FanPost

Fun Facts on Denmark

Now that the Islanders are a multi-Dane team, I thought I’d offer up some ‘fun facts’ and other thoughts on Denmark and the Danes to set the mood for the Bruins game:

When it comes to sport, the cream of the Danish crop are inevitably playmakers/defense-oriented players. Thanks to the Jante Law, players and fans seem to have more respect for a good setup than a good finish. These mind-blowing Michael Laudrup passes must have made quite an impression on the young Frans Nielsen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oXH8F-MGpU

Caroline Wozniacki is another well-known Danish athlete who feels more comfortable in a defensive posture. Woz may have taken her defense a little too far in the last couple of years, but, as with Frans, that doesn’t mean the skills aren’t there. I challenge anyone to watch this clip from Wozniacki’s first meeting with Serena Williams, in 2009, and tell me she doesn’t have what it takes to win a grand slam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex6hj7slkW4

The flag of Denmark, Dannebrog, is the oldest state flag still in use by an independent nation. It was adopted in 1219.

In recent years, Denmark has been ranked the world’s most democratic nation, as well the world’s least corrupt nation, and the Danes always seem to finish first in the ‘World’s Happiest People’ rankings: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/denmark-happiest-country_n_4070761.html

When Denmark won the European Cup in 1992 after facing France, Holland and Germany (in the final), the crowd that gathered in the middle of town to celebrate was actually larger in size than the one that celebrated Denmark’s liberation from the Nazi occupation.

Denmark became the first nation to legalize pornography in, of all years, 1969.

The Danes have the lowest income inequality in the world, and one of the highest V.A.T. rates, at 25%.

Danish parents get 52 weeks of paid maternity leave. The mother is entitled to 4 weeks prior to giving birth, and 14 weeks afterwards; the father gets 2 weeks in connection with the birth. The remaining 32 weeks are divided between the parents as they sit fit.

A pancake nation, Denmark’s highest point is a modest 170 meters above sea level, and they only achieved that with the help of a few telephone books.

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