| 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 political and economic integration of
Europe. So far, however, the country has opted out of some
aspects of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty, including
the economic and monetary system (EMU) and issues concerning
certain internal affairs. |
| Location: |
Northern Europe,
bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula
north of Germany (Jutland); also includes two major islands
(Sjaeland and Fyn) |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
56 00 N, 10 00 E |
| 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 Sjaeland 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 |
| Maritime
claims: |
contiguous
zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth
of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| 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, stone, gravel and sand |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
60%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 5%
forests and woodland: 10%
other: 25% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
4,350 sq km (1993
est.) |
| 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-Sulphur
85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Law of the Sea |
| Geography
- note: |
controls Danish
Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North
Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater
Copenhagen |
| Population: |
5,352,815 (July
2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
18.59% (male 510,826; female 484,385)
15-64 years: 66.56% (male 1,804,617; female
1,758,019)
65 years and over: 14.85% (male 331,906; female
463,062) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.3% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
11.96
births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
10.9 deaths/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
1.98 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 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 (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
5.04 deaths/1,000
live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 76.72 years
male: 74.12 years
female: 79.47 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.73 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.17% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
4,300 (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
less than 100
(1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Dane(s)
adjective: Danish |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Scandinavian,
Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali |
| Religions: |
Evangelical
Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%,
Muslims 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: 100%
male: NA%
female: NA% |
| 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 |
| Administrative
divisions: |
metropolitan
Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 2 kommunes*;
Arhus, Bornholm, Fredericksberg*, Frederiksborg, Fyn,
Kobenhavn, Kobenhavns*, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing,
Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjalland,
Viborg
note: see separate entries for the Faroe
Islands and Greenland, which are part of the Kingdom of
Denmark and are self-governing administrative divisions |
| Independence: |
first organized
as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a
constitutional monarchy |
| National
holiday: |
none designated;
Constitution Day, 5 June is generally viewed as the National
Day |
| 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 Poul Nyrup
RASMUSSEN (since 25 January 1993)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime
minister and approved by Parliament
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary;
prime minister appointed by the monarch |
| Legislative
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)
elections: last held 11 March 1998 (next to be
held by March 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party -
NA%; seats by party - progovernment parties: Social
Democratic Party 65, Socialist People's Party 13, Social
Liberal Party 7, Red-Green Unity List 5; opposition: Liberal
Party 43, Conservative Party 17, Danish People's Party 13,
Center Democratic Party 8, Christian People's Party 4,
Progress Party 4; seats by party as of 1 January 2001:
government coalition parties - Social Democrats 63, Social
Liberals 7; pro-government parties - Socialist People's
Party 13, Unity List 5; opposition - Liberals 42,
Conservatives 16, Danish People's Party 13, Center Democrats
8, Christian People's Party 4, Progress Party 4 (now named
Freedom 2000); does not include the 4 overseas seats |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court
(judges are appointed by the monarch for life) |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Center Democratic
Party [Mimi JAKOBSEN]; Christian People's Party [Jann
SJURSEN]; Conservative Party (sometimes known as
Conservative People's Party) [Bendt BENDTSEN]; Danish
People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh
RASMUSSEN]; Progress Party (now named Freedom 2000) [Kim
BEHNKE]; Social Democratic Party [Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN];
Social Liberal Party (sometimes called the Radical Left)
[Marianne JELVED, leader; Johannes LEBECH, chairman];
Socialist People's Party [Holger K. NIELSEN]; Red-Green
Unity List (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist
Party of Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party) [collective
leadership] |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
| International
organization participation: |
AfDB, AsDB,
Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE,
EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC,
NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE,
PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH,
UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU,
WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Ulrik Andreas FEDERSPIEL
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW,
Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300
FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and
New York |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Stuart BERNSTEIN
embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100
Copenhagen
mailing address: PSC 73, APO AE 09716
telephone: [45] 35 55 31 44
FAX: [45] 35 38 96 16 |
| 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 |
| 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,
and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net
exporter of food and energy and has a comfortable balance of
payments surplus. The center-left coalition government has
reduced the formerly high unemployment rate and attained a
budget surplus as well as followed the previous government's
policies of maintaining low inflation and a stable currency.
The coalition has lowered marginal income tax rates and
raised environmental taxes thus maintaining overall tax
revenues. Problems of bottlenecks, and longer term
demographic changes reducing the labor force, are being
addressed through labor market reforms. 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 Monetary Union
(EMU), but Denmark, in a September 2000 referendum,
reconfirmed its decision not to join the 11 other EU members
in the euro. Even so, the Danish currency remains pegged to
the euro. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $136.2 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
2.8% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $25,500 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
3%
industry: 25%
services: 72% (2000 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
2%
highest 10%: 24% (2000 est.) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
2.9% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
2.856 million
(2000 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 79%,
industry 17%, agriculture 4% (2000 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
5.3% (2000) |
| 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 |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
3% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
37.885 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
88.4%
hydro: 0.07%
nuclear: 0%
other: 11.53% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
32.916 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
7.28 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
4.963 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
grain, potatoes,
rape, sugar beets; pork and beef, dairy products; fish |
| Exports: |
$50.8 billion
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
machinery and
instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish,
chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills |
| Exports
- partners: |
EU 66.5% (Germany
20.1%, Sweden 11.7%, UK 9.6%, France 5.3%, Netherlands
4.7%), Norway 5.8%, US 5.4% (1999) |
| Imports: |
$43.6 billion
(f.o.b., 2000) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and
equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry,
chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods |
| Imports
- partners: |
EU 72.1% (Germany
21.6%, Sweden 12.4%, UK 8.0%, Netherlands 8.0%, France
5.8%), Norway 4.2%, US 4.5% (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$21.7 billion
(2000) |
| Economic
aid - donor: |
ODA, $1.63
billion (1999) |
| Currency: |
Danish krone (DKK) |
| Exchange
rates: |
Danish kroner per
US dollar - 7.951 (January 2001), 8.083 (2000), 6.976
(1999), 6.701 (1998), 6.604 (1997), 5.799 (1996); note - the
Danes rejected the Euro in a 28 September 2000 referendum |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| 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) |
| Radios: |
6.02 million
(1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
26 (plus 51
repeaters) (1998) |
| Televisions: |
3.121 million
(1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.dk |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
13 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
2.3 million
(2000) |
| Railways: |
total:
2,859 km (508 km privately owned and operated)
standard gauge: 2,859 km 1.435-m gauge (600 km
electrified; 760 km double track) (1998) |
| Highways: |
total:
71,474 km
paved: 71,474 km (including 880 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1999) |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 110 km;
petroleum products 578 km; natural gas 700 km |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Abenra, Alborg,
Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Kolding, Odense,
Roenne (Bornholm), Vejle |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
342 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,073,489 GRT/8,027,002
DWT
ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 128, chemical
tanker 27, container 76, liquefied gas 26, livestock carrier
6, petroleum tanker 22, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated
cargo 13, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 7,
specialized tanker 3
note: includes some foreign-owned ships
registered here as a flag of convenience: Finland 1 (2000
est.) |
| Airports: |
119 (2000 est.) |
| 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 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
91
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 83 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Royal Danish
Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force, Home Guard |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
18 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 1,292,619 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 1,106,094 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
29,212 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$2.47 billion
(FY99) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.4% (FY99) |
| Disputes
- international: |
Rockall
continental shelf dispute involving Iceland and the UK
(Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the
Rockall area); dispute with Iceland over the Faroe Islands
fisheries median line boundary within 200 NM; disputes with
Iceland, the UK, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands
continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM |
|
