Geography of Denmark

{{Country geography

| name = Denmark

| map = Satellite image of Denmark in July 2001.jpg

| continent = Europe

| region = Northern Europe (Scandinavia)

| coordinates =

| km area = 43094

| percent land = 98

| km coastline = 8750

| borders = Total land borders:68 km

| highest point = Møllehøj171 m

| lowest point = Lammefjord -7 m

| longest river = Gudenå 149 km

| largest lake = Arresø 40.72 km2

| exclusive economic zone = (excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland)}}

Denmark is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. It consists of the Jutland Peninsula and several islands in the Baltic Sea, referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark is located southwest of Sweden and due south of Norway and is bordered by the German state (and former possession) Schleswig-Holstein to the south, with a 68-kilometre (42-mile) long land border.

Denmark borders both the Baltic and North seas along its tidal shoreline. Denmark's general coastline is much shorter, at , as it would not include most of the 1,419 offshore islands (each defined as exceeding in area) and the Limfjorden, which separates Denmark's second largest island, North Jutlandic Island, in size, from the rest of Jutland. No location in Denmark is further from the coast than . The land area of Denmark is estimated to be . However, it cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and there are human land reclamation projects. On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between , and the tideline moves outward and inward on a stretch.Nationalencyklopedin, (1990) A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were of tidal flats in Denmark, making it the 42nd ranked country in terms of tidal flat extent. Denmark has an Exclusive Economic Zone of . When including the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the EEZ is the 15th largest in the world with .

A circle enclosing the same total area as Denmark would have a diameter of 234 km (146 miles). Denmark has 443 named islands (1,419 islands above ),Islands in total and named islands of which 72 are inhabited (, Statistics Denmark). The largest islands are Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn). The island of Bornholm is located east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the larger islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden; the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand; and the Little Belt Bridge connects Jutland with Funen. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen on Zealand; Århus, Aalborg and Esbjerg in Jutland; and Odense on Funen.

Denmark experiences a temperate climate, with mild, windy winters and cool summers. The local terrain is generally flat with a few gently rolling plains. The territory of Denmark includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Its position gives Denmark complete control of the Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking the Baltic and North Seas. The country's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel, and sand.

Environment

thumb|Denmark is highly urbanised. Here Greater Copenhagen in the capital region.

thumb|The Danish landscape is characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts.

thumb|Beech is a common tree throughout Denmark's sparse woodlands.

Climate

File:Climate chart of Copenhagen.svg|Climate chart of Copenhagen.

File:Koppen-Geiger Map DNK present.svg|Climate of Denmark according to the Köppen climate classification.

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{{Weather box

|collapsed = yes

|location = Denmark (2001–2010)

|metric first=Yes

|single line=Yes

|Jan high C = 3.3

|Feb high C = 3.3

|Mar high C = 6.1

|Apr high C = 11.5

|May high C = 15.5

|Jun high C = 18.5

|Jul high C = 21.6

|Aug high C = 21.2

|Sep high C = 17.5

|Oct high C = 12.3

|Nov high C = 7.9

|Dec high C = 4.2

|year high C = 11.9

|Jan mean C= 1.5

|Feb mean C= 1.2

|Mar mean C= 3.0

|Apr mean C= 7.5

|May mean C= 11.4

|Jun mean C= 14.6

|Jul mean C= 17.4

|Aug mean C= 17.2

|Sep mean C= 13.8

|Oct mean C= 9.4

|Nov mean C= 5.7

|Dec mean C= 2.2

|year mean C = 8.8

|Jan low C= −0.8

|Feb low C= −1.3

|Mar low C= −0.2

|Apr low C= 3.6

|May low C= 7.4

|Jun low C= 10.6

|Jul low C= 13.4

|Aug low C= 13.5

|Sep low C= 10.2

|Oct low C= 6.2

|Nov low C= 3.2

|Dec low C= −0.3

|year low C= 5.5

| precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm=66

|Feb precipitation mm=50

|Mar precipitation mm=43

|Apr precipitation mm=37

|May precipitation mm=53

|Jun precipitation mm=68

|Jul precipitation mm=77

|Aug precipitation mm=91

|Sep precipitation mm=62

|Oct precipitation mm=83

|Nov precipitation mm=75

|Dec precipitation mm=61

|year precipitation mm=765

|unit rain days=

|Jan rain days=18

|Feb rain days=15

|Mar rain days=13

|Apr rain days=11

|May rain days=13

|Jun rain days=13

|Jul rain days=14

|Aug rain days=16

|Sep rain days=14

|Oct rain days=17

|Nov rain days=20

|Dec rain days=17

|Jan sun=47

|Feb sun=71

|Mar sun=146

|Apr sun=198

|May sun=235

|Jun sun=239

|Jul sun=232

|Aug sun=196

|Sep sun=162

|Oct sun=111

|Nov sun=58

|Dec sun=45

|year sun=1739

|source 1=Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut

}}

{{Weather box

|metric first = y

|single line = y

|location = Denmark (extremes, most 1961-1990)

|Jan record high C = 11.8

|Feb record high C = 15.8

|Mar record high C = 22.2

|Apr record high C = 26.2

|May record high C = 31.0

|Jun record high C = 35.9

|Jul record high C = 35.9

|Aug record high C = 36.4

|Sep record high C = 29.8

|Oct record high C = 24.0

|Nov record high C = 19.6

|Dec record high C = 13.0

|Jan record low C = -31.2

|Feb record low C = -29.0

|Mar record low C = -27.0

|Apr record low C = -12.1

|May record low C = -6.0

|Jun record low C = -1.6

|Jul record low C = 1.0

|Aug record low C = -0.1

|Sep record low C = -4.4

|Oct record low C = -9.0

|Nov record low C = -19.0

|Dec record low C = -25.6

|date=August 2019}}

Land use

Arable land: 55.99% Permanent crops: 0.14% Other: 42.87% (2012)

Irrigated land: (2007)

Total renewable water resources: (2011)

thumb|Drejø, Hjortø and Skarø seen from above. There are about 409 named Danish islands and around 70 of them are inhabited.

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: (58%/5%/36%)

per capita: (2009)

Land reclamation

In 2019, the government proposed building 9 new artificial islands, named project Holmene, which would create of reclaimed land, to be built from 2022 to 2040.

In June 2021, lawmakers approved the construction of a island, named Lynetteholm, in the Copenhagen Harbor. A spokesperson for the Climate Movement in Denmark (Klimabevægelsen i Danmark) said the organization would sue the government over environmental concerns.

Agriculture

Denmark has plenty of rain, flat landscape, and moderate climate. With 55.99% of its land considered as arable, Denmark has model characteristics for agriculture. 61% of the country's total area is cultivated Farms in Denmark are remarkably large, averaging per farm. Additionally, homesteads exceeding make up more than 20% in Denmark. Many of these large farms harvest fruits and vegetables, the leading exports from Denmark are meat, fur, and dairy products. The animal's diets in Denmark consist of mainly cereals since they are the dominant field crop. 75% of all cereal produced in Denmark is feed to the four most produced animals which are pigs, cattle, chicken and mink. Denmark overproduces about 66% of food production compared to their own population size (5.7 million) being that they are able to feed 15 million people. This is a byproduct of being highly productive within the Danish agricultural production.

In 1961, Denmark's Agricultural land represented 74.5% of land area. Fifty-six years later to 2015, Denmark has decreased its amount of Agricultural land down to 62.1% then to 61% one year later in reference to "Facts and Figures - Danish Agriculture and Food" The decrease in agricultural land comes as farmers are being well educated and the intensive amount of research and development is being implemented. It begins with advancements in agro-technology. The results have improved fertilization and nutrient use on arable land. Digestibility and nutrient uptake are developing from the improvements of new methods that are being implemented. Examples of these new methods are the addition of enzymes and microbial cultures.

Natural hazards

Flooding is a threat in some areas of the country

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. Drinking water is very safe to drink, even though Denmark, unlike most countries, has almost no cleaning of drinking water

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, Law of the Sea, 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

Transnational issues

Maritime claims

thumb|right|Map showing the location of Denmark including the Faroe Islands and Greenland (pdf), collectively known as the Danish Realm.

Contiguous zone:

Continental shelf: depth or to the depth of exploitation

Exclusive economic zone: (excludes Greenland and Faroe Islands).

Territorial sea:

Other issues

Iceland disputes the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line.

Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles or about 370 km.

The Faroe Islands continue to study proposals for full independence.

Denmark is currently investigating the extent of the continental shelf of Greenland, in the hope that Greenland's Exclusive Economic Zone can be expanded. One of the areas investigated is the geographical North Pole.

Population

Urban population

Denmark's urban population accounts for 87.9% of its total population, with a 0.51% rate of change in urbanization. Copenhagen remains the largest city in Denmark with a population of 1.2 million people and a metro population of 1.99 million. Copenhagen became Denmark's capital in 1443 and now currently sits with a population density of .
About a quarter of Danes live in the capital Copenhagen.