For students seeking to study in a nation that merges the historic with the modern, the European with the Scandinavian, and the natural with the metropolitan, they need look no further than Denmark.

Located on a peninsula of Northern Europe, surrounded by the North and Baltic Seas and composed of 443 islands, Denmark is the smallest of the Nordic countries. Its close proximity to Northern Europe makes it a great destination for students anxious to explore the rest of Europe, and though many study abroad students enthusiastically tackle the Danish language, study abroad programs most often offer courses in English. The Danes themselves also have a high English proficiency. 

Denmark has invested heavily in its higher education system, characterized by active study environments, high academic standards, project-based activities and interdisciplinary studies. Many students will find themselves studying in Copenhagen, the country's dynamic capital and home to Denmark's International Study Program (DIS) at the University of Copenhagen. The University of Copenhagen was founded in 1479 and is currently the largest research and education university in Denmark. In addition to the University of Copenhagen's 33,000 students, Copenhagen is home to a number of other universities and colleges, making it an ideal study abroad destination.

Copenhagen itself lures many study abroad students each year with its superb art collections, national museums and music festivals. Students have the opportunity to admire the gardens of Tivoli Park, the Little Mermaid statue inspired by Danish-born Hans Christian Anderson and the nearby Frederiksborg Castle often referred to as the Danish Versailles. Kronborg Castle, dramatized as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet, is also close by. 

Home to the parliament, government offices, Denmark's central bank, a variety of international and Danish companies, the national media, the national research hospital, and a number of European Union agencies, Copenhagen offers opportunities for students to gain first-hand experience in numerous fields. The largest city in Denmark, Copenhagen is easy to navigate with a convenient public transportation system and prominent church steeples which serve as easy landmarks. Many of the city's primary attractions are within walking distance though the bicycle is also a common means of transportation.

Denmark is governed by a parliamentary democracy, characterized largely by compromise and consensus, a dynamic necessitated by the large number of political parties and the frequent participatory opportunities afforded to Danish citizens. In the midst of this modern system, however, Denmark is able to integrate its past and boasts the world's oldest existing monarchy. 

The country has a free market economy, universal health care, and a social welfare system that produces limited social inequality and yields low poverty and crime rates. A member of both the European Union and NATO, Denmark is heavily involved in peacekeeping and development programs worldwide. With competitive private industry, excellent research, a sophisticated service sector, and quality agricultural exports, Denmark has the third largest per capita income in Europe. In addition, it strongly advocates environmental protection and is the world's largest producer of power-generating windmills.

Though Shakespeare's famous phrase remarks, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", students studying abroad there return to the U.S. raving about their experience and the Danes' "hyggelig" culture. Pronounced hew-ger-li, this Danish idiom loosely translates as an amalgamation of comfortable, friendly, cozy, warm and nice and is the foundation of Danish mentality.

Resources

Government of Denmark: http://www.denmark.dk
Embassy of Denmark, Washington: http://www.ambwashington.um.dk/en
Cirius - Study in Denmark: http://www.studyindenmark.dk/
University of Copenhagen: http://www.ku.dk/english/
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program: http://www.iie.org/gilman
National Security Education Program: http://www.iie.org/NSEP