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 Peter Schmeichel Peter Schmeichel MBE, born 18 November 1963 in Gladsaxe, Denmark) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993. He experienced his most successful years playing for English club Manchester United, with whom he won the 1999 UEFA Champions League to complete The Treble. He was a key member of the Denmark national football team which won the 1992 European Championship (Euro 92) tournament. Schmeichel is famous for his intimidating physique (he wears an XXXL shirt and stands 6'4" tall) and his attacking threat. Throughout his career, Schmeichel scored 11 goals, a great feat for a keeper. He is the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games and one goal between 1987 and 2001. Apart from Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches. Recently selected: Jacob Riis – N. F. S. Grundtvig – Ole Rømer Archive – Read more... Selected picture The Copenhagen Opera House. The Copenhagen Opera House, the national opera house of Denmark. Photo credit: Thue Selected article The Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. The Viking Age followed the late Germanic Iron Age. During this period, the Vikings, Norse warriors and traders, raided and explored much of Europe, Southwest Asia, Northern Africa and Northeastern North America. As well from the exploration of Europe's oceans and rivers with their advanced knowledge of navigation and extending their trading routes across vast parts of the continent, they also engaged in war, looted and set slavery in many Christian communities of medieval Europe for centuries, contributing to the development of the feudal system in Europe, including the castles and barons (serving as defense against Viking raids). Norse society was based on agriculture and trade with other peoples and placed great emphasis on the concept of honour, both in combat and in the criminal justice system. It was, for example, unfair and wrong to attack an enemy already in a fight with another. Their language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Nordic languages (notably including Danish). Selected place Aggersborg is the largest of Denmark's former Viking ring castles, and one of the largest archaeological sites in Denmark. It is located near Aggersund on the north side of the Limfjord. It comprised a circular rampart surrounded by a ditch. Four main roads arranged in a cross connected the castle centre with the outer ring. The roads were tunnelled under the outer rampart, leaving the circular structure intact. The modern Aggersborg is a reconstruction created in the 1990s. It is lower than the original fortress. The ring castle had an inner diameter of 240 metres. The ditch was located eight meters outside the rampart, and was approximately 1.3 metres deep. The wall is believed to have been four metres tall. The rampart was constructed of soil and turf, reinforced and clad with oak wood. The rampart formed the basis for a wooden parapet. Smaller streets were located within the four main sections of the fortress. 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