Map of Denmark | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide19891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023 | More stats

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Background: Once the seat of rapacious Viking raiders and later a major power in northwestern Europe, Denmark has evolved into a modern, prosperous nation that is participating in the political and economic integration of Europe.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area

Land boundaries: 68 km with FRG

Coastline: 3,379 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 4 nm
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Climate: temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

Elevation

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone

Land use: 61% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 9% irrigated

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography
Note: controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas


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Population: 5,131,217 (July 1990), growth rate NEGL% (1990)

Nationality: noun--Dane(s; adjective--Danish

Ethnic groups: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German

Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect; small German-speaking minority

Religions: 97% Evangelical Lutheran, 2% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 1% other

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 12 births/1000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1000 population (1990)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: air and water pollution

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 99%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Copenhagen

Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark--14 counties (amter, singular--amt) and 1 city* (stad; Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Staden Kobenhavn*, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjaelland, Viborg; note--see separate entries for the Faroe Islands and Greenland which are part of the Danish realm and self-governing administrative divisions

Dependent areas

Independence: became a constitutional monarchy in 1849

National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)

Constitution: 5 June 1953

Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Executive branch: Chief of State--Queen MARGRETHE II (since January 1972; Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968; Head of Government--Prime Minister Poul SCHLUTER (since 10 September 1982)

Legislative branch: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB, Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, Nordic Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

Diplomatic representation
In the us: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG; Chancery at 3,200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington DC 20,008; telephone (202) 234-4,300; there are Danish Consulates General at Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Keith L. BROWN; Embassy at Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2,100 Copenhagen O (mailing address is APO New York 9,170; telephone p45o (31) 42 31 44

Flag description: red with a white cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side and that design element of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: This modern economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, and high dependence on foreign trade. Growth in output, however, has been sluggish in 1987-89, and unemployment in early 1989 stood at 9.6% of the labor force. The government is trying to revitalize growth in preparation for the economic integration of Europe in 1992.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 7% of GNP and employs 1.8% of labor force (includes fishing; farm products account for nearly 16% of export revenues; principal products--meat, dairy, grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets, fish; self-sufficient in food production

Industries: food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and other wood products

Industrial production growth rate: 0.9% (1988)

Labor force:

Unemployment rate: 9.6% (1989)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $34 billion; expenditures $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $19 billion (1988)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $27.7 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.)
Commodities: meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment, fish, chemicals, industrial machinery
Partners: US 6.0%, FRG, Norway, Sweden, UK, other EC, Japan

Imports: $26.4 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.)
Commodities: petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper
Partners: US 7.0%, FRG, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, other EC

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $41.1 billion (1989 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1--6.560 (January 1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987), 8.091 (1986), 10.596 (1985)


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Electricity access

Electricity production

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 2.1% of GDP, or $1.5 billion (1989 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 130 total, 114 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil, 110 km; refined products, 578 km; natural gas, 700 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 417 km

Merchant marine: 252 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,498,611 GRT/6,711,011 DWT; includes 12 short-sea passenger, 82 cargo, 15 refrigerated cargo, 28 container, 36 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 13 chemical tanker, 12 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 12 bulk; note--Denmark has created a captive register called the Danish International Ship Register (DIS) as its own internal register; DIS ships do not have to meet Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience within the Danish register; by the end of 1990, most Danish flag ships will belong to the DIS

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area; Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims between Greenland and Jan Mayen

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs