Denmark

[Country map of Denmark]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

Geography

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

Map references: Europe

Area:
total area: 43,070 sq km
land area: 42,370 sq km
comparative area: 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

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

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

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 sq km (1989 est.)


People

Population: 5,199,437 (July 1995 est.)

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.)

Population growth rate: 0.22% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 12.38 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.14 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.8 deaths/1,000 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.)

Nationality:
noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish

Ethnic divisions: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German

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

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

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

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


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form: Denmark
local long form: Kongeriget Danmark
local short form: Danmark

Digraph: DA

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

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal


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 onreducing 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 slumpbetter 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.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $103 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 4.5% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $19,860 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 12.3% (1994 est.)

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

Exports: $42.9 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: 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.)
commodities: 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)

External debt: $40.9 billion (1994 est.)

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

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

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

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

Economicaid:
donor: ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $5.9 billion

Currency: 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 oere

Fiscal year: calendar year


Transportation

Railroads:
total: 2,838 km (494 km privately owned and operated)
standard gauge: 2,838 km 1.435-m gauge (440 km electrified; 760 km double track) (1994)

Highways:
total: 71,042 km
paved: concrete, asphalt, stone block 71,042 km (696 km of expressways)

Inland waterways: 417 km

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

Ports: Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Grenaa, Koge, Odense, Struer

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

Airports:
total: 118
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 2
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 13
with paved runways under 914 m: 85
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 7


Flag by Dream Maker Software, Inc.
Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995