Denmark (2006) | British Virgin Islands (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter, singular - amt) and 2 boroughs* (amtskommuner, singular - amtskommune); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksberg*, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Kobenhavn (Copenhagen)*, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjalland, Viborg
note: as a result of an extensive 2005 local government reform, with 2006 being a transition year, 275 municipalities will be merged to 99 by 1 January 2007, and the 14 counties will be reorganized into five regions |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 18.7% (male 523,257/female 496,697)
15-64 years: 66.1% (male 1,815,240/female 1,787,406) 65 years and over: 15.2% (male 355,656/female 472,405) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 21.5% (male 2,402; female 2,361)
15-64 years: 73.5% (male 8,395; female 7,911) 65 years and over: 5% (male 594; female 524) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | barley, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets; pork, dairy products; fish | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish |
Airports | 92 (2006) | 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 3 (2006) |
total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 64
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 61 (2006) |
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 43,094 sq km
land: 42,394 sq km water: 700 sq km note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark (the Jutland Peninsula, and the major islands of Sjaelland and Fyn), but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland |
total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Once the seat of Viking raiders and later a major north European power, Denmark has evolved into a modern, prosperous nation that is participating in the general political and economic integration of Europe. It joined NATO in 1949 and the EEC (now the EU) in 1973. However, the country has opted out of certain elements of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty, including the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), European defense cooperation, and issues concerning certain justice and home affairs. | First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. |
Birth rate | 11.13 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 14.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $144 billion
expenditures: $135 billion; including capital expenditures of $4.6 billion (2005 est.) |
revenues: $121.5 million
expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997) |
Capital | name: Copenhagen
geographic coordinates: 55 40 N, 12 35 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Road Town |
Climate | temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 7,314 km | 80 km |
Constitution | 5 June 1849 adoption of original constitution; a major overhaul of 5 June 1953 allowed for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of state | 1 June 1977 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form: Denmark local long form: Kongeriget Danmark local short form: Danmark |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 10.36 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $352.9 billion (30 June 2005) | $36.1 million (1997) |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador James P. CAIN
embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen mailing address: PSC 73, APO AE 09716 telephone: [45] 33 41 71 00 FAX: [45] 35 43 02 23 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Friis Arne PETERSEN
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300 FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | Iceland disputes the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm; Faroese continue to study proposals for full independence; uncontested sovereignty dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $2 billion (2004) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | NA |
Economy - overview | This thoroughly modern market economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, a stable currency, and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy and enjoys a comfortable balance of payments surplus. Government objectives include streamlining the bureaucracy and further privatization of state assets. The government has been successful in meeting, and even exceeding, the economic convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (a common European currency) of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), but Denmark has decided not to join 12 other EU members in the euro. Nonetheless, the Danish krone remains pegged to the euro. Economic growth gained momentum in 2004 and the upturn accelerated through 2005. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish people enjoy living standards topped by no other nation. A major long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to retirees. | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959. |
Electricity - consumption | 31.68 billion kWh (2003) | 35.43 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 15.6 billion kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 7 billion kWh (2003) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 43.32 billion kWh (2003) | 38.1 million kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
highest point: Yding Skovhoej 173 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution, principally from vehicle and power plant emissions; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the North Sea; drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal wastes and pesticides | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali | black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed |
Exchange rates | Danish kroner per US dollar - 5.9969 (2005), 5.9911 (2004), 6.5877 (2003), 7.8947 (2002), 8.3228 (2001) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II (since 14 January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the monarch (born 26 May 1968)
head of government: Prime Minister Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN (since 27 November 2001) cabinet: Council of State appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002)
head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor |
Exports | 332,100 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, chemicals, furniture, ships, windmills | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand |
Exports - partners | Germany 17.5%, Sweden 13.2%, UK 8.8%, US 6.4%, France 5.5%, Netherlands 5.3%, Norway 5.1% (2005) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | 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 | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 24.6% services: 73.5% (2005 est.) |
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.2% (2005 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 56 00 N, 10 00 E | 18 30 N, 64 30 W |
Geography - note | controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico |
Highways | - | total: 177 km
paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 24% (2000 est.) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering |
Imports | 195,000 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery |
Imports - partners | Germany 20.5%, Sweden 13.8%, Norway 6.6%, Netherlands 6.6%, UK 6%, China 4.7%, France 4.2%, Italy 4.1% (2005) | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US |
Independence | first organized as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.6% (2005 est.) | NA |
Industries | iron, steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals, food processing, machinery and transportation equipment, textiles and clothing, electronics, construction, furniture and other wood products, shipbuilding and refurbishment, windmills, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.8% (2005 est.) | 2.5% (2002) |
International organization participation | AfDB, Arctic Council, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Irrigated land | 4,490 sq km (2003) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life) | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction |
Labor force | 2.9 million (2005 est.) | 4,911 (1980) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 3%
industry: 21% services: 76% (2004 est.) |
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA |
Land boundaries | total: 68 km
border countries: Germany 68 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 52.59%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 47.22% (2005) |
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001) |
Languages | Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language |
English (official) |
Legal system | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | English law |
Legislative branch | unicameral People's Assembly or Folketinget (179 seats, including 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe Islands; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 8 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - Liberal Party 29%, Social Democrats 25.9%, Danish People's Party 13.2%, Conservative Party 10.3%, Social Liberal Party 9.2%, Socialist People's Party 6%, Unity List 3.4%; seats by party - Liberal Party 52, Social Democrats 47, Danish People's Party 24, Conservative Party 18, Social Liberal Party 17, Socialist People's Party 11, Unity List 6; note - does not include the 2 seats from Greenland and the 2 seats from the Faroe Islands |
unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.79 years
male: 75.49 years female: 80.22 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 76.27 years
male: 75.24 years female: 77.36 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA female: NA |
Location | Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland); also includes two major islands (Sjaelland and Fyn) | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico |
Map references | Europe | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 293 ships (1000 GRT or over) 7,986,735 GRT/9,936,431 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 7, cargo 63, chemical tanker 48, container 86, liquefied gas 4, livestock carrier 2, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 40, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 7, roll on/roll off 8, specialized tanker 4 foreign-owned: 25 (Canada 1, Germany 13, Greece 5, Greenland 1, Norway 3, Sweden 1, UK 1) registered in other countries: 409 (Antigua and Barbuda 14, Bahamas 59, Belgium 4, Cayman Islands 5, Cyprus 1, Egypt 1, Estonia 2, France 1, French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2, Gibraltar 1, Hong Kong 6, Isle of Man 53, North Korea 1, Liberia 8, Lithuania 10, Malta 6, Marshall Islands 1, Mexico 2, Netherlands 9, Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 32, Panama 34, Portugal 4, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 14, Singapore 52, South Africa 1, Spain 1, Sweden 4, UK 46, US 24, Vanuatu 6, Venezuela 3, Vietnam 1) (2006) |
total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT
by type: cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: Norway 1 registered in other countries: 32 (2004 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Defense Command: Army Operational Command, Admiral Danish Fleet, Tactical Air Command (2006) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $3,271.6 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.5% (2004) | - |
National holiday | none designated; Constitution Day, 5 June (1849) is generally viewed as the National Day | Territory Day, 1 July |
Nationality | noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish |
noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
Natural hazards | flooding is a threat in some areas of the country (e.g., parts of Jutland, along the southern coast of the island of Lolland) that are protected from the sea by a system of dikes | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 2.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | condensate 12 km; gas 3,931 km; oil 626 km; oil/gas/water 2 km (2006) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democrats (was Christian People's Party) [Bodil KORNBEK]; Conservative Party (sometimes known as Conservative People's Party) [Bendt BENDTSEN]; Danish People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]; Liberal Party [Anders Fogh RASMUSSEN]; Red-Green Unity List (bloc includes Left Socialist Party, Communist Party of Denmark, Socialist Workers' Party) [collective leadership]; Social Democratic Party [Helle THORNING-SCHMIDT]; Social Liberal Party (sometimes called the Radical Left) [Marianne JELVED, leader; Soren BALD, chairman]; Socialist People's Party [Villy SOEVNDAL] | Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 5,450,661 (July 2006 est.) | 22,187 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 0.33% (2006 est.) | 2.06% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Road Town |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 355, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 2,673 km
standard gauge: 2,673 km 1.435-m gauge (601 km electrified) (2005) |
- |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslim 2% | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: excellent telephone and telegraph services
domestic: buried and submarine cables and microwave radio relay form trunk network, 4 cellular mobile communications systems international: country code - 45; 18 submarine fiber-optic cables linking Denmark with Canada, Faroe Islands, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and UK; satellite earth stations - 6 Intelsat, 10 Eutelsat, 1 Orion, 1 Inmarsat (Blaavand-Atlantic-East); note - the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) share the Danish earth station and the Eik, Norway, station for worldwide Inmarsat access (1997) |
general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda |
Telephones - main lines in use | 3.35 million (2005) | 11,700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 5.469 million (2005) | 8,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 26 (plus 51 repeaters) (1998) | 1 (plus one cable company) (1997) |
Terrain | low and flat to gently rolling plains | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly |
Total fertility rate | 1.74 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 1.72 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 5.7% (2005 est.) | 3% (1995) |
Waterways | 400 km (2001) | - |