A lesson in Denmark

I know that I come from a small country but I’ve had it with people who don’t know where Denmark is and if it’s even a country. So here’s a short lesson in Denmark:
Yes, Denmark is a country. It’s located in the Northern part of Europe in Scandinavia, which also include Norway and Sweden. But these countries aren’t the same country they are three different countries. So Denmark isn’t a city in Sweden nor is it a part of London. Nor are Danes the same as Dutch people. The Dutch are from Holland also known as the Netherlands and Danes are from Denmark. So no, I don’t wear wooden shoes, I don’t smoke pot every day and I don’t live in a windmill – that is all the Dutch!!!

Another thing. Some Americans seem to think that the names they use for European countries or cities are the same names used by the natives. Well they’re not. For example Americans call the Danish capital Copenhagen, when in fact its real name is København. Also Denmark's

real name is Danmark. If we go south Germany is in fact Deutchland and Munich is München. Just so you know.

One more thing that really aggravates me is other nationalities taking credit for Danish inventions. During my stay in the states I’ve been confronted with Norwegians, who took credit for Carlsberg – a Danish beer. Germans who took credit for frikadeller – a Danish type of meatball and

Americans who took credit for Lego.

Here’s a list of things, inventions, brands and persons that are Danish:
- Carlsberg and Tuborg
- Frikadeller
- Morten Andersen - The kicker that holds the record for most points in the NFL
- Lego

- Niels Bohr – The physicist who is partly responsible for the discovery of the atomic model

- The Muhammad drawings

- Hans Christian Andersen - The author who wrote The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Snow Queen and many other fairytales

- Bang & Olufsen
- Viggo Mortensen - The actor in Lord of the Rings, A History of Violence and Appaloosa (is part Danish)

- Vikings (no not the purple girls from Minnesota)
- Jørn Utzon – The architect that created Sydney Opera House.
- The speaker
- Aqua – The terrible band with the song “Barbie Girl” (the female singer is from Norway)

- Skype
- Lars Ulrich - The drummer in Metallica

And by the way the pastry called “Danish” is not Danish, you can’t buy those things in Denmark.