Once
the seat of Viking raiders and later a major north European power,
Denmark has evolved into a modern, prosperous nation that is
participating in the general political and economic integration of
Europe. It joined NATO in 1949 and the EEC (now the EU) in 1973.
However, the country has opted out of certain elements of the European
Union's Maastricht Treaty, including the European Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU), European defense cooperation, and issues concerning
certain justice and home affairs. Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an
Inuit dialect), and
German are
spoken.