Map of Denmark | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | 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. So far, however, they have opted out of some aspects of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty.


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Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total area total: 43,070 km²
Land: 42,370 km²
Comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts
Note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Land boundaries: total 68 km, Germany 68 km

Coastline: 3,379 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 4 nm
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 3 nm

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

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

Elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone

Land use
Arable land: 61%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 6%
Forest and woodland: 12%
Other: 21%

Irrigated land: 4,300 km² (1989 est.)

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; about one-quarter of the population lives in Copenhagen


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Population: 5,199,437 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 0.22% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Dane(s)
Adjective: Danish

Ethnic groups: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German

Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect), German (small minority)

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 2%, other 7% (1988)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 17% (female 430,598; male 451,993)
15-64 years: 68% (female 1,731,531; male 1,780,083)
65 years and over: 15% (female 473,537; male 331,695) (July 1995 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.22% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 12.38 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.14 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.96 migrant(s)/1000 population (1995 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: air pollution, principally from vehicle emissions; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the North Sea; drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal wastes
Current issues natural hazards: flooding is a threat in some areas of the country (e.g., parts of Jutland, along the southern coast of the island of Lolland) that are protected from the sea by a system of dikes
Current issues international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 6.8 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.11 years
Male: 73.23 years
Female: 79.16 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.69 children born/woman (1995 est.)

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: age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)
Total population: 99%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark
Conventional short form: Denmark
Local long form: Kongeriget Danmark
Local short form: Danmark

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Copenhagen

Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 1 city* (stad); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kbenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkbing, Roskilde, Snderjylland, Staden Kbenhavn*, Storstrm, 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: 1849 (became a constitutional monarchy)

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: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II (since NA January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968)
Head of government: Prime Minister Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN (since NA January 1993)
Cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the monarch

Legislative branch: unicameral
Parliament Folketing: elections last held 21 September 1994 (next to be held by December 1998); results - Social Democrats 34.6%, Liberals 23.3%, Conservatives 15.0%, Social People's Party 7.3%, Progress Party 6.4%, Radical Liberals 4.6%, Unity Party 3.1%, Center Democrats 2.8%, Christian People's Party 1.8%; seats - (179 total) Social Democrats 63, Liberals 44, Conservatives 28, Social People's Party 13, Progress Party 11, Radical Liberals 8, Unity Party 6, Center Democrats 5, independent 1

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G- 9, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG (Knud-Erik TYGESEN is Ambassador Elect for 1995)
In the us chancery: 3,200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 234-4,300
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Edward E. ELSON
From the us embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2,100 Copenhagen O
From the us mailing address: APO AE 9,716
From the us telephone: [45] (31) 42 31 44
From the us FAX: [45] (35) 43 02 23

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 thoroughly 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. Denmark is self-sufficient in food production. The new center-left coalition government will concentrate on reducing the persistent high unemployment rate and the budget deficit as well as following the previous government's policies of maintaining low inflation and a current account surplus. In the face of recent international market pressure on the Danish krone, the coalition has also vowed to maintain a stable currency. The coalition hopes to lower marginal income taxes while maintaining overall tax revenues; boost industrial competitiveness through labor market and tax reforms and increased research and development funds; and improve welfare services for the neediest while cutting paperwork and delays. Prime Minister RASMUSSEN's reforms will focus on adapting Denmark to the criteria for European integration by 1999; although Copenhagen has won from the European Union (EU) the right to opt out of the European Monetary Union (EMU) if a national referendum rejects it. Denmark is, in fact, one of the few EU countries likely to fit into the EMU on time. Denmark is weathering the current worldwide slump better than many West European countries. After posting 4.5% real GDP growth in 1994, Copenhagen is predicting a continued strong showing in 1995, with real GDP up by 3.2%. The government expects an upswing in business investment in 1995 to drive economic growth. Although unemployment is high, it remains stable compared to most European countries.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4.5% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $19,860 (1994 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 4% of GDP; principal products - meat, dairy, grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets, fish

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

Industrial production growth rate: -2.5% (1993 est.)

Labor force: 2,553,900
By occupation private services: 37.1%
By occupation government services: 30.4%
By occupation manufacturing and mining: 20%
By occupation construction: 6.3%
By occupation agriculture forestry and fishing: 5.6%
By occupation electricity-gas-water: 0.6% (1991)

Unemployment rate: 12.3% (1994 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $56.5 billion
Expenditures: $64.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

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: $42.9 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
Commodoties: meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment (shipbuilding), fish, chemicals, industrial machinery
Partners: EC 54.3% (Germany 23.6%, UK 10.1%, France 5.7%), Sweden 10.5%, Norway 5.8%, US 4.9%, Japan 3.6% (1992)

Imports: $37.1 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
Commodoties: petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper
Partners: EC 53.4% (Germany 23.1%, UK 8.2%, France 5.6%), Sweden 10.8%, Norway 5.4%, US 5.7%, Japan 4.1% (1992)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $40.9 billion (1994 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.034 (January 1995), 6.361 (1994), 6.484 (1993), 6.036 (1992), 6.396 (1991), 6.189 (1990)


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Electricity
Capacity: 10,030,000 kW
Production: 32 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 5,835 kWh (1993)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system: 4,509,000 telephones; excellent telephone and telegraph services; buried and submarine cables and microwave radio relay support trunk network
Local: NA
Intercity: microwave radio relay
International: 19 submarine coaxial cables; 7 INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INMARSAT earth stations

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $2.7 billion, 1.9% of GDP (1994)

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: 118
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 13
With paved runways under 914 m: 85
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7

Heliports

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

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 417 km

Merchant marine
Total: 345 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,005,470 GRT/6,974,750 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 17, cargo 109, chemical tanker 24, combination bulk 1, container 61, liquefied gas tanker 32, livestock carrier 4, oil tanker 32, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 18, roll-on/roll-off cargo 35, short-sea passenger 11
Note: Denmark has created its own internal register, called the Danish International Ship register (DIS); DIS ships do not have to meet Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience within the Danish register

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)

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs