Denmark

Denmark emerged in the Viking Age, when Danish seafarers raided and settled across Europe, even conquering England for a time. In the tenth century King Harald Bluetooth united the country and brought it to Christianity, an achievement recorded on the great runestones at Jelling, often called the birth certificate of Denmark. Through the Middle Ages and beyond it was a major Baltic power, at times ruling Norway and Sweden, before gradually losing territory and, in 1849, becoming a constitutional monarchy.

Denmark is low and flat, its highest points mere gentle hills, a green patchwork of farmland, woods, and coast. It consists of the Jutland peninsula and an archipelago of more than four hundred islands, the largest holding the capital, Copenhagen. No part of the country lies far from the sea, and its long, indented coastline has shaped a seafaring history. The kingdom also includes two far larger but sparsely peopled self-governing territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The flag of Denmark, the Dannebrog, is a red field with a white Scandinavian cross, and it holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously used national flag in the world, in use for some seven centuries. A cherished legend holds that it fell from the sky during a battle in 1219, giving the Danes victory. The off-centre cross became the model for the flags of all the other Nordic countries.

Denmark is historically a Lutheran country, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church remains the established national church to which most Danes nominally belong. In practice, however, Denmark is among the most secular societies in the world, with low rates of regular worship and many people describing themselves as non-religious, even as Lutheran traditions remain woven into the national culture and calendar. The country has a long tradition of religious tolerance.

Danish cuisine is hearty and refined in equal measure. A national icon is smorrebrod, an open-faced sandwich on dense rye bread elaborately topped with fish, meat, or other delicacies. Pork and fish, especially herring, are staples, and the Danes are famous for their pastries, known elsewhere simply as Danish. In recent years Copenhagen has become a world capital of fine dining, the birthplace of the influential New Nordic cuisine movement.

Despite its small size, Denmark is a major agricultural producer and exporter, with a large share of its land under cultivation. The country is especially renowned for pork, of which it is one of the world's leading exporters, along with dairy products. Highly efficient, cooperative farming, developed over more than a century, turned Denmark into an agricultural powerhouse, supplying food far beyond its borders and supporting a strong food-processing industry.

The Viking Age, in which Danes shaped the history of northern Europe, and the unification and Christianisation recorded at Jelling, are foundations of the national story. Denmark's transition to constitutional monarchy in 1849 set it on a democratic path. In the twentieth century, after occupation during the Second World War, it built one of the world's most comprehensive welfare states, becoming a byword for social trust, equality, and the cosy contentment Danes call hygge.

Denmark has a population of around 5.9 million people, the great majority ethnic Danes, sharing a strong sense of national identity and one of the highest standards of living in the world. The population is concentrated on the islands and the eastern side of Jutland, above all in and around the capital, Copenhagen, a city famous for its design, cycling culture, and quality of life. Immigration has made Danish society somewhat more diverse in recent decades.