Denmark vs Norway

Why people mix them up

Denmark and Norway were united under the same crown for centuries, until 1814, and written Norwegian and Danish remain very similar. Both flags are red with a Nordic cross, both currencies are called the krone, and both countries are Scandinavian kingdoms facing each other across the Skagerrak strait. People also often wonder which is bigger, especially because the Kingdom of Denmark includes Greenland.

How to tell them apart

• Denmark's flag is a plain white cross on red; Norway's adds a blue cross inside the white one.
• Denmark is low and flat, made of the Jutland peninsula and hundreds of islands; Norway is mountainous, with long fjords.
• Denmark's only land border is with Germany; Norway borders Sweden, Finland and Russia.
• Denmark is in the European Union; Norway is not.
• The capitals are Copenhagen (Denmark) and Oslo (Norway). Copenhagen is on the island of Zealand, facing Sweden across the Øresund.
• Mainland Norway is far larger than Denmark proper, which covers only about 43,000 km²; Greenland and the Faroe Islands are self-governing parts of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Memory hook

Denmark's flag is the original, simple Dannebrog; Norway took it and added blue. Denmark is the Doorstep below, Norway the North above.

On the map

Find Germany's northern coast. The small peninsula pointing north from it, plus the cluster of islands to its east, is Denmark. Cross the Skagerrak strait northward and the long mountainous country running up the Atlantic coast to the Arctic is Norway. If the country you are tapping is attached to Germany, it is Denmark.