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(opens in new window) 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. 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) 56 00 N, 10 00 E
total: 43,094 sq km total: 68 km 7,314 km territorial sea: 12 nm temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
low and flat to gently rolling plains
lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel
and sand arable land: 52.59% 4,490 sq km (2003)
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
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
controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and
North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater
Copenhagen 5,450,661 (July 2006 est.)
0-14 years: 18.7% (male 523,257/female 496,697) total: 39.8 years 0.33% (2006 est.)
11.13 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
10.36 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
2.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female total: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births total population: 77.79 years 1.74 children born/woman (2006 est.)
0.2% (2003 est.)
5,000 (2003 est.)
less than 100 (2003 est.)
noun: Dane(s) Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali
Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%,
Muslim 2% Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small
minority) definition: age 15 and over can read and write conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark constitutional monarchy
Copenhagen metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 2
boroughs* (amtskommuner, singular - amtskommune); Arhus, Bornholm,
Frederiksberg*, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Kobenhavn
(Copenhagen)*, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde,
Sonderjylland, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjalland, Viborg first organized as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a
constitutional monarchy
none designated; Constitution Day, 5 June (1849) is generally viewed
as the National Day
5 June 1849 adoption of original constitution; a major overhaul of 5
June 1953 allowed for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of
state civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations 18 years of age; universal
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) Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life)
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. 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 Denmark has decided not to join 12 other EU members
in the euro. Nonetheless, the Danish krone remains pegged to the
euro. Economic growth gained momentum in 2004 and the upturn
accelerated through 2005. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare
benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish
people enjoy living standards topped by no other nation. A major
long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to
retirees.
$181.6 billion (2005 est.)
$249.1 billion (2005 est.)
2.8% (2005 est.)
$33,400 (2005 est.)
agriculture: 2.2% 2.9 million (2005 est.)
agriculture: 3% 5.5% (2005 est.)
lowest 10%: 2% 23.2 (2002)
1.9% (2005 est.)
19.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
revenues: $144 billion 35.7% of GDP (2005 est.)
barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish
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 4% (2005 est.)
43.32 billion kWh (2003)
31.68 billion kWh (2003)
15.6 billion kWh (2003)
7 billion kWh (2003)
376,900 bbl/day (2003)
188,300 bbl/day (2003 est.)
332,100 bbl/day (2001)
195,000 bbl/day (2001)
1.23 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
7.965 billion cu m (2003 est.)
5.173 billion cu m (2003 est.)
3.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)
73.51 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
$7.019 billion (2005 est.)
$84.95 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products,
fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills Germany 18%, Sweden 13.2%, UK 8.7%, US 5.8%, Netherlands 5.5%,
Norway 5.4%, France 5% (2004)
$74.69 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for
industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods Germany 22.3%, Sweden 13.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, UK 6.1%, France 4.5%,
Norway 4.5%, Italy 4.1%, China 4% (2004) $40.05 billion (2004 est.)
$352.9 billion (30 June 2005)
ODA, $2 billion (2004)
Danish krone (DKK)
calendar year
3,487,800 (2004)
5.168 million (2004)
general assessment: excellent telephone and telegraph
services AM 2, FM 355, shortwave 0 (1998)
26 (plus 51 repeaters) (1998)
.dk 2,110,002 (2005)
3,762,500 (2005)
97 (2005) total: 28 total: 69 condensate 12 km; gas 3,892 km; oil 455 km; oil/gas/water 2 km;
unknown (oil/water) 64 km (2004)
total: 2,628 km total: 71,847 km 400 km (2001) total: 297 ships (1000 GRT or over) 7,707,196 GRT/9,469,296
DWT Aalborg, Aarhus, Asnaesvaerkets, Copenhagen, Elsinore, Ensted,
Esbjerg, Fredericia, Frederikshavn, Graasten, Kalundborg, Odense,
Roenne Defense Command: Army Operational Command, Admiral Danish Fleet,
Tactical Air Command, Home Guard (Hjemmevaernet) (2005) Iceland disputes the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line; 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; uncontested sovereignty dispute
with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between
Ellesmere Island and Greenland |