Denmark: a small country?
The total surface area covers 42,924 km2, roughly equivalent to France's Centre-Val de Loire region, making it Scandinavia's smallest state. However, when the Faroe Islands and Greenland are included, the total area approaches 2,210,579 km2. A small country becomes a giant, but with a population of just 5.8 million. With 68 kilometers of land border with Germany and 7,314 km of coastline, Denmark is essentially a maritime country, and there's not a point that lies more than 52 km from the coast! It's true that nothing seems out of proportion, not even the rivers that carve out its gentle relief: the Gudenå, its longest river, is no more than 158 km long.
With little relief, the landscape is varied and sometimes unusual, alternating between farmland (around Femo, an island north of Lolland) and woodland (Gribskov forest, North Seeland), sandy coasts (Skagen, North Jutland or Hvide Sande, West Jutland) and rocky coasts (Bornholm island, Sanctuary Cliffs or Opalsøen, where crenellated granite quarries are reflected in the waters of the lake below), fjords (Veststadil, Jutland) and sumptuous cliffs (Vendsyssel-Thy, North Sea), chalky and vertiginous (island of Møn in southern Seeland) reaching heights of over 100 m. There are also sandy landscapes in the heart of Jutland, notably on the moors near Billund. To the south-west, you'll find polders, both natural and man-made, created by the tides and the subsidence of the land.
If you associate monotony with the Danish landscape, think again! You're in for a real treat!
A geographical specificity: flat and coastal
A patient interplay of time has structured its geology. The soils, mainly composed of sedimentary rock, were formed during the Secondary Era (with the exception of Bornholm, which is composed of granite). Chalk and limestone were then covered by clay and sand during the Tertiary era. But it was the Quaternary era that most profoundly changed the Danish landscape. The melting of continental glaciers generated powerful water currents that shaped vast valleys crossing Jutland from east to west. The resulting rock debris formed a morainic blanket over the sedimentary subsoil, forming a ridge of earth over which peat bogs have formed, drained and cultivated by man over the centuries. In the same way, the coastline has never ceased to evolve, modified by erosion and silting.
Since Neolithic times, human activity has taken over from natural phenomena, radically shaping the landscape. Deforestation, land cultivation and settlement have profoundly altered the landscape. Today, two-thirds of the country is farmed and 12% is forested. Eastern Denmark is characterized by its plains and morainic hills, which are highly fertile and therefore mainly occupied by vast cultivated fields. In the west, new irrigation techniques and the construction of windbreaks have encouraged the emergence of equally intensive cultivation in this previously unspoilt region. Softwoods are generally planted here, as they thrive in the less fertile soil. The south-west, a region of marshy plains and polders (drained marshes), is even more marked by human intervention, since dykes had to be built to contain the frequent flooding from the surrounding seas.
And if the 19th century and growing industry sadly led to the emergence of vast cooperatives on the Jutland moors, today the protection of the natural heritage is a real issue for which ecology and politics have succeeded in coming to terms in order to open up a new era, that of organic farming and sustainable development.
Who, what, where? Or how to find your way from one region to another
Jutland is the peninsula, i.e. the continental part of Denmark. It is the Jutes, a Germanic people of the North Sea, who are largely established in the south of the country, who have left their name to these lands bathed in the west by the North Sea, northwest by the Skagerrak, northeast by the Kattegat and east by the Little Belt, a strait that connects the Kattegat to the Baltic Sea. It is from the south that this 368 km long piece of land clings to Europe, with the border with Germany as its territorial limit. Its administrative capital is Aarhus, an important port city located in the eastern part.
Fiona is the third largest island in the country. Almost 3,000m2 in area and a highest point at 130 m, Frøbjerg Bavnehøj. It is located between South Jutland and the main island of Seeland, where Copenhagen has developed, from which it is separated by the Little Belt shipping channel. Two famous bridges, the Old Bridge (a truss bridge 1929-1935) and the New Bridge (a suspension bridge 1965-1970) connect it to the mainland. Its capital, Odense, is well known as the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, who has lulled us to sleep with his fairy tales.
Seeland is the largest of the Danish islands and the most populated: 7,000 km2 and over 2 million inhabitants. Facing Sweden, it controls the Øresund strait which can be crossed by boat, by rail through the tunnel under the sea of Drogden or by road thanks to the cable-stayed bridge (built in 1995-1999) which is now part of the landscape! The island is crossed by one of the largest motorways in Scandinavia, the European road E47, which links Hamburg to Copenhagen.
The Faroe Islands or Føroyar. An archipelago of 18 islands (about 1,400 km²) in the North Atlantic Ocean. This province, autonomous since 1948, has its own government which manages its affairs except for defense. In these lands, there are no trees or vegetation. The reason: a powerful wind that blows all year round. On the other hand, the waters of the archipelago, very rich in fish, benefit from the passage of the warm marine current, the famous Gulf Stream. There are about 50,000 inhabitants... for a hundred thousand sheep!
Greenland, "the green earth", is a huge island of 2 million km2, located in the Atlantic Ocean in North America. The ice cover covers 95% of the territory and the climatic conditions are extreme. Of the 56,000 inhabitants, a third of whom are concentrated around the capital Nuuk, located in the southwest of the island, 80% are Inuit and 14.5% are Danes. Long disdained, it is now interesting for its natural heritage and for another reason, which could have heavy consequences: oil! The Americans estimate that its reserves would represent half of those of Saudi Arabia..
Nature in its raw state!
The need to preserve certain unique landscapes led Unesco to set up a World Heritage Convention involving various countries, with the aim of encouraging them to become more aware of the beauty of their environment. As a result, four exceptional sites have been listed in Denmark.
A sea of sand and mud: the Wadden Sea
This absolutely unique national park is considered the world's largest system of its kind: tidal mudflats and sandbanks stretching 450 km from Helder in the Netherlands to Esbjerg in Denmark, via Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, covering an area of around 10,000 km2. As well as being a World Heritage Site, the Wadden Sea is also classified as a Biosphere Reserve. Wadden means foreshore, i.e. the sandy area between the two tide levels (high and low).
It benefits from variable salinity, light, oxygen and temperature, resulting in a rich ecosystem. A multitude of transitional habitats can be found here: tidal channels, sandbanks, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, mussel beds, sandbars, mudflats, lagoons, estuaries, beaches and dunes. Numerous animal and plant species have made this their home, including harbor seals, gray seals and harbor porpoises. Natural processes continue almost undisturbed, so why not take advantage of this rarity... but be respectful and discreet!
A Meteorite and the End of the Dinosaurs: Stevns Klint
The Stevns Klint geological site is located on the island of Seeland, southwest of Store Heddinge. This 15 km-long coastline is punctuated by immaculately white fossiliferous cliffs. Its reputation is worldwide, and for good reason! This is one of the most striking testimonies to the consequences of a meteorite falling on our planet. "So what?" you may ask!
The event in question occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period, some 65 million years ago. To be precise, at Chicxulub, in Mexico's Yucatán region. Scientists generally consider that the impact of this meteorite was responsible for a large-scale mass extinction, that of the dinosaurs and over 50% of life on Earth. Here in Denmark, traces of the ash cloud thrown up into space after the meteorite collided with the earth are still visible. The 180 km diameter crater (in Mexico) is a reminder of the explosive power several thousand times greater than... that of Hiroshima! Today, the landscape seems so peaceful..
Odsherred: a global geopark
Just a few hundred kilometers from Copenhagen lies the first global geopark created by Unesco. What is a geopark? A geopark is an area of geological heritage of international importance, whose main mission is to help understand natural hazards and the consequences of climate change, and to improve the dynamics of nature protection, while maintaining local human activity.
Odsherred covers an area of 355 km², consisting mainly of 160 km of coastline and valleys, glacial structures formed during the last Vistulian glaciation, the equivalent of Würm, 17,000 years ago. The best-known of the 21 sites throughout the area are the three moraines known as the Odsherred Arches, a classic geomorphological example of glacial relief, rather rare in Europe. Great walks ahead!
Between nature and culture, the hunting landscape of North Zeeland
Courtship hunting, also known as "chasse de force", was a royal pleasure, which led to the specific development of certain forests and grounds to meet the needs of packs and practitioners of courtly hunting. Here, nature is shaped by man: bridle paths, byways, markers, fences and hunting lodges. An orthogonal grid, starting from a star-shaped center, which gave rise to the Baroque landscape of the 17th and 18th centuries.
You're 30 kilometers north of Copenhagen in three main areas: Magasin Dyrehave, Gribskov and Jaegersborg Dyrehave-Jægersborg Hegn. Its layout, which combines French and German models, optimized its function during the hunt while testifying to the power of the absolute monarchy, its role in society, its reason and its power through the control of nature. A pleasant walk in the forest, complemented by a visit to the Danish Hunting and Forestry Museum in Hørsholm.
