Reuters North American News Service, November 12th, 2007
COPENHAGEN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Danes will vote on Tuesday
Nov. 13 to elect a new parliament. Here are some facts about
Denmark:
GEOGRAPHY: Area: 43,094 sq km (excluding Greenland and the
Faroe islands). Located in Northern Europe between the North Sea
and the Baltic, the Kingdom of Denmark also includes the Faroe
Islands and Greenland, which have had home-rule governments
since 1948 and 1979 respectively.
Mainland Denmark is bordered by Germany.
POPULATION: 5.5 million (Jan. 2007)
RELIGION: State Evangelical Lutheran Church 83 percent,
Muslim 2-3 percent
CAPITAL: About 1.8 million people live in or around
Copenhagen
POLITICAL SYSTEM: Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary
democracy
HEAD OF STATE: Queen, Margrethe II, 67, has been head of
state since 1972.
PRIME MINISTER: Anders Fogh Rasmussen
ECONOMY: Member of the European Union and before it the
European Economic Community since 1973, but not the euro
currency zone. Gross domestic product (GDP) was 1,642 billion
Danish crowns ($324 billion) in 2006 or 301,485 crowns ($59,450)
per capita (nominal).
The economy grew 3.5 percent in 2006, faster than the
overall euro zone rate of 2.2 percent. The government has said
growth will slow to 2.0 percent this year. The public budget
surplus is seen at 66.2 billion crowns this year, or 3.9 percent
of GDP.
Denmark has had a government budget surplus since 1997 on
the back of larger tax revenues, rising North Sea oil and gas
revenue and lower net interest payments on debt.
The country's average unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in
2006. The finance ministry has predicted it will fall to 3.3
percent in 2007.
(Reporting by Kim McLaughlin)
