Home > Geography of Denmark

Location:

Northern Europe, islands in the Baltic Sea and the northern part of the Jutland peninsula bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea

Geographic coordinates:

56 00 N, 10 00 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

• Total: 43,094 km²
• Land: 42,394 km²
• Water: 700 km²

Note: Includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Area - comparative:

Slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts

Land boundaries:

• Total: 68 km
• Border countries: Germany 68 km

Coastline:

7,314 km

Maritime claims:

• Contiguous zone: 24 nm
• Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
• Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate:

Temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers

Terrain:

Low and flat to gently rolling plains

Elevation extremes:

• Lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
• Highest point: Ejer Bavnehoj 173 m

Natural resources:

Petroleum, natural gas, fish, saltFor other meanings of the word salt see salt (disambiguation In chemistry, a salt is a composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. They are typically the product of a chemi, limestoneshale overlaid by limestone. Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed of mineral calcite (calcium carbonate). The primary source of this calcite is usually marine organisms. These organisms secrete shells that settle out of t, stoneRock is a substance composed of minerals and classified according to mineral composition. Rocks are generally clasified by the processes that formed them, and are thus separated into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed fr, gravelGravel Gravel is rock that is of a certain size range. In geology, gravel is any loose rock that is at least two millimeters in its largest dimension (about 1/12 of an inch), and no more than 75 millimeters (about 3 inches). Sometimes gravel is restricted and sandSand is an example of a class of materials called granular matter. Sand is a naturally occurring, finely divided rock, comprising particles or granules ranging in size from 0. 063 to 2 mm. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain .

Land use:

• Arable landIn geography, arable land is a form of agricultural land use, meaning land that can be (and is) used for growing crops. David Ricardo incorporated the idea of arable land into economic theory. Of the earth's 57 million square miles (148,000,000 km²) of la: 60%
• Permanent crops: 0%
• Permanent pastures: 5%
• ForestThis article is about forests as a massing of trees. For other uses of the word, see Forest (disambiguation). A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, an area set aside for hunting). Forests can be found in all regions capable os and woodlandBiologically, a woodland is differentiated from a forest. In these terms, a forest has a largely-closed canopy in other words, the branches and foliage of trees interlock overhead to provide extensive and nearly continuous shade. A woodland, however, has: 10%
• Other: 25% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

4,350 km² (1993 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

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

Environment - international agreements:

• Party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
• Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

Controls Danish Straits ( Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in Copenhagen