Denmark

constitutional monarchyIndependence became a constitutional monarchy in 1849

Denmark as the 1990 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 73 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalCopenhagen
Area43,070 km2
1990

Every edition of Denmark

Populationas each edition published it
5.13 million July 1990 · 6.05m in 2025
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 0.23% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 39.1 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 75.51 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.6 children per woman 1990 · 1.5 in 2025
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1990 · 3.1 in 2025
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $18,200 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 1% in 1993

Geography

15 fields

Land useshare of 43,070 km2

arable land 61%meadows and pastures 6%forest and woodland 12%other 21%NEGL% permanent crops; includes 9% irrigated
Total area
43,070km2
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 GreenlandComparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts
Coastline
3,379km
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Land boundaries
68km with FRG

Continental shelf

200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

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

Environment

air and water pollution

Note

controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas

People

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

Per 1,000 population(1990)

Birth
12Death
11

Religion

Evangelical Lutheran 97%other Protestant and Roman Catholic 2%other 1%

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

Language

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

Labor force

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

Organized labor

65% of labor force

Government

Constitutional monarchy

16 fields

Parliament, elected 10 May 1988percent of vote

Social Democrat 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%

Long-form name

Kingdom of Denmark

Type

constitutional monarchy

Capital

Copenhagen

Administrative divisions

  • metropolitan Denmark--14 counties (amter, singular--amt) and 1 city* (stad);
  • Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Staden Kobenhavn*, Storstrom, 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

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 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 SCHLUTER (since 10 September 1982)

Political parties and leaders

  • Social Democratic, Svend Auken;
  • Liberal, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen;
  • Conservative, Poul Schluter;
  • 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 Moller Hansen;
  • Green Party, Inger Borlehmann

Suffrage

  • universal at age 21 Parliament--last held 10 May 1988 (next to be held by May 1992);
  • results--Social Democrat 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

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.

16 fields
GDP, purchasing power parity
$73.7billion
per capita $14,300; real growth rate 1.4% (1989 est.)
External debt
$41.1billion
(1989 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$34 billionExpenditures
$34 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $19 billion (1988)

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.

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

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 ore

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

9 fields

Merchant marine, 252 ships by type

short-sea passenger 12cargo 82refrigerated cargo 15container 28roll-on/roll-off cargo 36railcar carrier 1petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 37chemical tanker 13liquefied gas 12livestock carrier 4bulk; 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 12252 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,498,611 GRT/6,711,011 DWT

Airports, 130 total, 114 usable

permanent-surface runways
27runways over 3,659 m
nonerunways 2,440-3,659 m
9runways 1,220-2,439 m
6

Networkskm

Highways
66,482Inland waterways
417
Highways: ; 64,551 km concrete, bitumen, or stone block; 1,931 km gravel, crushed stone, improved earth

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

Pipelines

  • crude oil, 110 km;
  • refined products, 578 km;
  • natural gas, 700 km

Ports

Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and minor ports

Civil air

58 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services;
  • 4,237,000 telephones;
  • stations--2 AM, 15 (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

Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force

3 fields

Military manpower

males 15-49
1,368,013fit for military service
1,180,865reach military age (20) annually
37,228
Defense expenditures
2.1%of GDP
or $1.5 billion (1989 est.)

Branches

Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force

Central Intelligence Agency. “Denmark.” The World Factbook 1990. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/denmark/1990.

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