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Key Demographic Features of Denmark*

Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany
Map references: Europe

People

Population: 5,249,632 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 17% (male 469,672; female 446,907)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1,789,552; female 1,738,870)
65 years and over: 16% (male 330,396; female 474,235) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.38% (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.3 years
male: 73.78 years
female: 81.01 years (1996 est.)
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%

Government

Country Abbreviation: DA
Type of government: constitutional monarchy
Independence: 10th century first organized as a unified state; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy
National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Constitution: 1849 was the original constitution; there was a major overhaul 5 June 1953, allowing for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of state
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
elections last held 21 September 1994 (next to be held by December 1998); results - Social Democrats 34.6%, Liberals 23.3%, Conservatives 15.0%, Social People's Party 7.3%, Progress Party 6.4%, Radical Liberals 4.6%, Unity Party 3.1%, Center Democrats 2.8%, Christian People's Party 1.8%; seats - (179 total) Social Democrats 63, Liberals 44, Conservatives 28, Social People's Party 13, Progress Party 11, Radical Liberals 8, Unity Party 6, Center Democrats 5, independent 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the monarch for life
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party, Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN; Conservative Party, Hans ENGELL; Liberal Party, Uffe ELLEMANN-JENSEN; Socialist People's Party, Holger K. NIELSEN; Progress Party, Group Chairman Kim BEHNKE and Policy Spokesman Jan Kopke CHRISTENSEN; Center Democratic Party, Mimi Stilling JAKOBSEN; Radical Liberal Party, Marianne JELVED; Christian People's Party, Jann SJURSEN; Danish Workers' Party, Common Cause, Preben Moller HANSEN; Unity Party
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMOGIP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Knud-Erik TYGESEN
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300
FAX: [1] (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
mailing address: APO AE 09716, PSC 73
telephone: [45] (31) 42 31 44
FAX: [45] (35) 43 02 23
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

Economic overview:
GDP: purchasing power parity - $112.8 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 3.1% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $21,700 (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.5% (1995)

Communications

Telephones: 4.005 million (1985 est.)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 2, shortwave 0
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 2
Televisions: 2.04 million (1992 est.)

*Source: World Factbook 1996, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

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