| Denmark, the little country in the North of Europe, is | | | | 6. The Great Danes dog breed probably did not |
| famous for Carlsberg, Legoland and the Little Mermaid. | | | | originate from Denmark, but from Germany. |
| But did you know these little known facts? | | | | Danish Culture |
| Geography And Weather | | | | |
| | | | 1. Only three Danish films have sold more than one |
| 1. In Denmark, it rains every second day. On average, a | | | | million tickets. |
| year has 171 days with a precipitation of more than | | | | 2. The Danish alphabet has three letters not found in |
| 0.1mm). In 2007, however, there were 188 days of | | | | the English alphabet: Æ, Ø, and Å. All |
| precipitation. | | | | three are vowels, and they come after the letter Z in |
| 2. There is usually a brisk breeze blowing in Denmark; | | | | the Danish alphabet. |
| the average wind speed is 7.6 m/sec. | | | | 3. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art was the |
| 3. In a year, the average temperature changes from 0 | | | | Danes' favourite museum in 2007 with 468,000 visitors. |
| °C in January to 16 °C in August. | | | | 4. The Danes love quality food. This makes this small |
| 4. The Kingdom of Denmark includes, besides | | | | nation the fifth largest exporter of food in the world. |
| Denmark, the self-governing areas of Greenland and | | | | 5. An average Dane travels 13,600 km a year. 43% of |
| the Faroe Islands. | | | | all Danes own a car. |
| 5. The ice free part of Greenland is almost 10 times | | | | 6. The Danes sent 42 million MMS messages in 2007. |
| larger than Denmark. | | | | 7. Dublin in Ireland was an important Viking trading |
| 6. The Danish countryside is rather flat. The highest | | | | center. |
| point is 180 metres above sea level. | | | | 8. Place names in the UK ending in -by (Whitby) and |
| 7. Denmark borders with only one country, Germany. | | | | -thorpe (Scunthorpe) were Viking settlements. |
| 8. If you buy a boat in Copenhagen and sail to the | | | | 9. The Danish monarchy has existed for over a |
| nearest shore on the other side of the water, you | | | | thousand years. |
| arrive in Sweden. | | | | Economy |
| The Danes | | | | |
| | | | 1. In the last ten years the average wages have |
| 1. The 5.48 million Danes make up only about 0.8 per | | | | increased by 44 per cent. During the same period, |
| thousand of the earth's population of 6.7 billion people. | | | | prices have increased by only 25 per cent resulting in |
| In the early 1900s the Danes made up 1.5 per thousand | | | | a considerably higher purchasing power. |
| so, in relative terms, the Danes have become fewer. | | | | 2. Danish families had an average disposable income |
| 2. Life expectancy for Danish women is 79 and for | | | | of DKK 280,000 ($53,000) in 2006. |
| men 74. | | | | 3. Small and medium-sized companies (77% of the |
| 3. Danish women are on average almost 29 years old | | | | Danish companies employ less than 50 people) |
| when they give birth to their first child. This is an | | | | dominate the Danish business community. |
| increase of more than five years since 1970 when | | | | 4. Denmark has 298,000 active enterprises, which |
| women were almost 24 years old when giving birth | | | | corresponds to almost one company per every |
| for the first time. | | | | tenDanes on the labour market. |
| 4. Danish children and youngsters spend many years in | | | | 5. Danish farms are the home of more than 13 million |
| school. A child who starts nursery school today will on | | | | pigs. The majority of the pigs are kept in Jutland, while |
| average spend 16-17 years studying before attaining | | | | the remaining number is distributed between Funen, |
| the final exam certificate. | | | | Zealand and other islands. |
| 5. Lars Ulrich of Metallica was born in Denmark. | | | | 6. The average tax rate in Denmark is 49%. |