Norwegian Flag

Danes have affection for Norwegians but not so for the French

A new Danish government survey has shown that when it comes to foreigners, the Danes like Norwegians the most and French the least.

On 17 May, Norwegians across the globe raised a glass to their Constitution Day, the date they got their independence from Denmark back in 1814. And although the history of colonisation is there, Danes appear to have a soft spot for their Scandinavian brothers, or ‘fjeld aber’ (mountain monkeys) as they affectionately call them.

The survey revealed that 19 per cent of those quizzed preferred Norwegians to any other nationalities, followed by Germans and Swedes on 13 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. The top five was completed by the English and Americans (eight per cent and seven per cent).

Aarhus University historian Thorsten Olesen noted that Norwegians and Danes’ culture was very similar and both sets of people were easy to get close to.

Meanwhile, when it comes to nationalities Danes are not too fond of, look no further than the French. Some 17 per cent picked the French when asked who it was they liked the least. The top five was made up by Americans, Germans Greenlanders and Swedes. Two per cent of people chose Norwegians.

When looking deeper into the responses, it was found that it was Danish men who seemed to have disdain for the French, while women came across as more positive towards them. Olesen noted that was most likely because the women had “a thing for south European men”.