Location | Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland); also includes several major islands (Sjaelland, Fyn, and Bornholm) |
Geographic coordinates | 56 00 N, 10 00 E |
Map references | Europe |
Area | total: 43,094 sq km land: 42,434 sq km water: 660 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 |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts; about two-thirds the size of West Virginia |
Land boundaries | total: 140 km border countries (1): Germany 140 km |
Coastline | 7,314 km |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Climate | temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers |
Terrain | low and flat to gently rolling plains |
Elevation extremes | highest point: Mollehoj/Ejer Bavnehoj 171 m lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m mean elevation: 34 m |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, fish, arable land, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand |
Land use | agricultural land: 63.4% (2018 est.) arable land: 58.9% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 4.4% (2018 est.) forest: 12.9% (2018 est.) other: 23.7% (2018 est.) note: highest percentage of arable land for any country in the world |
Irrigated land | 4,350 sq km (2012) |
Total renewable water resources | 6 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
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 |
Geography - note | composed of the Jutland Peninsula and a group of more than 400 islands (Danish Archipelago); controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021