n that is participating in the political and
economic integration of Europe. So far, however, they have opted out
of some aspects of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty including
the new monetary system launched on 1 January 1999.

Geography

Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North
Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany

Geographic coordinates: 56 00 N, 10 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 43,094 sq km
land: 42,394 sq km
water: 700 sq km
note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest
of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Area--comparative: slightly less than twice the size of
Massachusetts

Land boundaries:
total: 68 km
border countries: Germany 68 km

Coastline: 7,314 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 4 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm

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

Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
highest point: Ejer Bavnehoj 173 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone,
stone, gravel and sand

Land use:
arable land: 60%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 5%
forests and woodland: 10%
other: 25% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 4,350 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding is a threat in some areas of the
country (e.g., parts of Jutland, along the southern coast of the
island of Lolland) that are protected from the sea by a system of
dikes

Environment--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

Environment--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, 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-Per