Denmark is a country in the north of Europe between Central Europe and Scandinavia. The territory of the parliamentary monarchy is spread over more than 1400 islands. Denmark’s only land border is on the Jutland peninsula with the border to Germany. The largest island is Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) on which the capital Copenhagen is located.
The Kingdom of Denmark includes the two autonomous constituent countries Faroe islands and Greenland. The Faroe Islands belong to Northern Europe, Greenland is counted to North America, therefore the Kingdom of Denmark is one of the twenty intercontinental nations. This group also includes Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and Russia.
Denmark is, along with New Zealand, the only country with two national anthems. The national anthem “Der er et yndigt land” is mostly used for civil purposes, the anthem “Kong Christian stod ved højen mast” is mainly used at military and royal occasions.
Danish cuisine is characterised by its distinctive agriculture and geographical proximity to the sea. Many different meat and fish dishes can be found on the plates. One of the most famous dishes is certainly Smørrebrød.
Smørrebrød, composed of the words “butter” and “bread”, is a bread spread with butter, usually a rye bread, topped with various ingredients, such as fish, vegetables or boiled eggs.
The two most common surnames in Denmark are Nielsen and Jensen. Both, as well as nineteen of the twenty most common surnames, are patronymic names and end with -sen (“son of”).
