Denmark


 See regional map V



Geography


Total area: 43,070 km²; land area: 42,370 km²; includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts

Land boundaries: 68 km with FRG

Coastline: 3,379 km

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 4 nm
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 3 nm

Disputes: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims between Greenland and Jan Mayen

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

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone

Land use: 61% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 9% irrigated

Environment: air and water pollution

Note: controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas


People


Population: 5,131,217 (July 1990), growth rate NEGL% (1990)

Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Dane(s); adjective—Danish

Ethnic divisions: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German

Religion: 97% Evangelical Lutheran, 2% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 1% other

Language: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect); small German-speaking minority

Literacy: 99%

Labor force: 2,760,000; 51% services, 34% industry, 8% government, 7% agriculture, forestry, and fishing (1988)

Organized labor: 65% of labor force


Government


Long-form name: Kingdom of Denmark

Type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Copenhagen

Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark 14 counties (amter, singular—amt) and 1 city* (stad); Århus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, København, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkøbing, Roskilde, Sønderjylland, Staden København*, Storstrøm, 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: became a constitutional monarchy in 1849

Constitution: 5 June 1953

Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)

Executive branch: monarch, heir apparent, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Folketing) Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State—Queen MARGRETHE II (since January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Poul SCHLÜTER (since 10 September 1982)

Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic, Svend Auken; Liberal, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen; Conservative, Poul Schlüter; Radical Liberal, Niels Helveg Petersen; Socialist People's, Gert Petersen; Communist, Ole Sohn; Left Socialist, Elizabeth Brun Olesen; Center Democratic, Mimi Stilling Jakobsen; Christian People's, Flemming Kofoed-Svendsen; Justice, Poul Gerhard Kristiansen; Progress Party, Aage Brusgaard; Socialist Workers Party, leader NA; Communist Workers' Party (KAP); Common Course, Preben Møller Hansen; Green Party, Inger Borlehmann

Suffrage: universal at age 21

Elections: Parliament—last held 10 May 1988 (next to be held by May 1992); results—Social Democratic 29.9%, Conservative 19.3%, Socialist People's 13.0%, Liberal 11.8%, Radical Liberal 9.0%, Center Democratic 5.6%, Christian People's 2.0%, Common Course 2.7%, other 6.7%; seats—(175 total; includes 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe Islands) Social Democratic 55, Conservative 35, Socialist People's 24, Liberal 22, Progress 16, Radical Liberal 10, Center Democratic 9, Christian People's 4

Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, NATO, Nordic Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG; Chancery at 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-4300; there are Danish Consulates General at Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US—Ambassador Keith L. BROWN; Embassy at Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen O (mailing address is APO New York 09170); telephone [45](31) 42 31 44

Flag: 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 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. Growth in output, however, has been sluggish in 1987-89, and unemployment in early 1989 stood at 9.6% of the labor force. The government is trying to revitalize growth in preparation for the economic integration of Europe in 1992.

GDP: $73.7 billion, per capita $14,300; real growth rate 1.4% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.25% (1989 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.6% (1989)

Budget: revenues $34 billion; expenditures $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $19 billion (1988)

Exports: $27.7 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment, fish, chemicals, industrial machinery; partners—US 6.0%, FRG, Norway, Sweden, UK, other EC, Japan

Imports: $26.4 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities—petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper; partners—US 7.0%, FRG, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, other EC

External debt: $41.1 billion (1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 0.9% (1988)

Electricity: 11,215,000 kW capacity; 30,910 million kWh produced, 6,030 kWh per capita (1989)

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

Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GNP and employs 1.8% of labor force (includes fishing); farm products account for nearly 16% of export revenues; principal products—meat, dairy, grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets, fish; self-sufficient in food production

Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87) $4.8 billion

Currency: Danish krone (plural—kroner); 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 øre

Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1—6.560 (January 1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987), 8.091 (1986), 10.596 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year


Communications


Railroads: 2,675 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Danish State Railways (DSB) operate 2,025 km (1,999 km rail line and 121 km rail ferry services); 188 km electrified, 730 km double tracked; 650 km of standard-gauge lines are privately owned and operated

Highways: 66,482 km total; 64,551 km concrete, bitumen, or stone block; 1,931 km gravel, crushed stone, improved earth

Inland waterways: 417 km

Pipelines: crude oil, 1 10 km; refined products, 578 km; natural gas, 700 km

Ports: Ålborg, Århus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and minor ports

Merchant marine: 252 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,498,611 GRT/6,711,011 DWT; includes 12 short-sea passenger, 82 cargo, 15 refrigerated cargo, 28 container, 36 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 13 chemical tanker, 12 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 12 bulk; note Denmark has created a captive register called the Danish International Ship Register (DIS) as its own internal register; DIS ships do not have to meet Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience within the Danish register; by the end of 1990, most Danish flag ships will belong to the DIS

Civil air: 58 major transport aircraft

Airports: 130 total, 114 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services; 4,237,000 telephones; stations—2 AM, 1 5 (39 repeaters) FM, 27 (25 repeaters) TV stations; 7 submarine coaxial cables; 1 satellite earth station operating in INTELSAT, 4 Atlantic Ocean, EUTELSAT, and domestic systems


Defense Forces


Branches: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,368,013; 1,180,865 fit for military service; 37,228 reach military age (20) annually

Defense expenditures: 2.1% of GDP, or $1.5 billion (1989 est.)