Writing System
Danish alphabet
Contains 29 letters
Language Speakers
6 million
90% native speakers
Difficulty Level
Medium
Moderate effort required
Danish Info Card
- Danish is spoken by around six million people, principally in Denmark and in the region of Southern Schleswig in northern Germany.
- There are also minor Danish-speaking communities in Norway, Sweden, Spain, and the United States.
- Danish has a very large vowel inventory comprising 27 phonemically distinctive vowels.
- Denmark is an archipelago made up of over 100 islands, some of which are not even inhabited.
- The Danish monarchy is the oldest continuing monarchy in the world and has existed for over 1,000 years.
- Denmark is reported to be the happiest country in the world.
- As of 2013, Denmark has 14 Nobel laureates, mainly in literature (4) and physiology/medicine (5). With its relatively small population, this is one of the highest numbers of Nobel laureates per capita in the world.
- Denmark is considered the “least corrupt” country in the world.
- Practically all Danes know how to swim, and swimming lessons are part of the compulsory curriculum in all state schools.