Denmark

Map Credit: © Maps of the World (mapsofworld.com)
Click on map to enlarge it in a lightbox window.

Known as Danmark in the Danish language, the Kingdom of DENMARK is a Scandinavian country located in northern Europe, north of Germany and west of the southern part of Sweden. Denmark is surrounded on three sides by large water bodies. The North Sea is west, the Baltic Sea is east, Skagerrak is north and separates Denmark from Norway, and Kattegat is east and separates Denmark and southern Sweden. Unlike many countries in the world, Denmark does not have an independence day because it was never ruled by another country — at least since the beginning of written historic times.

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  The kingdom of Denmark is at least 1,000 years old, and the first humans — since the most recent glacial period — lived in the Denmark area beginning in about 12,000 BC. Danish is the official language, while Faroese and Greenlandic are regional languages. English is widely spoken, followed by German and Swedish. Danish/Scandinavian and German are the dominant ethnicities of Danish people. Most Danish citizens are now atheist, while about 88% of religious believers are Lutheran Christians. Denmark's total population exceeds 5.6 million. The capital and largest city is Copenhagen (København), which has over 580,000 residents and much more than 1 million in the metropolitan area. Other cities include Aalborg (Ålborg), Aarhus (formerly Århus), Esbjerg, Frederikshavn, Helsingør, Herning, Næstved, Odense, and Svendborg. Danish Krone is the currency used by residents and visitors of Denmark, and DKK is the ISO 4217 currency code.

● ● ● ● ●  Land Features  ● ● ● ● ●  A majority of Denmark lies on the Jutland (Jylland) peninsula, which is attached to Germany on Denmark's southern border. Denmark occupies over 400 islands near its Jutland peninsula. With the exception of Læsø, Mors, Nordjylland (North Jutland; also Vendsyssel-Thy), and other islands located north of Jutland, most of Denmark's islands are east of the peninsula. Nordjylland, Sjælland (Zealand), Fyn (Funen), Lolland, and Bornholm are the five largest islands. Smaller islands include Ærø (Aero), Anholt, Falster, Langeland, Møn, and Samsø. In addition these islands, Denmark possesses the Faroe Islands (link to access post) and Greenland.

Copenhagen is located along the northeastern coast of Sjælland. Bornholm island is rather isolated, being located south of Sweden and about 150 kilometers east of Sjælland. Denmark's general landscape is low-lying and somewhat hilly. Møllehøj is the country's highest point, standing at only 170.86 meters (less than 561 feet) above sea level. This hilly area of Skanderborg municipality (kommune) is located in the east-central portion of Jutland. Formerly a water body and currently agricultural land, Lammefjord (northern Sjælland island) is the lowest point with an elevation of -7 meters (7 m below sea level) and -23 feet.