Population: 5,432,335 (July 2005 est.)

Capital: Copenhagen

Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority) English is the predominant second language

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslim 2%

Government: constitutional monarchy

Climate: temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

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

Ethnic groups: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese, German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali

Economy: This thoroughly modern market economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, a stable currency, and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy and enjoys a comfortable balance of payments surplus. Government objectives include streamlining the bureaucracy and further privatization of state assets. The government has been successful in meeting, and even exceeding, the economic convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (a common European currency) of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), but Denmark has decided not to join 12 other EU members in the euro; even so, the Danish krone remains pegged to the euro. Growth in 2005 was sluggish, yet above the scanty 0.3% of 2003. Because of high GDP per capita, welfare benefits, a low Gini index, and political stability, the Danish people enjoy living standards topped by no other nation. A major long-term issue will be the sharp decline in the ratio of workers to retirees.

GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $33,500 (2005 est.)

GDP real growth: 2.2% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5.7% (2005 est.)

Internet country code: .dk

Dial code: +45