The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries. Located north of Germany (its only land neighbour), southwest of Sweden, and south of Norway, it is in Scandinavia in northern Europe, but not on the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Denmark borders the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and consists of a peninsula named Jutland (Jylland) attached to Northern Germany, the islands of Funen (Fyn), Zealand (Sjælland), Bornholm (Bornholm) and many smaller islands, often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, second oldest monarchy in the world and oldest in Europe. Denmark is a part of the European Union. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are crown territories of Denmark, each with political home rule. Denmark is one of the elected members of the UN Security Council and is a leader in the "Scandinavian Model" of public services.
The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power with Queen Margrethe II as head of state. This executive power is exercised on behalf of the monarch by the prime minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the prime minister, and other ministers collectively make up the government. These ministers are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be supreme (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors).
Compared to most other Western European countries, the Danish political system has traditionally emphasised coalitions. In some cases this has been in the form of majority coalitions, although most Danish post-war governments have been minority coalitions, ruling with more or less stable parliamentary support.
Denmark's northernmost point is Skagens point (the north beach of the Skaw) at 57° 45' 7" northern latitude, the southernmost is Gedser point (the southern tip of Falster) at 54° 33' 35" northern latitude, the westernmost point is Blåvandshuk at 8° 4' 22" eastern longitude, and the easternmost point is Østerskær (Eastern Skerry) at 15° 11' 55" eastern longitude. This is in the archipelago Ertholmene 18 kilometres northeast of Bornholm. The distance from east to west is 452 kilometres (over 280 mi), from north to south 360 kilometres (225 mi). Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland (Jylland) and 443 named
islands. Of these, 76 are inhabited, with the largest being Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn). The island of Bornholm is located somewhat east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the larger islands are connected by bridges; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden, the Great Belt Bridge connects Funen with Zealand, and the Little Belt Bridge connects Jutland with Funen. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Århus, Aalborg and Esbjerg (on Jutland) and Odense (on Funen). Along with Equatorial Guinea it is one of two countries in the world with its mainland on a continent and its capital city on an island.
Denmark is split into 443 named islands which results in a long coastline, 7,314 kilometres (4,544 mi). perfect circle enclosing the same area as Denmark would have a circumference of only 742 kilometres (461 mi). Another feature that shows the close connection between the land and ocean is that no location in Denmark is farther from the coast than 52 kilometres (32.3 mi). The size of the land area of Denmark cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and because of human land reclamation projects (to counter erosion). On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 metres (3 to 6.5 feet), and the coastline moves outward and inward on a 10 kilometres (6 mi) stretch.
Denmark is divided into five regions (Danish: regioner, singular: region) and a total of 98 municipalities. The regions were created on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform to replace the country's traditional thirteen counties (amter). At the same time, smaller municipalities (kommuner) were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 270 to 98. The most important area of responsibility for the new regions is the national health service.
Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also parts of the Kingdom of Denmark, but have autonomous status and are largely self-governing, and are each represented by two seats in the parliament.
