It is a simple fact that, when England take on Denmark at Wembley in the Euros semi-finals from 8pm today, many neutrals will root for the Danes.

After watching talisman Christian Eriksen suffer a cardiac arrest during their first group game, the team have rebounded from horrific circumstances to bulldoze their way through to the semis, and with Eriksen alive and well they’re now the feelgood story of the championships.

But how much do you know about the country behind the headlines? Here are a few titbits you (probably) never knew about Denmark…

1. Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world

Often named “the happiest country in the world”, Denmark was pipped to the post by Finland in this year’s World Happiness Report, but it has repeatedly topped the podium since the report began in 2012 and almost never drops out of the top three.

It’s just a really nice place. Go figure.

2. Denmark does not contain any mountains

As level in geography as it is in temperament, Denmark’s average elevation only just beats that of the famously low-lying Netherlands, and at 171 metres, highest point Møllehøj is by most metrics barely even a hill.

This partly comes courtesy of Denmark’s coastal location. An archipelago comprising nearly 450 islands, nowhere in the country is more than half an hour’s drive from the sea.

3. There are more than twice as many bikes as cars

Cycling culture underlines the Danish day-to-day, with cycle routes and superhighways round almost every corner, and the average Dane cycles 1.6 kilometres per day.  While 9 out of every 10 citizens owns a bike, only 4 in 10 own a car. We can’t help but think the abject lack of hills has probably helped.

4. Denmark has the oldest flag in the world

Or at least the oldest, continuously used national flag. The Dannebrog, as the white-cross-on-red-background is known, was first adopted as early as 1219, and was officially designated the national flag in 1625.

Some commentators suggest that the Scottish Saltire is the true owner of this crown, but vexillologists, who study flags, have cast doubt both on whether it’s older, and whether its use was continuous. Don’t take our word for it, ask the Guinness World Records.

5. Denmark gave the world LEGO

The name ‘LEGO’ comes from the Danish words ‘leg godt’, which means ‘play well’, and the brand was founded in 1932 by small-town carpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen. Initially making wooden toys, Kristiansen expanded into plastic toys in the late 1940s, including interlocking blocks sold as “Automatic Binding Bricks”.

Fast forward half a century or so, and the total number of LEGO bricks sold annually could encircle the globe five times over. The company still commands its empire of toys, movies and theme parks from its HQ in Billund, Denmark.

6. Danish has no word for please

Try not to feel offended if an English-speaking Dane fails to mind their Ps and Qs. There is no word for ‘please’ in the Danish language, so Danish people often forget to include it when speaking in other tongues.

7. Denmark inspired Disneyland

Founded way back in 1843, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen has a legacy that goes far beyond Denmark’s borders. The amusement park received multiple visits from a young Walt Disney, impressing him with its carnival atmosphere during the late 1940s and early 1950s – and he made no secret of his admiration for Tivoli when Disneyland debuted in California in 1955.

Tivoli is not Denmark’s oldest amusement park though. That honour (and the Guinness World Record for the oldest amusement park in operation anywhere) goes to Bakken, which opened as a medieval pleasure garden in 1583 and has a wooden roller coaster built in 1932.

8. Danish pastries are not actually Danish

They’re Austrian, first made in Denmark by Austrian bakers in the 1840s, and are known locally as ‘Vienna bread’. But they became so popular in Denmark that the association stuck, and even in Austria they’re now called Kopenhagener plunder, referring to Danish capital Copenhagen.