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VARIOUS

HISTORY and GOVERNMENT

Vikings (approx. 1000 AC) founded quite a number of Danish traditions: travelling, sailing, agriculture, building and design to name a few.

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and the oldest in the world. Our present Queen Margrethe II descends from Sweyn Forkbeard (986-1014). You must never talk badly about the Royal Family amongst Danes. We are very proud that they represent us.

The single chamber parliamentary system with the "Folketing" (parliament) has 179 members, including 2 elected on the Faroe Islands and 2 on Greenland. The voting age is 18 years. At the moment we have 10 different political parties. The "statsminister" (prime minister) is the head of the nation.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The Kingdom of Denmark is approx. 43,000 km2 and counts the peninsula Jutland (Jylland) north of Germany and over 400 islands. No place is further than 60 km away from the sea. The capital, Copenhagen, is situated on the island Zealand (Sjælland). The main islands are connected by bridges. The Kingdom includes the Faeroe Islands and Greenland. The total population is around 5.4 mio.

Denmark is one of the Scandinavian countries, but unlike the others, very flat. The highest peek is 189 m. You can drive across the country from the very north/west to the south/east in 6 hours.

The 7400 km coastline includes 5,000 km beach – all public. Both beach and water is clean. This invites the Danes to go to the beach a lot when the weather permits.

 

CLIMATE

In Denmark the weather is a big topic in general conversations, as it often changes. Danes are used to the changing weather and we always bring an extra sweater.

Basically Denmark has mild weather – meaning cool summers and mild winters.

Summer: Sometimes we call them the green winters, because of long periods of overcast and rain, and sometimes we will have three weeks of sun. Heat waves with temperatures up to 30°C, or 86°F, are rare. This changes from year to year. But one thing, that foreigners find extremely different are the nights. In the summer it does not get dark until 11 pm and then it is light again by 4 am.

Winter: In the winter we may have some snow, but rarely does it stay very long. The days are short - during December it gets light at 8.30 am and it is dark by 4 pm. So we really enjoy the Christmas lights that we use a lot.

For specific weather statistics and online weather please go to www.dmi.dk

 

RELIGION

Around 90% are members of "Den Danske Folkekirke" – The Danish Lutheran Evangelical State Church. However, Danes are not as such church goers. You will find the values of the Danes are based in the Christian faith, but mostly we will go to church only for special occasions e.g. Christmas, Easter, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. All people living here will enjoy complete religious freedom.

 

LANGUAGE

"All Danes speak English" – we hear that a lot. It makes it easy for foreigners. More than 75% of the population speaks English. However, many Danes will be modest about it. Children start learning English when they are 9 years old, and before the finish of school they will have had lessons in at least three foreign languages. Apart from English it would be German and French or Spanish). Danes, Norwegians and Swedes understand each other's languages. But no one else understands it! They are very difficult languages. Most foreigners give up. Of course it's a good idea to get some knowledge to understand more of the culture.

Movies are not dubbed in Denmark, but have Danish subtitles. However, most cartoons are dubbed.

 

MONEY

Danish crowns (Kroner), are used. However, as a member of the EU many shops in Copenhagen accept Euros. B-2-B, mostly USD and EUR are used.

Most Danes have a DANkort, a debit card, issued by all banks. The card is accepted everywhere and, a commodity that makes life easier, because of the popularity of the DANkort, not all credit cards are accepted everywhere.

 

PETS

Dogs and cats are popular in Denmark. Both dogs and cats are normally inside the home and close to the family. When in public you must clean up after your dog and it has to be on a leach.

If you want to bring your pet to Denmark, you will as a general rule have to have a vet's certificate not older than a month from arrival as well as a rabies certificate. When the pet arrives at the airport the inspection will take a few hours. For procedures and specific rules always contact your moving company.

 

ELECTRICITY

220 Voltage. Two pin. Adapters are available. In most cases you are better off purchasing new electrical units upon arrival, it is better to purchase new electrical units upon arrival.

 

TIME

Denmark is one hour ahead of GMT