# The World Factbook (1990)/Denmark

pages 81–82
​Denmark
See regional map V
Geography
Total area: 43,070 km²; 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 Greenland
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts
Land boundaries: 68 km with FRG
Coastline: 3,379 km
Maritime claims:
    Contiguous zone: 4 nm
    Continental shelf: 200 meters 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: 61% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 9% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution
Note: controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
People
Population: 5,131,217 (July 1990), growth rate NEGL% (1990)
Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
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
Religion: 97% Evangelical Lutheran, 2% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 1% other
Language: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect); small German-speaking minority
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 2,760,000; 51% services, 34% industry, 8% government, 7% agriculture, forestry, and fishing (1988)
Organized labor: 65% of labor force
Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of Denmark
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Copenhagen
Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark 14 counties (amter, singular—amt) and 1 city* (stad); Århus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, København, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkøbing, Roskilde, Sønderjylland, Staden København*, Storstrøm, 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
Leaders: 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 SCHLÜTER (since 10 September 1982)
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic, Svend Auken; Liberal, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen; Conservative, Poul Schlüter; 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 Møller Hansen; Green Party, Inger Borlehmann
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: Parliament—last held 10 May 1988 (next to be held by May 1992); results—Social Democratic 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
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.
GDP: $73.7 billion, per capita $14,300; real growth rate 1.4% (1989 est.)
​Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.25% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.6% (1989)
Budget: revenues $34 billion; expenditures $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $19 billion (1988)
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
External debt: $41.1 billion (1989 est.)
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 øre
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
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
Inland waterways: 417 km
Pipelines: crude oil, 1 10 km; refined products, 578 km; natural gas, 700 km
Ports: Ålborg, Århus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and minor ports
Merchant marine: 252 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,498,611 GRT/6,711,011 DWT; includes 12 short-sea passenger, 82 cargo, 15 refrigerated cargo, 28 container, 36 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 13 chemical tanker, 12 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 12 bulk; 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
Civil air: 58 major transport aircraft
Airports: 130 total, 114 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services; 4,237,000 telephones; stations—2 AM, 1 5 (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
Branches: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,368,013; 1,180,865 fit for military service; 37,228 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.1% of GDP, or $1.5 billion (1989 est.)