Administrative divisions
metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 2 boroughs* (amtskommuner, singular - amtskomunes); 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 overseas administrative divisions

Age structure
0-14 years: 18.9% (male 523,888; female 497,420)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 1,808,376; female 1,774,388)
65 years and over: 15% (male 344,113; female 465,207) (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products
barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish

Airports
99 (2003 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 (2003 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways
total: 71
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 65 (2003 est.)

Area
total: 43,094 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: 42,394 sq km

Area - comparative
slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts

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 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) and issues concerning certain justice and home affairs.

Birth rate
11.59 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Budget
revenues: $118.5 billion
expenditures: $116 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (2003 est.)

Capital
Copenhagen

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

Coastline
7,314 km

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

Country name
conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form: Denmark
local short form: Danmark
local long form: Kongeriget Danmark

Currency
Danish krone (DKK)

Currency code
DKK

Current account balance
$6.397 billion (2003)

Death rate
10.53 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Debt - external
$21.7 billion (2000)

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Stuart A. BERNSTEIN
embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen
mailing address: PSC 73, APO AE 09716
telephone: [45] 35 55 31 44
FAX: [45] 35 43 02 23

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Ulrik Andreas FEDERSPIEL
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York
FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

Disputes - international
Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area) remains dormant; 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; Faroese continue to study proposals for full independence; uncontested dispute with Canada over Hans Island sovereignty in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland

Distribution of family income - Gini index
24.7 (1992)

Economic aid - donor
ODA, $1.63 billion (1999)

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; even so, the Danish Krone remains pegged to the euro. Given the sluggish state of the European economy, growth in 2003 was a mere 0.3%.

Electricity - consumption
32.41 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports
8.775 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports
8.199 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production
35.47 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 82.7%
hydro: 0.1%
other: 17.3% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
highest point: Yding Skovhoej 173 m

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-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Ethnic groups
Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali

Exchange rates
Danish kroner per US dollar - 6.5877 (2003), 7.8947 (2002), 8.3228 (2001), 8.0831 (2000), 6.9762 (1999)

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: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister and approved by Parliament
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

Exports
$64.16 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities
machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills

Exports - partners
Germany 16.1%, Sweden 12%, UK 7.4%, Norway 7%, US 6.2%, France 5.4%, Netherlands 4.1% (2003 est.)

Fiscal year
calendar year

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

GDP
purchasing power parity - $167.2 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 2%
industry: 22.1%
services: 75.9% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $31,100 (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate
0% (2003 est.)

Geographic coordinates
56 00 N, 10 00 E

Geography - note
controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen

Government type
constitutional monarchy

Highways
total: 71,591 km
paved: 71,591 km (including 880 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2000)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths
less than 100 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
5,000 (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage shar
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 24% (2000 est.)

Imports
$54.47 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities
machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods

Imports - partners
Germany 24.2%, Sweden 12.4%, Netherlands 7.5%, UK 6.4%, France 6%, Norway 4.6%, Italy 4% (2003 est.)

Independence
first organized as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy

Industrial production growth rate
0.3% (2003 est.)

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

Infant mortality rate
total: 4.63 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 4.65 deaths/1,000 live births

Inflation rate (consumer prices)
2.1% (2003 est.)

International organization participation
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Internet country code
.dk

Internet hosts
1,219,925 (2004)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
13 (2000)

Internet users
2.756 million (2002)

Investment (gross fixed)
19.9% of GDP (2003)

Irrigated land
4,760 sq km (1998 est.)

Judicial branch
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life)

Labor force
2.863 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation
agriculture 4%, industry 17%, services 79% (2002 est.)

Land boundaries
total: 68 km
border countries: Germany 68 km

Land use
arable land: 54.02%
permanent crops: 0.19%
other: 45.79% (2001)

Languages
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language

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

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 20 November 2001 (next to be held by November 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 31%, Social Democrats 29%, Danish People's Party 12%, Conservative Party 9%, Socialist People's Party 6%, Social Liberal Party 5%, Christian People's Party (now Christian Democrats) 2%, Unity List 2%; seats by party - Liberal Party 56, Social Democrats 52, Danish People's Party 22, Conservative Party 16, Socialist People's Party 12, Social Liberal Party 9, Christian People's Party (now Christian Democrats) 4, Unity List 4; note - does not include the 2 seats from Greenland and the 2 seats from the Faroe Islands

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 77.44 years
male: 75.17 years
female: 79.83 years (2004 est.)

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 100%
male: NA
female: NA

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)

Map references
Europe

Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Median age
total: 39.2 years
male: 38.3 years
female: 40.2 years (2004 est.)

Merchant marine
total: 276 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,952,473 GRT/9,030,444 DWT
registered in other countries: 284 (2003 est.)
foreign-owned: Germany 1, Greece 1, Indonesia 2, Norway 5
by type: bulk 4, cargo 77, chemical tanker 36, container 83, liquefied gas 15, livestock carrier 5, petroleum tanker 27, rail car carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 11, short-sea/passenger 5, specialized tanker 4

Military branches
Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force, Home Guard

Military expenditures - dollar figure
$3,271.6 million (2003)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1.6% (2003)

Military manpower - availability
males age 15-49: 1,276,087 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service
males age 15-49: 1,088,751 (2004 est.)

Military manpower - military age
18 years of age; note - conscripts serve an initial training period that varies from four to 12 months according to specialization; following their conscript service, reservists are assigned to mobilization units (2004 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually
males: 30,333 (2004 est.)

National holiday
none designated; Constitution Day, 5 June is generally viewed as the National Day

Nationality
noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish

Natural gas - consumption
5.28 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports
3.1 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - production
8.38 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves
81.98 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

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

Natural resources
petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand

Net migration rate
2.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption
218,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports
332,100 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports
195,000 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - production
346,200 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - proved reserves
1.23 billion bbl (1 January 2002)

Pipelines
condensate 12 km; gas 3,892 km; oil 455 km; oil/gas/water 2 km; unknown (oil/water) 64 km (2003)

Political parties and leaders
Center Democratic Party [Mimi JAKOBSEN]; Christian Democrats (was Christian People's Party) [Marianne KARLSMOSE]; Conservative Party (sometimes known as Conservative People's Party) [Bendt BENDTSEN]; Danish People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN]; Social Democratic Party [Mogens LYKKETOFT]; 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

Population
5,413,392 (July 2004 est.)

Population below poverty line
NA

Population growth rate
0.35% (2004 est.)

Ports and harbors
Aabenraa, Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Frederikshavn, Hirtshals, Kolding, Odense, Roenne (Bornholm), Vejle

Public debt
45% of GDP (2003)

Radio broadcast stations
AM 2, FM 355, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios
6.02 million (1997)

Railways
total: 3,002 km
standard gauge: 3,002 km 1.435-m gauge (595 km electrified) (2003)

Religions
Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslim 2%

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$37.98 billion (2003)

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: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Suffrage
18 years of age; universal

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; 18 submarine fiber-optic cables linking Denmark with Canada, Faroe Islands, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and UK; 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)

Telephones - main lines in use
3,610,100 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular
4,785,300 (2003)

Television broadcast stations
26 (plus 51 repeaters) (1998)

Televisions
3.121 million (1997)

Terrain
low and flat to gently rolling plains

Total fertility rate
1.74 children born/woman (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate
6.1% (2003)

Waterways
417 km