From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search

Transport

Main article: Transport in Denmark

See also: Transport in the Faroe Islands and Transport in Greenland

Great Belt Fixed Link, The East Bridge as seen from Zealand

Copenhagen Airport is the largest airport in Scandinavia and 15th-busiest in Europe.^[152]

Significant investment has been made in building road and rail links between regions in Denmark, most notably the Great Belt Fixed Link, which connects Zealand and Funen. It is now possible to drive from Frederikshavn in northern Jutland to Copenhagen on eastern Zealand without leaving the motorway. The main railway operator is DSB for passenger services and DB Schenker Rail for freight trains. The railway tracks are maintained by Banedanmark. The North Sea and the Baltic Sea are intertwined by various, international ferry links. Construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, connecting Denmark and Germany with a second link, will start in 2015.^[153] Copenhagen has a rapid transit system, the Copenhagen Metro, and an extensive electrified suburban railway network, the S-train. In the four largest cities – Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg – light rail systems are planned to be in operation around 2020.^[154]

Cycling in Denmark is a very common form of transport, particularly for the young and for city dwellers. With a network of bicycle routes extending more than 12,000 km^[155] and an estimated 7,000 km^[156] of segregated dedicated bicycle paths and lanes, Denmark has a solid bicycle infrastructure.

Private vehicles are increasingly used as a means of transport. Because of the high registration tax (150%), VAT (25%), and one of the world's highest income tax rates, new cars are very expensive. The purpose of the tax is to discourage car ownership. In 2007, an attempt was made by the government to favour environmentally friendly cars by slightly reducing taxes on high mileage vehicles. However, this has had little effect, and in 2008 Denmark experienced an increase in the import of fuel inefficient old cars,^[157] as the cost for older cars—including taxes—keeps them within the budget of many Danes. As of 2011, the average car age is 9.2 years.^[158]

With Norway and Sweden, Denmark is part of the Scandinavian Airlines flag carrier. Copenhagen Airport is Scandinavia's busiest passenger airport, handling over 25 million passengers in 2014.^[152] Other notable airports are Billund Airport, Aalborg Airport, and Aarhus Airport.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Denmark

See also: Demographics of the Faroe Islands and Demographics of Greenland

Population by ancestry (Q1 2018)^[11]

  People of Danish origin (86.67%)

  Immigrant (10.23%)

  Descendant of an immigrant (3.09%)

The population of Denmark, as registered by Statistics Denmark, was 5.781 million in January 2018.^[11] Denmark has one of the oldest populations in the world, with the average age of 41.9 years,^[159] with 0.97 males per female. Despite a low birth rate, the population is growing at an average annual rate of 0.59%^[124] because of net immigration and increasing longevity. The World Happiness Report frequently ranks Denmark's population as the happiest in the world.^{[160][161][162]} This has been attributed to the country's highly regarded education and health care systems,^[163] and its low level of income inequality.^[164]

Denmark is a historically homogeneous nation.^[165] However, as with its Scandinavian neighbours, Denmark has recently transformed from a nation of net emigration, up until World War II, to a nation of net immigration. Today, residence permits are issued mostly to immigrants from other EU countries (54% of all non-Scandinavian immigrants in 2017). Another 31% of residence permits were study- or work-related, 4% were issued to asylum seekers and 10% to persons who arrive as family dependants.^[166]Overall, the net migration rate in 2017 was 2.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population, somewhat lower than the United Kingdom and the other Nordic countries.^{[124][167][168]}

There are no official statistics on ethnic groups, but according to 2018 figures from Statistics Denmark, 86.7% of the population was of Danish descent, defined as having at least one parent who was born in Denmark and has Danish citizenship.^{[11][N 5]} The remaining 13.3% were of foreign background, defined as immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants. With the same definition, the most common countries of origin were Turkey, Poland, Syria, Germany, Iraq, Romania, Lebanon, Pakistan, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Somalia.^[11]