Denmark is a miniature kingdom which is called the Pearl of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
This is no means by chance, but because in the small territory of this fabulous country, the real treasures of culture and history is concentrated.
Denmark has recently become very popular among tourists.
Cruises are especially popular – a ferry trip with a visit to several Scandinavian countries will bring real pleasure and unforgettable impressions.
Let’s get acquainted with this small kingdom better with these 15 delightful facts about Denmark!
According to research conducted at the University of Leicester, the Danes are the happiest and most serene people in the world.
The Royal Library in Copenhagen is the oldest in Scandinavia (1673). It consists of 500,000 volumes and 20,000 manuscripts. Included inside is impressive collections of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhalese.
The oldest active flag on Earth is the Danish Dunnebrog. The legend attributes its appearance to the Danes to the very beginning of the XIII century. It’s design is a red background with a white cross.
Tivoli, an amusement park in Copenhagen, is one of the largest and most popular in Europe. Moreover, it is the oldest amusement park in the world. Once Walt Disney visited “Tivoli” and was so impressed with it, that later he decided to create something like that. As a result, the famous park “Disneyland” appeared.
In Denmark, an attempt to escape from prison is not considered a crime. If a fugitive is caught, he will only have to stay in prison for a time that he was originally sentenced.
In 1989, Denmark became the first country in the world to grant legal recognition to same-sex unions. Ever since then, homosexual couples have had the same rights as heterosexual couples.
The Faroe Islands used to belong to Norway. Norway lost the 7 Faroe Islands after the King of Norway lost them in a poker game to the King of Denmark.
The longest pedestrian street in the world is in Denmark in the heart of Copenhagen – the shopping street Stroget, which became the world’s first pedestrian zone. Its total length is 1.8 km. It includes four streets connecting the Town Hall Square and the Opera Square.
In 1902 Denmark became the first country in the world where fingerprints were used as proof of the guilt of the suspect in the crime.
Many locals cannot afford to buy a car because of the huge tax on ownership of this type of transport. The car tax here is one of the highest in Europe and exceeds the cost of the car. You can reduce the amount of tax, but for this you have to convert your car into a truck.
Danish buses have an interesting feature – they can lean to the right, thereby facilitating boarding for disabled people and parents with children in wheelchairs. In addition, there is a free Wi-Fi on the buses. In order to connect to it, you need to enter your CPR – this is an identifier, indicating the number of which you will not be anonymous any more.
Typically, the working day of Danes begins at 8 am, and ends at 4 pm. A large number of shops are open until 5-6 pm, so the products are usually purchased on weekends for the whole week. This schedule of shops is due to taxes. The longer the store runs, the more taxes it will have to pay.
In Denmark, they have quite expensive real estate, although the quality of it, to put it mildly, leaves much to be desired. Often in new homes that are in the city line, you’ll find creaking floors and cramped rooms. Budget apartments are those which cost does not exceed 100 thousand euros. For this amount, there will typically be a joint bathroom and a kitchen that may be part of the hallway.
The climate in Denmark is quite unusual. The temperature does not exceed 50-70 degrees (10-20 °C) a year. On top of this, it rains most of the time, even though it may not always be so heavy. The Danish even joke about this, saying that the only difference between summer and winter is that the rain is a little warmer.
The children’s LEGO toys are one of the most famous Danish inventions.
