|
|
 |
|
Denmark  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. 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 | | 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 Sjaelland and Fyn), but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland | | total: 68 km;
border countries: Germany 68 km | | 7,314 km | | temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers | | low and flat to gently rolling plains | | lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
highest point: Yding Skovhoej 173 m | | petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand | | arable land: 52.59%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 47.22% (2005) | | 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 | | controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen | |
Top of Page
| Population: | 5,484,723 (July 2008 est.) | Age structure: | 0-14 years: 18.4% (male 516,735/female 490,532)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 1,818,681/female 1,796,753)
65 years and over: 15.7% (male 374,388/female 487,634) (2008 est.) | | total: 40.3 years
male: 39.4 years
female: 41.2 years (2008 est.) | | 0.295% (2008 est.) | | total: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.44 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.) |
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 78.13 years
male: 75.8 years
female: 80.59 years (2008 est.) | Nationality: | noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish | Ethnic groups: | Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali | | Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Christian (includes Protestant and Roman Catholic) 3%, Muslim 2% | Languages: | Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) | |
Top of Page | Country name: | conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form: Denmark
local long form: Kongeriget Danmark
local short form: Danmark | | constitutional monarchy | | name: Copenhagen
geographic coordinates: 55 40 N, 12 35 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October | Administrative divisions: | metropolitan Denmark - 5 regions (regioner, singular - region); Hovedstaden, Midtjylland, Nordjylland, Sjaelland, Syddanmark
note: an extensive local government reform merged 271 municipalities into 98 and 13 counties into five regions, effective 1 January 2007 | | 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 1953 constitution 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 | | 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 Lars Løkke RASMUSSEN (since April 2009)
cabinet: Council of State appointed by the monarch
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 | | 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)
elections: last held 13 November 2007
election results: percent of vote by party - Liberals 26.2%, Social Democrats 25.5%, Danish People's Party 13.9%, Socialist People's Party 13%,Conservative Party 10.4%, Social Liberal Party 5.1%, New Alliance 2.8%, Red-Green Alliance 2.2%, Christian Democrats 0.9%; seats by party - Liberals 46, Social Democrats 45, Danish People's Party 25, Socialist People's Party 23, Conservative Party 18, Social Liberal Party 9, New Alliance 5, Red-Green Alliance 4; note - does not include the two seats from Greenland and the two seats from the Faroe Islands | | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life) |
Political parties and leaders: | Christian Democrats [Bjarne Hartung KIRKEGAARD]; Conservative Party People's Party [Lene ESPERSEN]; Danish People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberals [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN]; Liberal Alliance (former New Alliance) [Anders SAMUELSEN]; Red-Green Alliance [collective leadership] (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist Party of Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party); Social Democrats [Helle THORNING-SCHMIDT]; Social Liberal Party [Margrethe VESTAGER]; Socialist People's Party [Villy SOEVNDAL] | | Economy |
Top of Page | Economy - overview: | The Danish economy has in recent years undergone strong expansion fueled primarily by private consumption growth, but also supported by exports and investments. 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. Unemployment is low and capacity constraints are limiting growth potential. 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 continued through 2006. The controversy over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper in September 2005 led to boycotts of some Danish exports to the Muslim world, especially exports of dairy products, but the boycotts did not have a significant impact on the overall Danish economy. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish living standards are among the highest in the world. A major long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to retirees.
| GDP (purchasing power parity): |
213.6 billion (2008 est.) | GDP (official exchange rate): |
$369.6 billion (2008 est.) | |
0.3% (2008 est.) | |
$38,900 (2008 est.) | |
2% (2008 est.) | Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 3.5% (2008 est.) | | revenues: $192 billion
expenditures: $177.6 billion (2008 est.) | | | 21.8% of GDP (2008 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
| | | Currency (code): | Danish krone (DKK)
| Communications |
Top of Page
| | Telephones - main lines in use: |
2.824 million (2007) | Telephones - mobile cellular: |
6.243 million (2007) |
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: country code - 45; a series of fiber-optic submarine cables link Denmark with Canada, Faroe Islands, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and UK; satellite earth stations - 18 (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 | Internet users: | 3.5 million (2007) | | Transportation | | Airports: | 91 (2007) |
Railways: | total: 2,644 km
standard gauge: 2,644 km 1.435-m gauge (636 km electrified) (2007 | Roadways: | total: 72,362 km
paved: 72,362 km (includes 1,032 km of expressways) (2006) |
Waterways: | 400 km (2008) | | Ports and terminals: | Aalborg, Aarhus, Asnaesvaerkets, Copenhagen, Elsinore, Ensted, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Frederikshavn, Kalundborg, Odense, Roenne |
Top of Page |
|
|
|
