Area
Population
Religion
Language
Literacy
Life Exp.
16,638 mi2
Evangelical
Lutheran
A
stepping-stone between the European mainland and the Scandinavian peninsula,
Denmark has been integral to NATO defense. Membership in the EU gives ready
access to markets for its pork and dairy products; however, most farm
exports go to Japan and Saudi Arabia. For now, Denmark has elected not to
adopt the euro currency.
Denmark has earned more from manufacturing than from agriculture since the 1960s. Import restrictions have helped boost an economy that had been drained by a large foreign debt. Devastation of lobster colonies by industrial pollution has prompted imposition of some of the world's strictest environmental standards.
With its palaces and gardens, Copenhagen hosts more visitors than any other Nordic city. English is widely spoken in Denmark, as it is a required subject in the public school system. In matters of foreign affairs and defense, the government represents two remote autonomous territories: the precipitous Faroe Islands, dependent on fishing and sheep raising, and Greenland
