Demographics - Denmark
| GENERAL: | |||
| 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. | |||
| 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 | ||
| Map references: | Europe | ||
| 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 Sjaelland and Fyn), but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland | ||
| Land boundaries: | total: | 68 km | |
| border countries: | Germany 68 km | ||
| Coastline: | 7,314 km | ||
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: | 12 nm | |
| exclusive economic zone: | 200 nm | ||
| continental shelf: | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation | ||
| 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, chalk, stone, gravel and sand | ||
| Land use: | arable land: | 52.59% | |
| permanent crops: | 0.19% | ||
| other: | 47.22% | ||
| Irrigated land: | 4,760 sq km | ||
| 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 | ||
| Geography - note: | controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen | ||
| PEOPLE: | |||
| Population: | 5,450,661 | ||
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: | 18.7% (male 523,257/female 496,697) | |
| 15-64 years: | 66.1% (male 1,815,240/female 1,787,406) | ||
| 65 years and over: | 15.2% (male 355,656/female 472,405) | ||
| Median age: | total: | 39.8 years | |
| male: | 38.9 years | ||
| female: | 40.7 years | ||
| Population growth rate: | 0.33% | ||
| Birth rate: | 11.13 births/1,000 population | ||
| Death rate: | 10.36 deaths/1,000 population | ||
| Net migration rate: | 2.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population | ||
| Sex ratio: | at birth: | 1.06 male(s)/female | |
| under 15 years: | 1.05 male(s)/female | ||
| 15-64 years: | 1.02 male(s)/female | ||
| 65 years and over: | 0.75 male(s)/female | ||
| total population: | 0.98 male(s)/female | ||
| Infant mortality rate: | total: | 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births | |
| male: | 4.54 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| female: | 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births | ||
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: | 77.79 years | |
| male: | 75.49 years | ||
| female: | 80.22 years | ||
| Total fertility rate: | 1.74 children born/woman | ||
| 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%, Muslim 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: | 99% | ||
| male: | 99% | ||
| female: | 99% | ||
| GOVERNMENT: | |||
| 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 | ||
| Capital: | Copenhagen | ||
| Administrative divisions: | metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 2 boroughs* (amtskommuner, singular - amtskommune); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksberg*, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Kobenhavn (Copenhagen)*, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjalland, Viborg | ||
| note: | as a result of an extensive 2005 local government reform, with 2006 being a transition year, 275 municipalities will be merged to 99 by 1 January 2007, and the 14 counties will be reorganized into five regions | ||
| Independence: |
first organized as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy |
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| National holiday: |
none designated; Constitution Day, 5 June (1849) is generally viewed as the National Day |
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| Constitution: | 5 June 1849 adoption of original constitution; a major overhaul of 5 June 1953 allowed 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 |
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| 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: | 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 | ||
| Legislative branch: | 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 8 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009) | ||
| election results: | percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 29%, Social Democrats 25.9%, Danish People's Party 13.2%, Conservative Party 10.3%, Social Liberal Party 9.2%, Socialist People's Party 6%, Unity List 3.4%; seats by party - Liberal Party 52, Social Democrats 47, Danish People's Party 24, Conservative Party 18, Social Liberal Party 17, Socialist People's Party 11, Unity List 6; note - does not include the 2 seats from Greenland and the 2 seats from the Faroe Islands | ||
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life) | ||
| Political parties and leaders: | Christian Democrats (was Christian People's Party) [Bodil KORNBEK]; Conservative Party (sometimes known as Conservative People's Party) [Bendt BENDTSEN]; Danish People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN]; Red-Green Unity List (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist Party of Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party) [collective leadership]; Social Democratic Party [Helle THORNING-SCHMIDT]; Social Liberal Party (sometimes called the Radical Left) [Marianne JELVED, leader; Soren BALD, chairman]; Socialist People's Party [Villy SOEVNDAL] | ||
| 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: | |||
| 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 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 accelerated through 2005. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish people enjoy living standards topped by no other nation. A major long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to retirees. | ||
| GDP - real growth rate: | 2.80% | ||
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $33,400 | ||
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: | 2.20% | |
| industry: | 24% | ||
| services: | 73.80% | ||
| Labor force: | 2.9 million | ||
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 3%, industry 21%, services 76% | ||
| Unemployment rate: | 5.50% | ||
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 1.90% | ||
| Investment (gross fixed): | 19.5% of GDP | ||
| Agriculture - products: | barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish | ||
| Industries: | 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 | ||
| Industrial production growth rate: | 4% | ||
| Exports - commodities: | machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills | ||
| Exports - partners: |
Germany 18%, Sweden 13.2%, UK 8.7%, US 5.8%, Netherlands 5.5%, Norway 5.4%, France 5% |
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| Imports - commodities: | machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods | ||
| Imports - partners: | Germany 22.3%, Sweden 13.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, UK 6.1%, France 4.5%, Norway 4.5%, Italy 4.1%, China 4% | ||
| Currency (code): | Danish krone (DKK) | ||
| Fiscal year: | calendar year | ||
| TRANSNATIONAL ISSUES: | |||
| Disputes - international: | Iceland disputes the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm; Faroese continue to study proposals for full independence; uncontested sovereignty dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland | ||
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