Mug Shot — «Denmark - Cycling»

Country: Denmark Edition: 2008 Icon Edition Belongs to: 495 users (25 trading, 179 seeking)

Denmark is a sovereign state in Northern Europe, with two additional overseas constituent countries also forming integral parts of the kingdom; the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Continental Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden, with which it is connected by the Øresund Bridge, and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland, and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy organised in the form of a parliamentary democracy, with its seat of government in the capital city of Copenhagen. The kingdom is unitary, with powers to manage internal affairs being devolved from the central government to Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power reside. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination. One of the results of this arrangement is that Denmark became a member of the European Union in 1973, but both Greenland and the Faroe Islands have opted to remain outside the EU. Originally the home of the Vikings, Norse seafaring explorers who invaded and settled in many parts of Europe and Russia, Denmark emerged as a unified kingdom in the Middle Ages. Denmark's later history has particularly been influenced by its geographical location between the North and Baltic seas. This meant that it was between Sweden and Germany and thus at the center of the mutual struggle for control of the Baltic Sea; before the digging of the Kiel Canal, water passage to the Baltic Sea was possible only through the three channels known as the Danish straits. Denmark obtained Greenland and the Faroe Islands in 1814 after the dissolution of a personal union with Norway, although the Danish monarchy, which had ruled over both Norway and Denmark, had been in possession of the colonies since the fourteenth century. A founding member of the United Nations, NATO and the OECD, Denmark is also a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. With a highly developed mixed market economy and a large welfare state, Denmark ranks as having the world's highest level of income equality, and has one of the world's highest per capita income. It has frequently ranked as the happiest and least corrupt country in the world. The national language, Danish, is closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, with which it shares strong cultural and historical ties. Denmark, along with Sweden and Norway, is part of the cultural region known as Scandinavia and is also a member of the Nordic Council.

Front: Cycling in Denmark is both a common and popular recreational and utilitarian activity. Bicycling infrastructure is a dominant feature of both city and countryside infrastructure with segregated dedicated bicycle paths and lanes in many places and an extensive network of bicycle routes extending more than 12,000 kilometres nationwide. Often bicycling and bicycle-culture in Denmark is compared to the Netherlands as a bicycle-nation.

Back: Møns Klint - is a striking landmark and tourist attraction along the eastern coast of the Danish island of Møn in the Baltic Sea. The bright chalk cliffs stretch some 6 km from the park of Liselund in the north to the lighthouse in the south. Some of the cliffs fall a sheer 120 m to the sea below. The area around Møns Klint consists of woodlands, pastures, ponds and steep hills, including Aborrebjerg which, with a height of 143 m, is one of the highest points in Denmark. The cliffs and adjacent park are now protected as a nature reserve. Møns Klint is popular with tourists from across Europe with some 250,000 visitors a year. There are clearly marked paths for walkers, riders and cyclists. The path along the cliff tops provides impressive views and leads to steps down to the shore in several locations.

edited by argicgr and mobydick74
photo by lucky robles

  Denmark, MIC, MIT, MIC/MIT

Karma: 13 Added by argicgr 12 Comments