Denmark

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 EU's Maastricht Treaty, including the European Economic and Monetary Union, European defense cooperation, and issues concerning certain justice and home affairs.

• Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland);
• also includes several major islands (Sjaelland, Fyn, and Bornholm)

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

• 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;
• much of country's household and industrial waste is recycled

• composed of the Jutland Peninsula and a group of more than 400 islands (Danish Archipelago);
• controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas;
• about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen

noun:

Dane(s)

adjective:

Danish

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.85 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Denmark

conventional short form:

Denmark

local long form:

Kongeriget Danmark

local short form:

Danmark

etymology:

the name derives from the words "Dane(s)" and "mark"; the latter referring to a march (borderland) or forest

name:

Copenhagen

geographic coordinates:

55 40 N, 12 35 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

• +1hr, begins last Sunday in March;
• ends last Sunday in October;
• note - applies to continental Denmark only, not to its North Atlantic components

etymology:

name derives from the city's Danish appellation Kobenhavn, meaning "Merchant's Harbor"

• metropolitan Denmark - 5 regions (regioner, singular - region);
• Hovedstaden (Capital), Midtjylland (Central Jutland), Nordjylland (North Jutland), Sjaelland (Zealand), Syddanmark (Southern Denmark)

history:

several previous; latest adopted 5 June 1953

amendments:

• proposed by the Folketing with consent of the government;
• passage requires approval by the next Folketing following a general election, approval by simple majority vote of at least 40% of voters in a referendum, and assent of the chief of state;
• changed several times, last in 2009 (Danish Act of Succession)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Denmark

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

7 years

description:

unicameral People's Assembly or Folketing (179 seats, including 2 each representing Greenland and the Faroe Islands; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms unless the Folketing is dissolved earlier)

elections:

last held on 5 June 2019 (next to be held on June 2023)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - SDP 25.9%, V 23.4%, DF 8.7%, SLP 8.6%, SF 7.7%, EL 6.9%, C 6.6%, A 3.0%, NB 2.4%, LA 2.3%;
• seats by party - SDP 48, V 43, DF 16, SLP 16, SF 14, EL 13, C 12, A 5, NB 4, LA 4;
• composition - men 109, women 70 (includes 2 from Greenland), percent of women 39.1%

highest courts:

Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 18 judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges appointed by the monarch upon the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, with the advice of the Judicial Appointments Council, a 6-member independent body of judges and lawyers;
• judges appointed for life with retirement at age 70

subordinate courts:

• Special Court of Indictment and Revision;
• 2 High Courts;
• Maritime and Commercial Court;
• county courts

• The Alternative A or AP (vacant)
• Conservative People's Party or DKF or C [Soren PAPE POULSEN]
• Danish People's Party or DF or O [Kristian THULESEN DAHL]
• Liberal Alliance or LA [Alex VANOPSLAGH]
• Liberal Party (Venstre) or V [Jakob ELLEMAN-JENSEN]
• New Right Party or D or NB [Pernille VERMUND]
• Red-Green Alliance (Unity List) or EL [collective leadership, Pernille SKIPPER, spokesperson]
• Social Democrats or A or SDP [Mette FREDERIKSEN]
• Social Liberal Party or B or SLP [Sofie CARSTEN]
• Socialist People's Party or SF [Pia OLSEN DYHR]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Lone Dencker WISBORG (since 17 September 2015)

chancery:

3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 234-4300

FAX:

[1] (202) 328-1470

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Houston, New York, Palo Alto (CA)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Carla SANDS (since 15 December 2017)

telephone:

[45] 33 41 71 00

embassy:

Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen 0

mailing address:

Unit 5280 ODC, DPO AE 09716

FAX:

[45] 35 43 02 23

• 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;
• the banner is referred to as the Dannebrog (Danish flag) and is one of the oldest national flags in the world;
• traditions as to the origin of the flag design vary, but the best known is a legend that the banner fell from the sky during an early-13th century battle;
• caught up by the Danish king before it ever touched the earth, this heavenly talisman inspired the royal army to victory;
• in actuality, the flag may derive from a crusade banner or ensign

note: the shifted cross design element was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden

Fitch rating:

AAA (2003)

Moody's rating:

Aaa (1999)

Standard & Poors rating: AAA (2001)

• barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets;
• pork, dairy products;
• fish

agriculture:

2.4%

industry:

18.3%

services:

79.3% (2016 est.)

lowest 10%:

9%

highest 10%:

23.4% (2016 est.)

• strong public-sector TV presence with state-owned Danmarks Radio (DR) operating 6 channels and publicly owned TV2 operating roughly a half-dozen channels;
• broadcasts of privately owned stations are available via satellite and cable feed;
• DR operates 4 nationwide FM radio stations, 10 digital audio broadcasting stations, and 14 web-based radio stations;
• 140 commercial and 187 community (non-commercial) radio stations (2019)

number of registered air carriers:

10 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 76

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

582,011 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)

total:

3,476 km (2017)

standard gauge:

3,476 km 1.435-m gauge (1,756 km electrified) (2017)

total:

74,558 km (2017)

paved:

74,558 km (includes 1,205 km of expressways) (2017)

total:

682

by type:

bulk carrier 7, container ship 149, general cargo 59, oil tanker 77, other 390 (2019)

major seaport(s):

Baltic Sea - Aarhus, Copenhagen, Fredericia, Kalundborg

cruise port(s):

Copenhagen

river port(s):

Aalborg (Langerak)

dry bulk cargo port(s):

Ensted (coal); North Sea - Esbjerg,

• the Danish military inventory is comprised of a mix of modern European, US, and domestically-produced equipment;
• the US is the largest supplier of military equipment to Denmark since 2010, followed by Germany and the Netherlands;
• the Danish defense industry is mainly active in the production of naval vessels, defense electronics, and subcomponents of larger weapons systems, such as the US F-35 fighter aircraft (2019 est.)

• 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
• conscripts serve an initial training period that varies from 4 to 12 months depending on specialization;
• former conscripts are assigned to mobilization units;
• women eligible to volunteer for military service;
• in addition to full time employment, the Danish Military offers reserve contracts in all three branches (2016)

• in 2018, the Defense Ministers of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the creation of a Composite Special Operations Component Command (C-SOCC);
• the C-SOCC was declared operational in December 2020

• Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm;
• sovereignty dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland;
• Denmark (Greenland) and Norway have made submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and Russia is collecting additional data to augment its 2001 CLCS submission

refugees (country of origin):

20,046 (Syria), 5,320 (Eritrea) (2019)

stateless persons:

8,672 (2019)