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Guide
Introduction
| |
| 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 |
|
