ASIANOVERLAND.NET RUSSIA SCANDINAVIA

DAY 3/227 1981 – AMSTERDAM TO  COPENHAGEN (DENMARK)

The drive today is about 800 kilometers from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, so Mark starts early, and we all sleep off our hangovers while we drive to Denmark.

The geographical region of Scandinavia is in northern Europe, and consists of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Finland and Iceland are at times, also considered part of Scandinavia. 

From the 8th to the 10th century the wider Scandinavian region was the source of Vikings. Vikings is the name given to seafaring pirates from southern Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden) who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe. They colonised, raided, and traded in all parts of Europe. The Danish Vikings were most active in the eastern and southern British Isles and Western Europe. They conquered and settled parts of England (known as the Danelaw) in 1013, and France where Danes and Norwegians founded Normandy with Rollo as head of state. 

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were ruled together under one sovereign ruler in the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523.  

The areas of Denmark and Norway remained under the same monarch until 1814, Denmark–Norway. Beginning in the 17th century, there were several devastating wars with the Swedish Empire, ending with large cessions of territory to Sweden. After the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to Sweden, while Denmark kept the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. 

The Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy, which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy. The government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nation's capital, largest city, and main commercial centre. 

After the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Denmark lost the Duchy of Schleswig to Prussia. Denmark remained neutral during World War I; however, in 1920 the northern half of Schleswig became Danish again. 

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