Denmark Geography - 2024

Location

Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland); also includes several major islands (Sjaelland, Fyn, and Bornholm)

Geographic coordinates

56 00 N, 10 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 43,094 sq km

land: 42,434 sq km

water: 660 sq km

note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark (the Jutland Peninsula, and the major islands of Sjaelland and Fyn) but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland

Area - comparative

slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts; about two-thirds the size of West Virginia

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 141 km

border countries: Germany 140 km; Canada 1.3 km

Coastline

7,314 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate

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

Terrain

low and flat to gently rolling plains

Elevation

highest point: Store Mollehoj 171 m

lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m

mean elevation: 34 m

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, fish, arable land, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand

Land use

agricultural land: 63.4% (2018 est.)

arable land: 58.9% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 4.4% (2018 est.)

forest: 12.9% (2018 est.)

other: 23.7% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

2,360 sq km (2020)

Population distribution

with excellent access to the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, and the Baltic Sea, population centers tend to be along coastal areas, particularly in Copenhagen and the eastern side of the country's mainland

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

Geography - note

composed of the Jutland Peninsula and a group of more than 400 islands (Danish Archipelago); controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat) linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population lives in greater Copenhagen