Communications
Airports [time series]
total: 118 usable: 109 with permanent-surface runways: 28 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 7
Roadways (Highways) [time series]
total: 66,482 km paved: concrete, asphalt, stone block 64,551 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, improved earth 1,931 km
Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]
417 km
Merchant marine [time series]
347 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,974,494 GRT/6,820,067 DWT, bulk 15, cargo 110, chemical tanker 24, combination bulk 1, container 51, liquefied gas 36, livestock carrier 4, oil tanker 33, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 21, roll-on/roll-off cargo 39, short-sea passenger 12 note: Denmark has created its own internal register, called the Danish International Ship register (DIS); 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, 308 of the Danish-flag ships belonged to the DIS
Pipelines [time series]
crude oil 110 km; petroleum products 578 km; natural gas 700 km
Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and minor ports
Railways (Railroads) [time series]
2,770 km; Danish State Railways (DSB) operate 2,120 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
Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]
excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services; 4,509,000 telephones; buried and submarine cables and microwave radio relay support trunk network; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 2 FM, 50 TV; 19 submarine coaxial cables; 7 earth stations operating in INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INMARSAT
Defense Forces
Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]
Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force, Home Guard
Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]
exchange rate conversion - $2.6 billion, 2% of GDP (1993)
Manpower availability [time series]
males age 15-49 1,360,050; fit for military service 1,168,940; reach military age (20) annually 36,800 (1994 est.)
Economy
Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]
accounts for 4% of GDP and employs 5.6% of labor force (includes fishing and forestry); farm products account for nearly 15% of export revenues; principal products - meat, dairy, grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets, fish; self-sufficient in food production
Budget [time series]
revenues: $48 billion expenditures: $55.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993)
Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]
1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 oere
Economic aid [time series]
donor: ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $5.9 billion
Electricity [time series]
capacity: 11,215,000 kW production: 34.17 billion kWh consumption per capita: 6,610 kWh (1992)
Exchange rates [time series]
Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.771 (January 1994), 6.484 (1993), 6.036 (1992), 6.396 (1991), 6.189 (1990), 7.310 (1989)
Exports [time series]
$36.7 billion (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment (shipbuilding), fish, chemicals, industrial machinery partners: EC 54.3% (Germany 23.6%, UK 10.1%, France 5.7%), Sweden 10.5%, Norway 5.8%, US 4.9%, Japan 3.6% (1992)
Debt - external (External debt) [time series]
$40 billion (1992 est.)
Fiscal year [time series]
calendar year
Imports [time series]
$29.7 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.) commodities: petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper partners: EC 53.4% (Germany 23.1%, UK 8.2%, France 5.6%), Sweden 10.8%, Norway 5.4%, US 5.7%, Japan 4.1% (1992)
Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]
growth rate -2.5% (1993 est.)
Industries [time series]
food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and other wood products, shipbuilding
Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]
1.8% (1993 est.)
Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $95.6 billion (1993)
Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]
$18,500 (1993)
Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]
0.5% (1993)
Economic overview (Overview) [time series]
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. Denmark's new center-left coalition government will concentrate on reducing the persistent high unemployment rate and the budget deficit as well as following the previous government's policies of maintaining low inflation and a current account surplus. In the face of recent international market pressure on the Danish krone, the coalition has also vowed to maintain a stable currency. The coalition hopes to lower marginal income taxes while maintaining overall tax revenues; boost industrial competitiveness through labor market and tax reforms and increased research and development funds; and improve welfare services for the neediest while cutting paperwork and delays. Prime Minister RASMUSSEN's reforms will focus on adapting Denmark to the criteria for European integration by 1999; although Copenhagen has won from the European Union (EU) the right to opt out of the European Monetary Union (EMU) if a national referendum rejects it. Denmark is, in fact, one of the few EU countries likely to fit into the EMU on time. Denmark is weathering the current worldwide slump better than many West European countries. As the EU's single market (formally established on 1 January 1993) gets underway, Danish economic growth is expected to pickup to around 2% in 1994. Danish approval of the Maastricht treaty on EU political and economic union in May 1993 has reversed the drop in investment, further boosting growth. The current account surplus remains strong as limitations on wage increases and low inflation - expected to be around 2% in 1994 - improve export competitiveness. Although unemployment is high, it remains stable compared to most European countries.
Unemployment rate [time series]
11.8% (1993 est.)
Geography
total area: 43,070 sq km land area: 42,370 sq km comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland
Climate [time series]
temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
Coastline [time series]
3,379 km
Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]
current issues: air pollution; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the North Sea; drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal wastes natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea
Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]
Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); dispute between Denmark and Norway over maritime boundary in Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Jan Mayen has been settled by the International Court of Justice
Irrigated land [time series]
4,300 sq km (1989 est.)
Land boundaries [time series]
total 68 km, Germany 68 km
Land use [time series]
arable land: 61% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 6% forest and woodland: 12% other: 21%
Location [time series]
Nordic State, Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea on a peninsula north of Germany
Map references [time series]
Arctic Region, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims [time series]
contiguous zone: 4 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 3 nm
Natural resources [time series]
petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone
controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in Copenhagen
Terrain [time series]
low and flat to gently rolling plains
Government
Administrative divisions [time series]
metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 1 city* (stad); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kbenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkbing, Roskilde, Snderjylland, Staden Kbenhavn*, Storstrm, 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
Capital [time series]
Copenhagen
Constitution [time series]
5 June 1953
Digraph [time series]
DA
Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation in US) [time series]
chief of mission: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 234-4300
Executive branch [time series]
chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II (since NA January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968) head of government: Prime Minister Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN (since NA January 1993) cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the monarch
Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]
(202) 328-1470 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
Diplomatic representation in the US (FAX) [time series]
[45] (35) 43-0223
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
Independence [time series]
1849 (became a constitutional monarchy)
Judicial branch [time series]
Supreme Court
Legal system [time series]
civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Legislative branch [time series]
unicameral
International organization participation (Member of) [time series]
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-9, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNMOGIP, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC
Country name (Names) [time series]
conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark conventional short form: Denmark local long form: Kongeriget Danmark local short form: Danmark
National holiday [time series]
Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Legislative branch (Parliament (Folketing)) [time series]
elections last held 12 December 1990 (next to be held by December 1994); results - Social Democratic Party 37.4%, Conservative Party 16.0%, Liberal 15.8%, Socialist People's Party 8.3%, Progress Party 6.4%, Center Democratic Party 5.1%, Radical Liberal Party 3.5%, Christian People's Party 2.3%, other 5.2%; seats - (179 total; includes 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe Islands) Social Democratic 69, Conservative 30, Liberal 29, Socialist People's 15, Progress Party 12, Center Democratic 9, Radical Liberal 7, Christian People's 4
Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]
Social Democratic Party, Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN; Conservative Party, Torben RECHENDORFF; Liberal Party, Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN; Socialist People's Party, Holger K. NIELSEN; Progress Party, Johannes SORENSEN; Center Democratic Party, Mimi Stilling JAKOBSEN; Radical Liberal Party, Marianne JELVED; Christian People's Party, Jann SJURSEN; Common Course, Preben Moller HANSEN; Danish Workers' Party
Suffrage [time series]
21 years of age; universal
Government type (Type) [time series]
constitutional monarchy
Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]
chief of mission: Ambassador Edward E. ELSON embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen O mailing address: APO AE 09716 telephone: [45] (31) 42-31-44
People
Birth rate [time series]
12.45 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate [time series]
11.28 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]
Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German
Infant mortality rate [time series]
6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Labor force [time series]
2,553,900 by occupation: private services 37.1%, government services 30.4%, manufacturing and mining 20%, construction 6.3%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.6%, electricity/gas/water 0.6% (1991)
Languages [time series]
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect), German (small minority)
Life expectancy at birth [time series]
total population: 75.81 years male: 72.93 years female: 78.86 years (1994 est.)
Literacy [time series]
age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.) total population: 99% male: NA% female: NA%
Nationality [time series]
noun: Dane(s) adjective: Danish
Net migration rate [time series]
1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Population [time series]
5,187,821 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate [time series]
0.23% (1994 est.)
Religions [time series]
Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 2%, other 7% (1988)
Total fertility rate [time series]
1.68 children born/woman (1994 est.)