollars was stolen moreover it was found empty on a construction site such a shame and such a loss but if you'd like to learn some more about the most expensive beverages out there go check out our video on the top 10 most expensive alcoholic drinks in the world.
11 A lot of famous actors musicians and bands come from Denmark a lot of well-known actors are from Denmark Mads Mikkelsen who plays Hannibal in the TV series with the same name Nikolaj coster-waldau who plays Jamie Lannister in the TV series Game of Thrones and his colleague Catrice Van Houten who plays Melisandre in the same TV series the characters played by Danish people are strangely usually weird dark mean and evil but the actors performing are very good at impersonating them the drummer from the band called Metallica one of the most successful rock bands that are still going strong today he's also from Denmark and since we're talking about brands worth mentioning is Skype which was co-founded by Dane Yanis Friis in 2003 and later sold to eBay and afterwards to Microsoft.
12 Denmark has a strong cycling culture Danish people are known for their love of biking Denmark being one of the most developed countries when it comes to cycling culture the capital of Denmark Copenhagen was named in 2017 the world's most livable city and best city for cyclists that comes as no surprise since Copenhagen is a haven for cyclists lovers and environmentalists with over 390 kilometres of bike lanes the cycling culture is so strong that kids are learning how to ride a bike from a young age furthermore in primary school they have special classes in which they learn about traffic rules and road safety through campaigns like all children cycle held by Danish cyclists Federation Denmark is leading by example and countries like the US China Mexico and Australia started to become more bike friendly as well.
13 They managed to ban plastic bags 8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up at the oceans each year there'll be more plastic than fish by weight in the oceans by 2050 if current trends continue so taking the initiative to ban plastic bags is very important and every country should do so as soon as possible Denmark and other countries like Hong Kong Britain South Africa or Botswana successfully banned plastic bags due to environmental issues and pollution it's a massive step toward stopping plastic waste and they managed to inspire other countries to act the same on this matter the average Dane for example now uses just for single use plastic bags a year after the introduction of a plastic use fee back in 1994.
14 Pandora the jewellery brand comes from Denmark Pandora the international Danish jewelry manufacturer and retailer started as a family-run jewelry shop in Copenhagen it was founded in 1982 by pura Nevelson and the jewelry company soon became a huge brand the Pandora products are now sold in more than 100 countries on six continents through approximately 7700 points of sale including approximately 2200 concept stores the company is publicly listed and traded on NASDAQ NASDAQ Copenhagen Pandora and it's said to be worth eleven point eight billion dollars amongst Pandora's popular jewelry pieces are the silver pandora bracelets with their splendid charms and the pandora silver rings.
15 Education as we said is free in denmark as stated before the danish government takes care of the people that live in denmark through things like free health care paid maternity or paternity leave and free education the danish government provides a combination for all students fully furnished dorms or apartments and a monthly allowance of nine hundred dollars this money comes from the taxes that danes are paying the taxes are as high as sixty percent which makes denmark an expensive country to live and work in these taxes are based on a progressive tax system a system that seems to work perfectly for nordic countries they have higher taxes but a recent survey showed that nine out of ten danish citizens are happy to pay it which makes the government's life easier and I guess in turn the citizens life easier as well is Denmark amazing or what they sure have a special way of approaching life before you go let us know this did you own any Lego bricks when you were young and growing up or do you own them now let us know in the comments below still here are you of course you are and since you stuck with us until the very end here's a bonus fact just for you.
16 They have a special word for a certain feeling the word hygge describes the cozy feeling of togetherness which gets you through the winter the word can also be found in the Norwegian vocabulary the best English translation is coziness but the word has a deeper meaning and it can't be translated through words alone there's also a book written about this word the feeling and how to achieve it it's called the little book of hookah Danish secrets to happy living the book is now translated into multiple languages and it's the best seller after the success of the book a lot of blogs started to come out talking about this word and feeling and making content around it Kouga was rated one of the top ten words of the year in 2016 in fact hooga ranked right behind brexit in Collins dictionary words of the year.
Thank you for spending some time with us I hope you guys this article will be informative from you we'll probably literally love you forever and ever God Bless You.
