Danes and Denmark
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Danes are people who live in Denmark, a small country positioned between Germany and Sweden.
There are about 5.2 million Danes in Denmark, and they all have a strong feeling that everybody else would love to be Danish.
The country is mainly flat, and so are the people.
Danes are both proud to be danes and sick of other Danes being Danes. In Denmark, your own succes is not as important as your neighbours downfall. Thats called the law of Jante - the only law of any matter in Denmark, and the law making it illegal for anyone to stand out. For instance, if a person has succes in Denmark, people would say to eachother that he or she must be cheating or stupid or slept his or her way to the top. Things like hard work and talent aren't considered. In Denmark, everybody should be on the same boring level, thats the way Danes like it.
Denmark used to be a major power in Europe. Back in the old days, danish vikings conqured, raped and burned their way through all of Scandinavia and most of the wesern coast of Europe. The even managed to rule England for some time, something the english have struggled to manage ever since.
These days, being danish is mostly based around a sad bunch of losers on a football-field and saying no to everything in the European Comunity. Denmark is a part time member of the union, and everytime someone french or german makes a suggestion, the danes say no - firmly believing, that no-one else will get the train rolling in Europe without Denmark on board.
The best known danes are the queen Margrethe II, who's the tallest person ever to head the country and otherwise famous for her smoking-habits. She, naturally, smokes the danish brand Prince.
Other famous danes include Peter Schmeichel; a goalkeeper who used to be good, Hans Christian Andersen; a poet who put a note in his diary for each time he performed the old Han Solo, and the little mermaid at Langelinie Pier in Copenhagen, a VERY small statue that loses its head every twenty years or so.
There are about 5.2 million Danes in Denmark, and they all have a strong feeling that everybody else would love to be Danish.
The country is mainly flat, and so are the people.
Danes are both proud to be danes and sick of other Danes being Danes. In Denmark, your own succes is not as important as your neighbours downfall. Thats called the law of Jante - the only law of any matter in Denmark, and the law making it illegal for anyone to stand out. For instance, if a person has succes in Denmark, people would say to eachother that he or she must be cheating or stupid or slept his or her way to the top. Things like hard work and talent aren't considered. In Denmark, everybody should be on the same boring level, thats the way Danes like it.
Denmark used to be a major power in Europe. Back in the old days, danish vikings conqured, raped and burned their way through all of Scandinavia and most of the wesern coast of Europe. The even managed to rule England for some time, something the english have struggled to manage ever since.
These days, being danish is mostly based around a sad bunch of losers on a football-field and saying no to everything in the European Comunity. Denmark is a part time member of the union, and everytime someone french or german makes a suggestion, the danes say no - firmly believing, that no-one else will get the train rolling in Europe without Denmark on board.
The best known danes are the queen Margrethe II, who's the tallest person ever to head the country and otherwise famous for her smoking-habits. She, naturally, smokes the danish brand Prince.
Other famous danes include Peter Schmeichel; a goalkeeper who used to be good, Hans Christian Andersen; a poet who put a note in his diary for each time he performed the old Han Solo, and the little mermaid at Langelinie Pier in Copenhagen, a VERY small statue that loses its head every twenty years or so.
