Denmark is geographically the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries which includes Norway and Sweden. Its land mass includes Jutland, a peninsula extending north from Germany, and more than 480 islands. Denmark consists of 16,630 square miles (43,094 sq. km.). With the exception of its 42-mile southern border with Germany, Denmark is surrounded by water. Sweden lies to the east across the Øresund, a narrow body of water that links the North and Baltic Seas; Norway lies to the north; and the North Sea to the west. Denmark has nearly 4,500 miles of coastline, and no part of the nation is more than 30 miles from the sea. Denmark also possesses Greenland, the world's largest island, and the Faeroe Islands, both of which are semiautonomous. Denmark means "field of the Danes."

The Danish national flag, the oldest national banner in the world, is a white cross on a red field. Legend has it that the banner, called Dannebrog, descended from the heavens in the midst of a battle between the Danes and the Estonians on June 15, 1219.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century Denmark pursued a policy of neutrality in international affairs. While this policy enabled the country to remain a non-belligerent in World War I (1914-1918), it did not prevent a German occupation during much of World War II (1939-1945). It was during this occupation that the Danish people won the admiration of much of the world by rescuing 7,200 of some 7,800 Danish Jews from Nazi forces in 1943. After World War II, Denmark moved away from neutrality, and in 1949, it joined with the United States, Canada, and nine other European nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a pact aimed at containing the expansion of the Soviet Union. In 1973 Denmark became the first and thus far the only Scandinavian country to join the European Economic Community (EEC). 

The twentieth century also witnessed great economic and social change. Danish agriculture became more specialized and moved toward increased exports while industrial development transformed most urban areas. Denmark gradually became a prosperous nation, and with the development of a welfare system which provides education, health care, and social security from cradle to grave, its citizens now enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world. Since 1972, Queen Margrethe II has presided over this small, peaceful, and civilized land whose character is best symbolized by its most famous author, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), a writer of fairy tales with profound psychological depths, and by one of its modern exports— the small, colorful plastic bricks called Lego.

For more information, read about the culture, language, and heritage of this fascinating country