Country Profile: Denmark

Last reviewed: 27 June 2008

Country information

DENMARK TODAY

Country Facts

Area: 42,930 sq km (2,210,415 sq km including Greenland and Faroes)
Population: 5.4 million
Capital City: Copenhagen
People: Overwhelmingly Danish by origin; non-EU immigrants number about 4.5% of the population.
Languages: is spoken in the Faeroes: it is not mutually comprehensible with Danish. In Greenland, both Danish and Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect) are spoken. English is widely spoken throughout Denmark to a very high standard.
Religions: The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the state church. About 84% of Danes belong to it (and about 95% were brought up in it). There are small numbers of other Christian denominations. Muslims form about 3-4% of the population.
Currency: Danish Krone (DKr)
Political Parties Represented in Parliament: From right to left: Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti); Conservatives (Konservativ Folkeparti); Liberals (Venstre); New Alliance (Ny Alliance); Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre); Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne); Socialist People's Party (Socialistiske Folkeparti); Red/Green Alliance (Enhedslisten).
Head of State: Queen Margrethe II
Prime Minister: Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Foreign Minister: Per Stig Moeller
Membership of international groups/organisations: United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Nordic Council, World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe (CoE), Council of the Baltic Sea States, Antarctic Treaty.

DID YOU KNOW?

Denmark has the oldest monarchy in the world, starting with Gorm the Elder who was King from 900AD.

Denmark is made up of a peninsula (Jutland) and 406 islands, many of them linked by bridges including the 13.4 km long Great Belt Bridge.
The world's oldest amusement park is Bakken (The Hill) north of Copenhagen, which opened in 1583 and still operates today.
The highest point in Denmark called the Himmelbjerg (Sky Mountain) is only 180m above sea level.
Greenland is geographically part of the North American continent but it was governed by Denmark for centuries. It was granted self-government by the Danish parliament in 1978 but Denmark controls its foreign affairs.

The Faroes, 18 islands in the Atlantic, are self-governing but belong to the Kingdom of Denmark.