II.

Land and Resources

Denmark proper is a lowland area, indeed its terrain is among the flattest in the world. The average elevation is just 30 m (about 100 ft) above sea level; the highest point, Yding Skovhøj in east-central Jutland, reaches only 173 m (568 ft).

Denmark’s natural landscape has been shaped by glaciation. The North European ice sheets of the last Ice Age reached their extreme limit in the country, expressed by a terminal moraine which runs east from Nissum Fiord on the west coast of Jutland towards Viborg in the centre, where it turns southward and runs along the length of the peninsula. This moraine marks the frontier between the contrasting landscapes of western and eastern Denmark. The west is a flat area of sand and gravel deposited by glacial meltwater; the coast is rimmed by dunes and sandbars. The east, slightly higher in elevation, is an area of fertile loam plains and rolling hills; the coast is indented by a series of fiords that penetrate deep into the interior. The Limfjorden, the most northerly, extends 180 km east-west across the breadth of the peninsula from the Kattegat to join the North Sea via the Thyborøn Canal. Denmark’s main islands fall within the eastern region; they have some of the country’s most fertile soils.

A.

Climate

Denmark has a temperate maritime climate with mild summers and cold, rainy winters. The mean temperature in summer is about 16° C (61° F); in winter, about 0° C (32° F). Changes in wind direction cause wide day-to-day temperature fluctuations. Average annual precipitation is about 610 mm (24 in); snowfall accounts for about 10 per cent of the total.

B.

Natural Resources

In their natural state, Denmark’s soils are low in nutrients and, because of high acidity, subject to leaching. However, millennia of cultivation and fertilization have greatly improved their quality. Nearly two thirds of the total land area of Denmark is today cultivable, but otherwise the country has few natural resources. Minerals are limited; the small mining industry is based on kaolin and granite. Discoveries of oil and natural gas in the Danish sector of the North Sea in the 1970s have cut dependence on imported energy; in 2006 oil production was estimated at 120 million barrels. The fishing industry is still of great economic significance.

C.

Plants and Animals

Relatively little wild vegetation remains in Denmark, because so much of the land is under cultivation. Forests cover about 10 per cent of the country; the main tree species are conifer, beech, oak, and ash. Several varieties of ferns and mosses common to middle Europe are also found. Roe and red deer are the only large mammals; small mammals include the fox, squirrel, and hare. There are more than 300 species of bird and many species of freshwater and salt-water fish; cod, herring, and plaice form the basis of the fishing industry.

D.

Environmental Concerns

Considered highly advanced in environmental planning and world environmental activism, Denmark is also a leader in pollution control and was the first industrialized country to establish a Ministry of the Environment. Denmark recognizes most of its protected areas as biotopes and special zones rather than strictly delimited parks and reserves. Commercial activity is strictly regulated to preserve the natural and historical value of the landscape. About 32 per cent (1997) of the country falls into protected areas.

Danes cut their overall energy consumption by 22 per cent between 1979 and 1989. Ninety-eight per cent of the nation’s sewage is treated, and sulphur dioxide emissions dropped 40 per cent between 1978 and the early 1990s. Nevertheless, challenging problems remain to be solved—agricultural run-off has recently caused harmful algal blooms in the North Sea and increasingly threatens drinking water. The country is working to clean up nearly 3,000 hazardous waste sites discovered during the 1980s.

Denmark has ratified the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and contains many designated sites. It has also ratified the World Heritage Convention. There is an immense tundra biosphere reserve in north-eastern Greenland, a Danish dependency, under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. Other international environmental agreements ratified include those on air pollution, the Antarctic Treaty, biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, marine life, nuclear testing, ozone layer, ship pollution, tropical timber, and whaling. Regionally, Denmark is party to agreements to protect terrestrial and marine habitat under standards set by the European Union, Bern Convention, Helsinki Convention, Council of Europe (CE), and Nordic Council, among others.