Denmark




                                 Geography


Location:
     Nordic State, Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea on a peninsula
     north of Germany
Map references:
     Arctic Region, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     43,070 sq km
land area:
     42,370 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts
note:
     includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of
     metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland
Land boundaries:
     total 68 km, Germany 68 km
Coastline:
     3,379 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
     4 nm
continental shelf:
     200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive fishing zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     3 nm
International disputes:
     Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the
     UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall
     area); dispute between Denmark and Norway over maritime boundary in
     Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Jan Mayen has been settled by the
     International Court of Justice
Climate:
     temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
Terrain:
     low and flat to gently rolling plains
Natural resources:
     petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone
Land use:
arable land:
     61%
permanent crops:
     0%
meadows and pastures:
     6%
forest and woodland:
     12%
other:
     21%




Irrigated land:
     4,300 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
     air pollution; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the North Sea;
     drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal wastes
natural hazards:
     NA
international agreements:
     party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
     Pollution-Sulphur, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
     Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
     Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
     Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling;
     signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
     Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea
Note:
     controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas; about
     one-quarter of the population lives in Copenhagen


                                  People


Population:
     5,187,821 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     0.23% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     12.45 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     11.28 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     75.81 years
male:
     72.93 years
female:
     78.86 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     1.68 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     Dane(s)
adjective:
     Danish
Ethnic divisions:
     Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German
Religions:
     Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 2%,
     other 7% (1988)




Languages:
     Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect), German (small
     minority)
Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1980 est.)
total population:
     99%
male:
     NA%
female:
     NA%
Labor force:
     2,553,900
by occupation:
     private services 37.1%, government services 30.4%, manufacturing and
     mining 20%, construction 6.3%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing
     5.6%, electricity/gas/water 0.6% (1991)


                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Kongeriget Danmark
local short form:
     Danmark
Digraph:
     DA
Type:
     constitutional monarchy
Capital:
     Copenhagen
Administrative divisions:
     metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 1 city*
     (stad); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kbenhavn, Nordjylland,
     Ribe, Ringkbing, Roskilde, Snderjylland, Staden Kbenhavn*, Storstrm,
     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:
     1849 (became a constitutional monarchy)
National holiday:
     Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Constitution:
     5 June 1953
Legal system:
     civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts
     compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
     21 years of age; universal




Executive branch:
chief of state:
     Queen MARGRETHE II (since NA January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince
     FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968)
head of government:
     Prime Minister Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN (since NA January 1993)
cabinet:
     Cabinet; appointed by the monarch
Legislative branch:
     unicameral
Parliament (Folketing):
     elections last held 12 December 1990 (next to be held by December
     1994); results - Social Democratic Party 37.4%, Conservative Party
     16.0%, Liberal 15.8%, Socialist People's Party 8.3%, Progress Party
     6.4%, Center Democratic Party 5.1%, Radical Liberal Party 3.5%,
     Christian People's Party 2.3%, other 5.2%; seats - (179 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
Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
     Social Democratic Party, Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN; Conservative Party,
     Torben RECHENDORFF; Liberal Party, Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN; Socialist
     People's Party, Holger K. NIELSEN; Progress Party, Johannes SORENSEN;
     Center Democratic Party, Mimi Stilling JAKOBSEN; Radical Liberal
     Party, Marianne JELVED; Christian People's Party, Jann SJURSEN; Common
     Course, Preben Moller HANSEN; Danish Workers' Party
Member of:
     AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, 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, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC,
     NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO,
     UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNMOGIP, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
     WMO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG
chancery:
     3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
     (202) 234-4300
FAX:
     (202) 328-1470
consulate(s) general:
     Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Edward E. ELSON
embassy:
     Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen O
mailing address:
     APO AE 09716




telephone:
     [45] (31) 42-31-44
FAX:
     [45] (35) 43-0223
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


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. Denmark's new center-left coalition government will concentrate
     on reducing the persistent high unemployment rate and the budget
     deficit as well as following the previous government's policies of
     maintaining low inflation and a current account surplus. In the face
     of recent international market pressure on the Danish krone, the
     coalition has also vowed to maintain a stable currency. The coalition
     hopes to lower marginal income taxes while maintaining overall tax
     revenues; boost industrial competitiveness through labor market and
     tax reforms and increased research and development funds; and improve
     welfare services for the neediest while cutting paperwork and delays.
     Prime Minister RASMUSSEN's reforms will focus on adapting Denmark to
     the criteria for European integration by 1999; although Copenhagen has
     won from the European Union (EU) the right to opt out of the European
     Monetary Union (EMU) if a national referendum rejects it. Denmark is,
     in fact, one of the few EU countries likely to fit into the EMU on
     time. Denmark is weathering the current worldwide slump better than
     many West European countries. As the EU's single market (formally
     established on 1 January 1993) gets underway, Danish economic growth
     is expected to pickup to around 2% in 1994. Danish approval of the
     Maastricht treaty on EU political and economic union in May 1993 has
     reversed the drop in investment, further boosting growth. The current
     account surplus remains strong as limitations on wage increases and
     low inflation - expected to be around 2% in 1994 - improve export
     competitiveness. Although unemployment is high, it remains stable
     compared to most European countries.
National product:
     GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $95.6 billion (1993)
National product real growth rate:
     0.5% (1993)
National product per capita:
     $18,500 (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     1.8% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
     11.8% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $48 billion




expenditures:
     $55.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1993)
Exports:
     $36.7 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities:
     meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment
     (shipbuilding), fish, chemicals, industrial machinery
partners:
     EC 54.3% (Germany 23.6%, UK 10.1%, France 5.7%), Sweden 10.5%, Norway
     5.8%, US 4.9%, Japan 3.6% (1992)
Imports:
     $29.7 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities:
     petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs,
     textiles, paper
partners:
     EC 53.4% (Germany 23.1%, UK 8.2%, France 5.6%), Sweden 10.8%, Norway
     5.4%, US 5.7%, Japan 4.1% (1992)
External debt:
     $40 billion (1992 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate -2.5% (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
     11,215,000 kW
production:
     34.17 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
     6,610 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing,
     chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and other
     wood products, shipbuilding
Agriculture:
     accounts for 4% of GDP and employs 5.6% 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:
     1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 oere
Exchange rates:
     Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.771 (January 1994), 6.484 (1993),
     6.036 (1992), 6.396 (1991), 6.189 (1990), 7.310 (1989)
Fiscal year:
     calendar year


                              Communications




Railroads:
     2,770 km; Danish State Railways (DSB) operate 2,120 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:
total:
     66,482 km
paved:
     concrete, asphalt, stone block 64,551 km
unpaved:
     gravel, crushed stone, improved earth 1,931 km
Inland waterways:
     417 km
Pipelines:
     crude oil 110 km; petroleum products 578 km; natural gas 700 km
Ports:
     Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and
     minor ports
Merchant marine:
     347 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,974,494 GRT/6,820,067 DWT,
     bulk 15, cargo 110, chemical tanker 24, combination bulk 1, container
     51, liquefied gas 36, livestock carrier 4, oil tanker 33, railcar
     carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 21, roll-on/roll-off cargo 39, short-sea
     passenger 12
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, 308 of the Danish-flag
     ships belonged to the DIS
Airports:
total:
     118
usable:
     109
with permanent-surface runways:
     28
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     9
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     7
Telecommunications:
     excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services; 4,509,000
     telephones; buried and submarine cables and microwave radio relay
     support trunk network; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 2 FM, 50 TV; 19
     submarine coaxial cables; 7 earth stations operating in INTELSAT,
     EUTELSAT, and INMARSAT


                              Defense Forces




Branches:
     Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force, Home
     Guard
Manpower availability:
     males age 15-49 1,360,050; fit for military service 1,168,940; reach
     military age (20) annually 36,800 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
     exchange rate conversion - $2.6 billion, 2% of GDP (1993)