The Berkeley Guides:
Berkeley Guide to Europe:
Denmark:
Background Information for
Denmark
By Jamie Davidson
Perched inconspicuously between the rest of Scandinavia and the Continent, with five million people spread among 500 islands, Denmark is a tiny but vital country with one of the friendliest populations in the world. Although most people know little about Denmark (other than pastries and Vikings), Danes certainly exhibit no resentment or inferiority complex. In fact, Danes cherish their relative anonymity among loud, obnoxious, and uncouth foreign tourists--it keeps their country hyggeligt (pronounced hoog-ly), which means something like "small and cozy" and has to do with such simple pleasures as drinking and chatting with lifelong friends. Still, the Danes have a distinct affinity for the English-speaking world, and it shows up in everything from their impeccable command of English to their music, fashion, and movie preferences.
In a country where everyone is as white as snow (except for the southeast European and Middle Eastern workers), the unwitting person of color may feel spectacularly out of place. But the truth is that many Danes fervently share the liberal attitudes--toward everything from sex to parliament--that Scandinavians seem to foster in general. Though you might fall prey to the occasional wide-eyed or cautious stare, keep in mind that these are the same laid-back people who recently elected a popular comedian to high office; his platform consisted of promises for better weather, more Christmas presents, and a perpetual tail wind on the bike trails. You can call them alternative, or perhaps just naive, but Danes are nothing if not open-minded.
That everyone must be heard is Denmark's golden rule, and it's embodied most strongly in the country's economic policies. One-third of its GNP goes to social services, and the generous unemployment benefits, collected by about 12% of the population, ensure that you'll see very few down-and-out Danes. The social-welfare system is also responsible for the country's strict labor regulations; with a 38-hour work week and five weeks of paid vacation per year, the Danes seem to wallow in free time.
Thanks to their wealth of leisure time, Danes can concentrate on the really important things in life--like soccer. In Denmark, people follow soccer scores as if they were a matter of life and death: When Denmark's soccer team won the European Cup in 1992, the streets of Copenhagen were more crowded than they had been on the day Denmark was liberated from the Germans during World War II.
Still, the state of their nation is of utmost importance to Danes, and the zealous debate over what's best for Denmark seems never-ending. When Great Britain joined the European Union (then the EC) in 1973, Denmark followed suit, in hopes of stimulating its agricultural and industrial exports. Almost 20 years later, though, the country sent the EU into a panic, with 50.7% of its voting public rejecting union with Europe. However, in the following year, 57% of Denmark's voters turned the country around and approved an amended treaty, rejoining the EU. Currently, Denmark is a member of the U.N., NATO, Nordic Council, and the EU, but the future shape and content of that list remains to be determined by the next referendum, due to be held any day now.
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