Demographics of Denmark
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A majority of Danes today trace their heritage to Germanic tribes who have inhabited Denmark since prehistoric times. Even with increasing immigration in recent years, the Danish population is still more homogenous than is the case of most other western European countries. Large percentages of the population are or are descended from immigrants from Southeast Asia and Turkey.
A small German minority live in South Jutland, close to the border with Germany, as there is also a Danish minority on the German side of the border, in Schleswig-Holstein. The region has seen both Danish and German cultural influx and has shifted between the realms. Interestingly, national identity in this border area is based on personal and cultural conviction rather than heritage, language and family descent.
Since the 1960s, the main groups of immigrants and refugees have been Turks, Pakistani, Arabs, Kurds, Somalis and people from the former Yugoslavia. Other, less distinguishable groups of immigrants include mainly Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Finns, Germans, Dutch, Poles and Britons. A great number of Faroese and Greenlanders also live in Denmark proper, mostly just for parts of their life, but are rarely taken as separate ethnic groups.
Since Danish censuses don't register ethnicity, language and religion (other than membership of the official Evangelical Lutheran church), official numbers don't exist for these issues. There is, however, statistic information based on citizenship and country of birth.
[edit] Greenland and Faroe Islands
A mostly Inuit population inhabits Greenland, but 10-15% of the populace are Danes and another substantial part have both Danish and Inuit ancestry. Some Greenlanders, especially in towns, master the Danish language better than Greenlandic which has led to local political measures for promoting Greenlandic in public life (Greenlandisation).
The Faroe Islands have a Nordic population with their own language.
[edit] Religion
The Evangelical Lutheran church (Den danske folkekirke) is state-supported and, according to statistics from January 2006, accounts for about 83% of Denmark's religious affiliation. Denmark has had religious freedom guaranteed since 1849 by the Constitution, and numerous other religions are officially recognised, including several Christian denominations, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and other congregations as well as Asatru, a revival of Scandinavian pagan tradition. The Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs recognizes roughly a hundred religious congregations for tax and legal purposes such as conducting wedding ceremonies. For historical reasons there is a formal distinction between 'approved' (godkendte) and 'recognised' (anerkendte) congregations of faith. The latter include 11 traditional denominations, such as Roman Catholics, the Reformed Church, the Mosaic Congregation, Methodists and Baptists, some of whose privileges in the country date hundreds of years back. These have the additional rights of having priests appointed by royal resolution and to christen/name children with legal effect.
[edit] Demographic data
[edit] Population
Denmark's population from 1769 to 2007.
| Year | Population | Year | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1769 | 797,584 | 1976 | 5,065,313 |
| 1787 | 841,806 | 1977 | 5,079,879 |
| 1801 | 929,001 | 1978 | 5,096,959 |
| 1834 | 1,230,964 | 1979 | 5,111,537 |
| 1840 | 1,289,075 | 1980 | 5,122,065 |
| 1845 | 1,356,877 | 1981 | 5,123,989 |
| 1850 | 1,414,648 | 1982 | 5,119,155 |
| 1855 | 1,507,222 | 1983 | 5,116,464 |
| 1860 | 1,608,362 | 1984 | 5,112,130 |
| 1870 | 1,784,741 | 1985 | 5,111,108 |
| 1880 | 1,969,039 | 1986 | 5,116,273 |
| 1890 | 2,172,380 | 1987 | 5,124,794 |
| 1901 | 2,449,540 | 1988 | 5,129,254 |
| 1906 | 2,588,919 | 1989 | 5,129,778 |
| 1911 | 2,757,076 | 1990 | 5,135,409 |
| 1916 | 2,921,362 | 1991 | 5,146,469 |
| 1921 | 3,267,831 | 1992 | 5,162,126 |
| 1925 | 3,434,555 | 1993 | 5,180,614 |
| 1930 | 3,550,656 | 1994 | 5,196,642 |
| 1935 | 3,706,349 | 1995 | 5,215,718 |
| 1940 | 3,844,312 | 1996 | 5,251,027 |
| 1945 | 4,045,232 | 1997 | 5,275,121 |
| 1950 | 4,281,275 | 1998 | 5,294,860 |
| 1955 | 4,448,401 | 1999 | 5,313,577 |
| 1960 | 4,585,256 | 2000 | 5,330,020 |
| 1965 | 4,767,597 | 2001 | 5,349,212 |
| 1970 | 4,937,579 | 2002 | 5,368,354 |
| 1971 | 4,950,598 | 2003 | 5,383,507 |
| 1972 | 4,975,653 | 2004 | 5,397,640 |
| 1973 | 5,007,538 | 2005 | 5,411,405 |
| 1974 | 5,036,184 | 2006 | 5,427,459 |
| 1975 | 5,054,410 | 2007 | 5,447,084 |
- Source Statistics Denmark, "Folketal efter hovedlandsdele (summariske tal fra folketællinger)" (table FT) [1]
[edit] Age structure
- 0-14 years: 18.7% (male 523,257; female 496,697)
- 15-64 years: 66.1% (male 1,815,240; female 1,787,406)
- 65 years and over: 15.2% (male 355,656; female 472,405) (2006 est.)
[edit] Median age
- total: 39.8 years
- male: 38.9 years
- female: 40.7 years
[edit] Population growth rate
- 0.33% (2006 est.)
[edit] Birth rate
- 11.13 births/2200 population (2006 est.)
[edit] Death rate
- 10.36 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
[edit] Net migration rate
- 2.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
[edit] Sex ratio
- at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
- under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
- total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
[edit] Infant mortality rate
- total: 4.51 deaths/1,000 live births
- male: 4.54 deaths/1,000 live births
- female: 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
[edit] Life expectancy at birth
- total population: 77.79 years
- male: 75.49 years
- female: 80.22 years (2006 est.)
[edit] Total fertility rate
- 1.8 children born/woman (2007)
[edit] HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2003 est.)
- people living with HIV/AIDS: 5,000 (2003 est.)
- deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)
[edit] Nationality
- noun: Dane(s)
- adjective: Danish
[edit] Ethnic groups
- Scandinavian (Danish, Faroese, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic), Inuit (Greenlandic), German, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chilean, Arab (Palestinian, Moroccan, Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi), Pakistani, Iranian, Somali, Kurdish, former Yugoslavian (Bosniaks, Croats, Serbs) and Albanians.
[edit] Language
- Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority), Low Saxon (small minority, moribund)
[edit] Literacy
- definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- total population: 99%
- male: 99%
- female: 99% (2003 est.)
[edit] References
This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
[edit] See also
- Denmark
- Religion in Denmark
- Danish Demes Regional DNA Project
- National statistics
- Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs - List of recognised denominations (in Danish)
- Statistic info on recognised denominations (in Danish; Muslim congregations not listed)
