Denmark in Brief
Facts about Danish geography
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
Area: total: 43,094
sq km, water: 700 sq km
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
Land Boundaries: total 68 km, border countries: Germany 68 km
Coastline: 7,314 km
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 Skovhøj 173 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, stone, gravel and sand
Land use: arable land: 55.74%, permanent crops: 0.19%, other: 44.07% (1998 est.)
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
Population
Population: 5,384,384 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years:
18.7% (male 516,872; female 490,543)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male
1,809,138; female 1,762,577)
65 years and over: 15% (male
338,141; female 467,113) (2003 est.)
Median age: total: 39.1 years, male: 38.1 years, female: 40.1 years (2002)
Population growth rate: 0.28% (2003 est.)
Birth rate: 11.52 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate: 10.72 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female, under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female, 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female, 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female, total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 4.9 deaths/1,000 live births, female: 4.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.), male: 5.16 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.1 years, male: 74.48 years, female: 79.87 years (2003 est.)
Ethnic groups: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran, other Protestant and Roman Catholic, Muslim
Languages: Danish,
Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
English is the predominant second language
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write, total population: 100%
Governmental...
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of
Denmark, conventional short form: Denmark
local short form:
Danmark, local long form: Kongeriget Danmark
Government type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Copenhagen
Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties
(amter, singular - amt) and 2 boroughs* (amtskommuner, singular -
amtskomunes); Arhus, Bornholm, Fredericksberg*, Frederiksborg, Fyn,
Kobenhavn, Kobenhavns*, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde,
Sonderjylland, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjalland, Viborg
Faroe
Islands and Greenland, which are part of the Kingdom of Denmark are
self-governing overseas administrative divisions
Constitution: 1849 was the original constitution; there was a major overhaul 5 June 1953, allowing 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: Cabinet
appointed by the prime minister and approved by Parliament
elections: none; 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
Legaslative branch: unicameral Parliament or Folketing (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)
Juridical branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life)
Economy
Economy overview: 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 the 12 other EU members in the euro; even so, the Danish Krone remains pegged to the euro. Given the sluggish state of the European economy, growth in 2003 was a mere 1.1%.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $155.3 billion (2002 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 1.6% (2002 est.)
GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $28,900 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3%, industry: 26%, services: 71% (2002 est.)
Household
income or consumption by percentage share: lowest
10%: 2%,
highest 10%: 24% (2000 est.)
Labour force: 2.856 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 79%, industry 17%, agriculture 4% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.1% (2002)
Budget: revenues: $52.9 billion, expenditures: $51.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (2001 est.)
Industries: food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture and other wood products, shipbuilding, windmills
Electricity production: 35.47 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity
production by source: fossil
fuel: 82.7%, hydro: 0.1%, other: 17.3% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Oil – production: 346,200 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil – consumption: 218,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports / imports: 332,100 bbl/day (2001), 195,000 bbl/day (2001)
Oil – proved reserves: 1.23 billion bbl (37257)
Agriculture - products: barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish
Exports: $56.3 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills
Exports - partners: Germany 17.1%, Sweden 11.6%, UK 7.8%, US 6.8%, France 5.8%, Norway 5.7%, Japan 4.4% (2002)
Imports: $47.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - partners: Germany 22.9%, Sweden 10.7%, UK 8.7%, Netherlands 7.8%, France 6%, Norway 4.9%, Italy 4.4% (2002)
Debt - external: $21.7 billion (2000)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.63 billion (1999)
Currency: Danish krone (DKK)
Currency code: DKK
Exchange rates: Danish kroner per US dollar - 7.89 (2002), 8.32 (2001), 8.08 (2000), 6.98 (1999), 6.7 (1998)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communication
Telephones - main lines in use: 4.785 million (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,444,016 (1997)
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: 18 submarine fiber-optic cables linking Denmark with Norway, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Canada; satellite earth stations - 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 (1997)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 355, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 26 (plus 51 repeaters) (1998)
Internet country code: .dk
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 13 (2000)
Internet users: 3.37 million (2002)
Getting around - Transport
Railways: total: 3,164 km
standard gauge: 2,324 km 1.435-m gauge (595 km electrified) total includes 840 km of suburban track (2002)
Highways: total: 71,591 km paved: 71,591 km (including 880 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Waterways: 417 km
Pipelines: condensate 12 km; gas 3,892 km; oil 455 km; oil/gas/water 2 km; unknown (oil/water) 64 km (2003)
Ports and harbors: Abenra, Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Frederikshavn, Hirtshals, Kolding, Odense, Roenne (Bornholm), Vejle
Merchant marine: total: 282 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,714,557 GRT/8,715,716 DWT Includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 1, Greenland 1, Indonesia 1, Netherlands 1, Norway 9, United Kingdom 1 (2002 est.) ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 85, chemical tanker 29, container 77, liquefied gas 19, livestock carrier 5, petroleum tanker 28, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 11, short-sea passenger 6, specialized tanker 4
Airports: 104 (2002)
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 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 76, 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1, 914 to 1,523 m: 4, under 914 m: 71 (2002)
Source: the CIA World Fact Book