Country Profiles - Denmark

DENMARK

Geography: Smallest of the Scandinavian countries (half the size of Maine), Denmark occupies the Jutland peninsula, a lowland area. The country also consists of several islands in the Baltic Sea; the two largest are Sjælland, the site of Copenhagen, and Fyn.
Government: Constitutional monarchy.
History: From 10,000 to 1500 B.C. , the population of present-day Denmark evolved from a society of hunters and fishers into one of farmers. Called Jutland by the end of the 8th century, its mariners were among the Vikings, or Norsemen, who raided western Europe and the British Isles from the 9th to 11th century.
The country was Christianized by Saint Ansgar and Harald Blaatand (Bluetooth)—the first Christian king—in the 10th century. Harald's son, Sweyn, conquered England in 1013. Sweyn's son, Canute the Great, who reigned from 1014 to 1035, united Denmark, England, and Norway under his rule; the southern tip of Sweden was part of Denmark until the 17th century. On Canute's death, civil war tore apart the country until Waldemar I (1157–1182) reestablished Danish hegemony in the north.
In 1282, the nobles won the Great Charter, and Eric V was forced to share power with parliament and a Council of Nobles. Waldemar IV (1340–1375) restored Danish power, checked only by the Hanseatic League of north German cities allied with ports from Holland to Poland. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden united under the rule of his daughter Margrethe in 1397. But Sweden later achieved autonomy and in 1523, under Gustavus I, independence.
Denmark supported Napoléon, for which it was punished at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 by the loss of Norway to Sweden. In 1864, the Prussians under Bismarck and the Austrians made war on Denmark as an initial step in the unification of Germany. Denmark was neutral in World War I.

Map of Denmark

Sovereign: Queen Margrethe II (1972)

Prime Minister: Lars Lokke Rasmussen (2015)

Land area: 16,359 sq mi (42,370 sq km); total area: 16,639 sq mi (43,094 sq km)¹

Population (2014 est.): 5,569,077 (growth rate: 0.22%); birth rate: 10.22/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.1/1000; life expectancy: 79.09

Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Copenhagen, 1.206 million

Monetary unit: Krone

National name: Kongeriget Danmark

Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (Inuit dialect), German; English is the predominant second language

Ethnicity/race: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali

National Holiday: Constitution Day, June 5

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran (official) 80%, Muslim 4%, other (denominations of less than 1% each, includes Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Serbian Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Baptist, and Buddhist) 16% (2012 est.)

Literacy rate: 99%

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $211.3 billion; per capita $37,800. Real growth rate: 0.1%. Inflation: 0.8%. Unemployment: 6%. Arable land: 57.99%. Agriculture: barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 2.795 million; agriculture 2.6%, industry 20.3%, services 77.1% (2013 est.). Industries: iron, steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals, food processing, machinery and transportation equipment, textiles and clothing, electronics, construction, furniture and other wood products, shipbuilding and refurbishment, windmills, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, stone, gravel and sand. Exports: $106 billion (2013 est.): machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills. Imports: $98.45 billion (2013 est.): machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods. Major trading partners: Germany, Sweden, UK, U.S., Netherlands, Norway, China (2012).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2.431 million (2012); mobile cellular: 6.6 million (2012). Broadcast media:strong public-sector television presence with state-owned Danmarks Radio (DR) operating 4 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, 15 digital audio broadcasting stations, and about 15 web-based radio stations; approximately 250 commercial and community radio stations are operational (2007). Internet hosts:4.297 million (2012). Internet users: 4.75 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 2,667 km km (2011). Highways: total: 73,197 km; paved: 73,197 km (includes 1,111 km of expressways) (2011). Waterways: 400 km (2010). Ports and harbors: Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Ensted, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Kalundborg. Airports: 92 (2013 est.).

Transportation: Railways: total: 2,667 km km (2012). Highways: total: 73,929 km; paved: 73,929 km (includes 1,143 km of expressways) (2012). Waterways: 400 km (2010). Ports and harbors: Aalborg, Aarhus, Copenhagen, Ensted, Esbjerg, Fredericia, Kalundborg. Airports: 80 (2010 est.).

International disputes: Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm; Faroese continue to study proposals for full independence; 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.

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