|
Background: |
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. |
|
Location: |
Northern Europe, bordering the
Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland);
also includes two major islands (Sjaelland and Fyn) |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
56 00 N, 10 00 E |
|
Map references: |
Europe |
|
Area: |
total: 43,094 sq km
land: 42,394 sq km
water: 700 sq km
note:
includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of
metropolitan Denmark (the Jutland Peninsula, and the major islands of
Sjaelland and Fyn), but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly less than twice the
size of Massachusetts |
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 68 km
border countries: Germany 68 km |
|
Coastline: |
7,314 km |
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200
nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of
exploitation |
|
Climate: |
temperate; humid and overcast;
mild, windy winters and cool summers |
|
Terrain: |
low and flat to gently rolling
plains |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Lammefjord
-7 m
highest point: Yding Skovhoej 173 m |
|
Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, fish,
salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 52.59%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 47.22% (2005) |
|
Irrigated land: |
4,490 sq km (2003) |
|
Total renewable water resources: |
6.1 cu km (2003) |
|
Freshwater withdrawal
(domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 0.67 cu km/yr
(32%/26%/42%)
per capita: 123 cu m/yr (2002) |
|
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 |
|
Environment - current issues: |
air pollution, principally from
vehicle and power plant emissions; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of
the North Sea; drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal
wastes and pesticides |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|
|
Geography - note: |
controls Danish Straits
(Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter
of the population lives in greater Copenhagen |
|
Population: |
5,484,723 (July 2008 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 18.4% (male
516,735/female 490,532)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male
1,818,681/female 1,796,753)
65 years and over: 15.7% (male
374,388/female 487,634) (2008 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 40.3 years
male: 39.4 years
female: 41.2 years (2008 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
0.295% (2008 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
10.71 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
10.25 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
2.49 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2008 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.06
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64
years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77
male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2008
est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 4.4 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 4.44 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 78.13
years
male: 75.8 years
female: 80.59 years (2008
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.74 children born/woman (2008
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.2% (2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
5,000 (2003 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 100 (2003 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish |
|
Ethnic groups: |
Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese,
German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali |
|
Religions: |
Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other
Christian (includes Protestant and Roman Catholic) 3%, Muslim 2% |
|
Languages: |
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic
(an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is
the predominant second language |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write
total population: 99%
male:
99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) |
|
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: |
name: Copenhagen
geographic coordinates: 55 40 N, 12 35 E
time
difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March;
ends last Sunday in October |
|
Administrative divisions: |
metropolitan Denmark - 5
regions (regioner, singular - region); Hovedstaden, Midtjylland,
Nordjylland, Sjaelland, Syddanmark
note: an extensive local
government reform merged 271 municipalities into 98 and 13 counties into
five regions, effective 1 January 2007 |
|
Independence: |
first organized as a unified
state in 10th century; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy |
|
National holiday: |
none designated; Constitution
Day, 5 June (1849) is generally viewed as the National Day |
|
Constitution: |
5 June 1953 constitution
allowed for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of state |
|
Legal system: |
civil law system; judicial
review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state: Queen
MARGRETHE II (since 14 January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK,
elder son of the monarch (born 26 May 1968)
head of government:
Prime Minister Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN (since 27 November 2001)
cabinet: Council of State appointed by the monarch
elections: the monarch is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority
coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch |
|
Legislative branch: |
unicameral People's Assembly or
Folketinget (179 seats, including 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe
Islands; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional
representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held
13 November 2007 (next to be held in 2011)
election results:
percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 26.2%, Social Democrats 25.5%,
Danish People's Party 13.9%, Socialist People's Party 13.0%, Conservative
People's Party 10.4%, Social Liberal Party 5.1%, New Alliance 2.8%,
Red-Green Alliance 2.2%, other 0.9%; seats by party - Liberal Party 46,
Social Democrats 45, Danish People's Party 25, Socialist People's Party
23, Conservative People's Party 18, Social Liberal Party 9, New Alliance
5, Red-Green Alliance 4; note - does not include the two seats from
Greenland and the two seats from the Faroe Islands |
|
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (judges are
appointed by the monarch for life) |
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Christian Democrats [Bodil
KORNBEK] (was Christian People's Party); Conservative Party [Bendt
BENDTSEN] (sometimes known as Conservative People's Party); Danish
People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN];
New Alliance [Naser KHADER]; Red-Green Unity List (Alliance) [collective
leadership] (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist Party of
Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party); Social Democratic Party [Helle
THORNING-SCHMIDT]; Social Liberal Party [Margrethe VESTAGER]; Socialist
People's Party [Villy SOEVNDAL] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
|
International organization participation: |
ADB (nonregional members),
AfDB, Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD,
EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO,
ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD,
OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UN Security Council
(temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG,
UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Friis Arne PETERSEN
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street
NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300
FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470
consulate(s) general:
Chicago, New York |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador James P. CAIN
embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24,
2100 Copenhagen
mailing address: PSC 73, APO AE 09716
telephone: [45] 33 41 71 00
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; the banner is referred to as the Dannebrog
(Danish flag)
note: the shifted design element was subsequently
adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and
Sweden |
|
Economy - overview: |
The Danish economy has in
recent years undergone strong expansion fueled primarily by private
consumption growth, but also supported by exports and investments. This
thoroughly modern market economy features high-tech agriculture,
up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government
welfare measures, comfortable living standards, a stable currency, and
high dependence on foreign trade. Unemployment is low and capacity
constraints are limiting growth potential. Denmark is a net exporter of
food and energy and enjoys a comfortable balance of payments surplus.
Government objectives include streamlining the bureaucracy and further
privatization of state assets. The government has been successful in
meeting, and even exceeding, the economic convergence criteria for
participating in the third phase (a common European currency) of the
European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), but so far Denmark has decided
not to join 15 other EU members in the euro. Nonetheless, the Danish krone
remains pegged to the euro. Economic growth gained momentum in 2004 and
the upturn continued through 2007. The controversy over caricatures of the
Prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper in September 2005 led to
boycotts of some Danish exports to the Muslim world, especially exports of
dairy products, but the boycotts did not have a significant impact on the
overall Danish economy. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits,
a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish living standards are
among the highest in the world. A major long-term issue will be the sharp
decline in the ratio of workers to retirees. |
|
GDP (purchasing power parity): |
$204.6 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP (official exchange rate): |
$310.7 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
1.7% (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita (PPP): |
$37,400 (2007 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 1.6%
industry: 26.3%
services: 72.1% (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
2.9 million (2007 est.) |
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 3%
industry: 21%
services: 76% (2004 est.) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
3.5% (2007 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
NA% |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 24% (2000 est.) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
24 (2005) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
1.5% (2007 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
23.2% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $167.9 billion
expenditures: $156.1 billion (2007 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
26.1% of GDP (2007 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar
beets; pork, dairy products; fish |
|
Industries: |
iron, steel, nonferrous metals,
chemicals, food processing, machinery and transportation equipment,
textiles and clothing, electronics, construction, furniture and other wood
products, shipbuilding and refurbishment, windmills, pharmaceuticals,
medical equipment |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
1.5% (2007 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
43.35 billion kWh (2006) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 82.7%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 17.3%
(2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
34.02 billion kWh (2005) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
13.72 billion kWh (2006) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
6.77 billion kWh (2006) |
|
Oil - production: |
342,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - consumption: |
171,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - exports: |
320,000 bbl/day (2006) |
|
Oil - imports: |
164,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
1.328 billion bbl (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
9.87 billion cu m (2006 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
4.775 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
5.35 billion cu m (2005 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
0 cu m (2005) |
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
75.66 billion cu m (1 January
2006 est.) |
|
Current account balance: |
$4.699 billion (2007 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$102.1 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
machinery and instruments, meat
and meat products, dairy products, fish, pharmaceuticals, furniture,
windmills |
|
Exports - partners: |
Germany 17.3%, Sweden 14.1%, UK
8.7%, US 6.2%, Netherlands 5.4%, Norway 5.4%, France 4.9% (2006) |
|
Imports: |
$101.3 billion f.o.b. (2007
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment, raw
materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and
foodstuffs, consumer goods |
|
Imports - partners: |
Germany 21.4%, Sweden 14.2%,
Norway 6.5%, Netherlands 6.3%, UK 5.7%, China 5%, France 4.4% (2006)
|
|
Economic aid - donor: |
ODA, $2.236 billion (2006)
|
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$31.08 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Debt - external: |
$492.6 billion (30 June 2007)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: |
$138.4 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: |
$150.1 billion (2006 est.)
|
|
Market value of publicly traded shares: |
$178 billion (2005) |
|
Currency (code): |
Danish krone (DKK) |
|
Currency code: |
DKK |
|
Exchange rates: |
Danish kroner per US dollar -
5.4797 (2007), 5.9468 (2006), 5.9969 (2005), 5.9911 (2004), 6.5877 (2003)
|
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar year |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
3.098 million (2006) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
5.841 million (2006) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
excellent telephone and telegraph services
domestic: buried and
submarine cables and microwave radio relay form trunk network, 4 cellular
mobile communications systems
international: country code - 45;
a series of fiber-optic submarine cables link Denmark with Denmark, Faroe
Islands, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden,
and UK; satellite earth stations - 18 (6 Intelsat, 10 Eutelsat, 1 Orion, 1
Inmarsat (Blaavand-Atlantic-East)); note - the Nordic countries (Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) share the Danish earth station and
the Eik, Norway, station for worldwide Inmarsat access |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 2, FM 355, shortwave 0
(1998) |
|
Radios: |
6.02 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
26 (plus 51 repeaters) (1998)
|
|
Televisions: |
3.121 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.dk |
|
Internet hosts: |
3.114 million (2007) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
13 (2000) |
|
Internet users: |
3.171 million (2006)
|
|
Airports: |
91 (2007) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 28
over
3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m:
4
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 63
914 to
1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 60 (2007) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate 11 km; gas 4,073 km;
oil 617 km; oil/gas/water 2 km (2007) |
|
Railways: |
total: 2,644 km
standard gauge: 2,644 km 1.435-m gauge (636 km electrified)
(2007) |
|
Roadways: |
total: 72,257 km
paved: 72,257 km (includes 1,032 km of expressways) (2005)
|
|
Waterways: |
400 km (2007) |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 299 ships (1000
GRT or over) 8,767,265 GRT/10,604,081 DWT
by type: bulk carrier
7, cargo 64, chemical tanker 57, container 84, liquefied gas 2, livestock
carrier 2, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 41, petroleum tanker 22,
refrigerated cargo 7, roll on/roll off 8, specialized tanker 4
foreign-owned: 25 (Denmark 1, Germany 13, Greece 4, Greenland 1,
Norway 1, Sweden 4, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 468
(Antigua and Barbuda 15, Bahamas 66, Belgium 3, Brazil 2, Cayman Islands
3, Cyprus 1, Egypt 1, Estonia 2, France 3, Gibraltar 9, Hong Kong 12, Isle
of Man 41, Italy 2, Jamaica 1, Liberia 12, Lithuania 9, Malta 10, Marshall
Islands 9, Mexico 2, Netherlands 19, Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 26,
Panama 32, Portugal 3, Singapore 68, South Africa 1, Spain 2, St Vincent
and The Grenadines 16, Sweden 4, UK 61, US 29, Venezuela 3) (2007) |
|
Ports and terminals: |
Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen,
Ensted, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Kalundborg |
|
Military branches: |
Defense Command: Army
Operational Command, Admiral Danish Fleet, Island Command Greenland,
Tactical Air Command, Home Guard (2008) |
|
Military service age and obligation: |
18 years of age for compulsory
and voluntary military service; conscripts serve an initial training
period that varies from 4 to 12 months according to specialization;
reservists are assigned to mobilization units following completion of
their conscript service; women eligible to volunteer for military service
(2004) |
|
Manpower available for military service: |
males age 18-49:
1,175,108
females age 18-49: 1,150,627 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower fit for military service: |
males age 18-49: 955,168
females age 18-49: 935,643 (2005 est.) |
|
Manpower reaching military service age annually: |
males age 18-49: 31,317
females age 18-49: 29,558 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.5% (2006; 1.28% 2007 est.)
|
| Transnational Issues |
Denmark |
|
Disputes - international: |
Iceland, the UK, and Ireland
dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends
beyond 200 nm; Faroese continue to study proposals for full independence;
sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel
between Ellesmere Island and Greenland |
|
