Portal:Denmark

Welcome to the Denmark Portal! Velkommen til Danmarksportalen! Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Unified in the 10th century, it is also the oldest. Located north of its only land neighbour, Germany, south-west of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is located in northern Europe. From a cultural point of view, Denmark belongs to the family of Scandinavian countries although it is not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The national capital is Copenhagen. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland, which borders Schleswig-Holstein; many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Vendsyssel-Thy, Lolland, and Bornholm; and hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark has historically controlled the approach to the Baltic Sea, and those waters are also known as the Danish straits. Denmark has been a constitutional monarchy since 1849 and is a parliamentary democracy. It became a member of the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973. The Kingdom of Denmark also encompasses two off-shore territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, both of which enjoy wide-ranging home rule. The Danish monarchy is the oldest existing monarchy in Europe, and the national flag is the oldest state flag in continuous use. Selected biography Bjørn Lomborg. Bjørn Lomborg (born January 6, 1965) is a Danish political scientist and former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in Copenhagen. He is most known for his best-selling book The Skeptical Environmentalist, its controversial claims, and the allegations of scientific dishonesty that followed it. He is now an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School. Lomborg is also a vegetarian (although he is not a supporter of animal rights), and known to wear jeans to formal business meetings. According to an interview published in 2005 by the San Francisco Examiner, the book he would most liked to have written is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Society, by Jared Diamond. Bjørn Lomborg spent one year as an undergraduate at the University of Georgia, earned a Master's in political science at the University of Aarhus in 1991, and earned a Ph.D. at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, 1994. Recently selected: Tycho Brahe - Ludvig Holberg - Karen Blixen Archive – Read more... Selected picture The Danish Royal Family waving to crowds on the Queen's 70th birthday in April 2010 Photo credit: Bill Ebbesen Selected article Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark was commenced by Operation Weserübung 9 April 1940, and lasted until the German forces withdrew at the end of World War II following their surrender to Allied forces on 5 May 1945. Contrary to the situation in other countries under German occupations during the war, most Danish institutions continued to function relatively unaffected until 1943. The Danish government remained in the country in an uneasy relationship between a democratic and a totalitarian system until German authorities dissolved the government following a wave of strikes and sabotage. The occupation of Denmark was never an important objective for the German government. The decision to occupy its small northern neighbour was made to facilitate the invasion of the strategically more important Norway; and as a means against the expected British campaign in Norway. German military planners believed that a base in the northern part of Jutland, most importantly the airfield of Aalborg, would be essential to the invasion of Norway, and they began planning the occupation of parts of Denmark, but as late as February 1940, the decision to occupy Denmark had not yet been made. The issue was finally settled when Hitler personally crossed out the words die Nordspitze Jütlands (the Northern tip of Jutland) and replaced them with Dä, a German abbreviation for Denmark. Selected place Freetown Christiania, is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood and Anarchist community of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares (85 acres) in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989 which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state. The rules forbid stealing, violence, guns, knives, bulletproof vests, hard drugs and bikers' colors. Famous for its main drag, known as Pusher Street, where hash and skunk weed were sold openly from permanent stands until 2004, it nevertheless does have rules forbidding 'hard drugs', such as cocaine, amphetamine, ecstasy and heroin. The region negotiated an arrangement with the Danish defence ministry (which still owns the land) in 1995. Since 1994, residents have paid taxes and fees for water, electricity, trash disposal, etc. The future of the area remains in doubt, though, as Danish authorities push for its removal. Categories Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories Denmark Denmark-related lists Buildings and structures in Denmark Culture of Denmark Economy of Denmark Education in Denmark Environment of Denmark Geography of Denmark Government of Denmark Health in Denmark History of Denmark Images of Denmark Organizations based in Denmark Danish people Politics of Denmark Society of Denmark Denmark stubs Denmark topics Things you can do TASKS Expand stubs: Geography stubs · People stubs · Denmark stubs in general Help us extend these stubs and make them real articles! Categorize: Help us categorize Denmark-related articles WikiProjects: Have a look at WikiProject Denmark, WikiProject Faroe Islands, WikiProject Greenland and WikiProject Norse history and culture Noticeboard: Have a look at the Danish Wikipedians' notice board Geotag: Find coordinates for these locations and tag them: articles missing geocoordinate data Related portals Northern Europe Other countries Associated WikiMedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikispecies Directory of species Wikiversity Free learning tools Wikivoyage Free travel guide Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus