Denmark

constitutional monarchyIndependence became a constitutional monarchy in 1849

Denmark as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 69 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

Populationas each edition published it

5.13 million July 1991 · 5.13m in 1990

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 1991 · 1.6 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

6 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 6 in 1990

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

11 fields

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

Land boundaries

68km with Germany

Coastline

3,379 km Contiguous zone: 4 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) 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

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

Environment

air and water pollution

Note

controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas

People

14 fields

Population

5,132,626

(July 1991), growth rate NEGL% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth

12Death

Religion(1988)

Evangelical Lutheran 91%other Protestant and Roman Catholic 2%other 7% (1988)

Literacy

99%

(male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)

Net migration rate

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate

6 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth

73 years male, 79 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate

1.6 children born/woman (1991)

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

2,581,400;
private services 36.4%;
government services 30.2%;
manufacturing and mining 20%;
construction 6.8%;
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.9%;
electricity/gas/water 0.7% (1990)

Organized labor

65% of labor force

Government

Constitutional monarchy

16 fields

Parliament, elected 12 December 1990percent of vote

Social Democratic 37.4%Conservative 16.0%Liberal 15.8%Socialist People's 8.3%Progress Party 6.4%Center Democratic 5.1%Radical Liberal 3.5%Christian People's 2.3%other 5.2%

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

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 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;
Conservative, Poul SCHLUTER;
Liberal, Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN;
Socialist People's, Holger K. NIELSEN;
Progress Party, Pia KJAERSGAARD;
Center Democratic, Mimi Stilling JAKOBSEN;
Radical Liberal, Marianne JELVED;
Christian People's, Flemming KOTOED-SVENDSEN;
Left Socialist, Elizabeth BRUN-OLESEN;
Justice, Poul Gerhard KRISTIANSEN;
Socialist Workers Party, leader NA;
Communist Workers' Party (KAP), leader NA;
Common Course, Preben Moller HANSEN;
Green Party, Inger BORLEHMANN

Suffrage

universal at age 21 Parliament--last held 12 December 1990 (next to be held by December 1994);
results--Social Democratic 37.4%, Conservative 16.0%, Liberal 15.8%, Socialist People's 8.3%, Progress Party 6.4%, Center Democratic 5.1%, Radical Liberal 3.5%, Christian People's 2.3%, other 5.2%;
seats--(175 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

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, 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, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

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

$78.0billion

per capita $15,200; real growth rate 1.3% (1990)

Inflation, consumer prices

2.7%

(1990)

Unemployment rate

9.5%

(1990)

External debt

$45billion

(1990)

Budget

Revenues

$62.5 billionExpenditures

$60 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (1989)

Overview

GDP grew by 1.3% in 1990 and probably will grow by about 1.25% in 1991; unemployment is running close to 10%. In 1990 Denmark had the lowest inflation rate in the EC, a record trade surplus, and the first balance-of-payments surplus in 26 years. As the government prepares for the economic integration of Europe during 1992, growth, investment, and competitiveness are expected to improve, reducing unemployment, inflation, and debt.

Exports

$34.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment, fish, chemicals, industrial machinery;
partners--EC 52.2% (Germany 19.5%, UK 10.9%, France 6.1%), Sweden 12.5%, Norway 5.8%, US 5.0%, Japan 4.3% (1990)

Imports

$31.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper;
partners--EC 57% (Germany 25.6%, UK 8.4%), Sweden 12.7%, US 6.7% (1990)

Industrial production

growth rate 2.1% (1989)

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 5% of GNP and employs 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

Economic aid

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89) $5.9 billion

Currency

Danish krone (plural--kroner); 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 ore

Exchange rates

Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1--5.817 (January (1991), 6.189 (1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987), 8.091 (1986), 10.596 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 129 total, 112 usable

permanent-surface runways

27runways over 3,659 m

nonerunways 2,440-3,659 m

9runways 1,220-2,439 m

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

Merchant marine

281 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,888,064 GRT/7,131,949 DWT;
includes 13 short-sea passenger, 85 cargo, 15 refrigerated cargo, 35 container, 40 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 14 chemical tanker, 22 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 14 bulk, 1 combination bulk;
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, 258 of the Danish-flag ships belonged to the DIS

Civil air

69 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services;
4,509,000 telephones;
stations--2 AM, 15 (39 repeaters) FM, 27 (25 repeaters) TV;
7 submarine coaxial cables;
1 earth station operating in INTELSAT, 4 Atlantic Ocean, EUTELSAT, and domestic systems