Information about Denmark  – The Cool Facts you need to Know

Which are some of the important cool things you need to know about Denmark?

Denmark is one of the Scandinavian countries, along with Sweden and Norway. Each of them is known for its extremely high life standard, income, taxes, opportunities and you name it. There are several huge misconceptions about life in Denmark – do not be fooled and look for youself. Denmark is mostly often associated with the Little Mermaid and the tales of Hans Christian Andersen, who was born in Odense. The capital of Denmark is Copenhagen, which is located on one of the 3 largest islands that make up the country – Sjælland. The population of Denmark is about 5.5 million. An interesting fact is that there are more than 20 million pigs in the country. Most internationals also live in Copenhagen, as the capital is the easiest city for finding non-qualified jobs without Danish.

Denmark is a kingdom, which is currently ruled by Queen Margaret II, who recently turned 80. The queen has a rather representative function, as all laws are voted by the Danish parliament and implemented by the government, which is re-elected every four years. The foreigners in Denmark are not allowed to vote in parliamentary elections unless they have obtained a Danish passport.

Denmark is the country of the bicycles! Here, every major street has its own wonderfully designated bike lanes on both sides of the road. Cycling is so popular that Danes do not get off the bike all year round, regardless of the weather conditions. Copenhagen, on the other hand, has a serious problem – thousands of bicycles are abandoned on the streets every year, as Danes prefer to buy new ones instead of doing repairs, especially if the bicycle has seen better days. A small tip from us is to browse the online second hand websites for bargains before making the purchase of your first bike!

Do not be surprised if you constantly pass by Danes in sportswear on the streets, running up and down at any time of the day in all weather conditions! A lot of internationals adopt this habit after a few years in the country. The vast majority of Danes take extremely good care of their health and good looking. In addition to the daily cycling and running, they spend quite some time in the gyms and sports clubs.

If you are not used to recycling waste, then Denmark will look like a country from another planet to you. The Danes separate hard and soft plastics, paper, cardboard, glass, batteries, biological waste and God knows what more! There are machines for returning plastic and glass bottles in every supermarket. During the summer, when almost ALL Danes go out to parks and gardens, you will notice hundreds of people going around and collecting the empty beers cans and bottles to return them in the supermarkets. Recycling directly affects the fees Danes pay at the end of the year, so they take it very seriously. We should mention that the fines are also not low if you misbehave – do not recycle or do it wrong.

Danes love the rules and more specifically obeying the rules. You can almost never see someone cross at a red light, even when the intersection is dead. The trust between people is at so high levels, supermarkets leave fruits, vegetables and other products in front of the stores completely unattended – in some cases you can see products left over night! To get an even better idea, it is now possible to scan the products yourself with your phone, put them in your bag and pay through a mobile application without waiting in line at the checkout in some shops!

The Beer is maybe the favorite drink of the Danes. Carlsberg and Tuborg are the most famous Danish beers. The name Carslberg comes from the name of the son of J.C. Jacobsen (its creator) Carl and the word berg, which in Danish means hill – Carl’s Hill. Be prepared to join the hundreds of Danish beer games, things that will surprise you a lot. To be prepared, look online for names like Stack the cup for example.

Here you will observe the so-called “white nights”, as during the summer the sun goes down after 23:00 and rises up around 3:00. Be prepared to buy yourself curtains. However, these are not very popular among the Danes. On the other hand, you will often see lit candles on the window porches, which are part of the so-called Danish “hugge. The word does not have a direct translation, but can be described with the feeling during Christmas, when the whole family is together around the fireplace and the Christmas tree.

As we have already said Denmark is surrounded by water, which will allow you to always go to the beach! Of course, do not expect the water to be as warm as that of the Black or Mediterranean Seas, but here you will enjoy nature, uniquely organized beaches, dunes and the necessary infrastructure, which in no way violates the cleanliness and beauty of the beaches! More than 300 wooden huts are scattered throughout Denmark – very often in forest areas just outside the cities. They are maintained by the municipalities and are regularly stocked even with firewood, as the idea is to spend the weekend with your family and friends out in the nature and simply escape the big city life and relax. Many of them are equipped with running water and a toilet. Something we strongly advise you to try yourselves – it’s really worth it, but don’t forget the sleeping bag! To make sure that the specific place is free on the chosen days, it is a good idea to book it beforehand.

The last thing we want to pay attention to is the love Danes have for everything made by Apples. Maybe over 70% of the people here have an iPhone, Macbook or iPad. Danes fall in love with expensive but quality products and tend to spend a lot of money (even if they don’t have at the moment) to get what they want. This can be an opportunity for the entrepeneur minds – after a while you might come up with an ingenious idea for a product or service! Don’t focus on the low price – look for originality and quality and you will succeed!