Denmark

Danmark

The Largest Cities

Greater Copenhagen	1,085,800 (2003)
	1,081,600 (2001)
	1,346,300 (1994)
Århus	222,600 (2003)
	218,400 (2001)
	209,400 (1994)
Odense	145,400 (2003)
	144,800 (2001)
	143,000 (1994)
Ålborg	121,100 (2003)
	120,000 (2001)
	116,600 (1994)

The Country

Denmark consists of the Jutland peninsula and some 400 islands, the largest ones being Sjælland (Zealand) and Fyn (Funen). Greenland and the Faroe islands are also governed by Denmark but are not treated here.

In most of Denmark the subterranean bedrock is ancient chalk and limestone. On top of this rests glacially deposited gravel, sand and clay that often forms fertile soils. Of the total land surface is 63% arable land.

The terrain is low and flat to gently rolling, characterized by the last glaciations. The continental ice sheet once reached its western limit here which runs from Viborg in the north to Flensburg in the south just south of the Danish-German border. To the west of this line the soils are mostly sandy and poor in nutrient, whereas the soils to the east of this line are more fertile.

The highest point is Yding Skovhøj, 173 m, at central Jutland. The longest river is the Gudenå (158 km) which runs from Tørring to the Randers Fjord on the eastern coast of Jutland.

The climate is maritime with mild, windy winters and cool summers. Average temperature in January is 0°C and in July 16°C, the annual average precipitation ranges from 400 mm the in archipelago to 800 mm in southwestern Jutland.

The potential natural vegetation is deciduous forest with beech, elm, lime and oak trees. However, today most of the country is arable land or planned landscapes. Consequently all larger animals, e.g. moose, aurochs, and brown bear that used to roam the countryside are now extinct but roe and red deer. Smaller animals and birds are on the other hand abundant. In the surrounding sea areas fish, e.g. cod, herring and plaice are abundant.

Population

Nearly one third of all Danes live in the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Urbanization is about 85%

The population is relatively homogenous, the proportion of foreign citizens is about 4% and of ethnic Danes 90%. A German minority, in Sønderjylland, along the border to Germany, numbers 15,000. Moreover, some 25,000 greenlanders and people from the Faroe islands live in Denmark.

Economy

Denmark is a modern market economy which 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. So despite relatively poor natural resources Denmark has one of the highest standards of living in the world with an average income of US$ 34,600 per capita (2005).

The government currently concentrates on reducing the persistently high unemployment rate, 5.5% in 2005, of a labor force of 2,900,000, and also to reduce the budget deficit and maintaining the low inflation rate (1.9% in 2005).

Farming is intensive and the arable land is extensively fertilized and irrigated. Denmark is a net exporter of food, mainly pork and dairy products. However, since 1960s has the country earned more from manufacturing than from agriculture.

Fishing is another important sector with a long tradition. In 1995 nearly 3,000 fishing vessels landed 1.9 million tonnes of fish. In 2005 sligthly more than 2,000 fishing wesels landed about 800,000 million tonnes of fish. The largest fishing harbors are Esbjerg, Hvide Sand, Hanstholm, Thyborøn and Skagen.

The main industries include food processing, non-electrical machinery, industrial chemicals and chemical products, textiles and clothing. Also tourism is an important industry.

Main export commodities are: machinery and electronic equipment, ships and boats. Imports goods include food products, machinery, fuels and lubricants, transport equipment and paper.

The most important trading partners are Germany, Sweden, UK, France, Norway, USA, Japan and FSU.

Energy

Oil and natural gas was found during the 1970's in the Danish part of the North Sea. In 1995 10 million tons of crude oil and 5 billion m³ of natural gas were produced. This covered 75% of the countries energy needs, another 7% was covered by combustion of wood and garbage and by electricity generated by wind power stations. Since 1997 the country has been sekf sufficient in energy. In 2004 19 millon tonnes of crude oil and 9 billion m³ of natural gas were produced. However, since 1995 the energy consumption has been stable while the proportion of renewable energy has increased to 15% of the total energy consumption.

Denmark is linked to the Norwegian and Swedish electrical power line system and thus able to export (and import) electrical energy directly.

Environment

Air pollution, principally from vehicles could sometimes be a local problem.

Emissions from cars and thermal power plants has added to the acid rain causing acidified soils and lakes in neighboring parts of Sweden and Norway.

The extensive farming also causes nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the surrounding seas.

Another problem is that drinking and surface water are becoming polluted from animal wastes and the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

There are no national parks in Denmark. On the other hand Denmark is one of the countries with the highest proportion of protected land in the world.