User:Andymilson/DenmarkSandbox

Sandbox for Denmark Group - GEOG 2302 - Fall 2018
*DIRECT ANY CONVERSATIONS TO THE TALK PAGE / BEFORE TRANSFERRING CONTENT LIVE


 * check the (CONTENT THAT HAS GONE LIVE SECTION) to avoid duplicating content. / Please add citations for any of the following to help everyone have direct sources. We can then just pick one or two and help draft. Feel free to add more if you would like. I don't believe we have to do all of them, well see once the professor lets us know how much we should be adding.

Religion

 * Viking King Harold Bluetooth introduced Denmark to Christianity. Since then, Denmark has practiced Christianity for over a millennium.


 * Second Largest Religious Community is Muslim. Muslim Communities are heavily populated in large areas such as Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus.
 * "Evangelical Lutheran (official) 76%, Muslim 4%, other (denominations of less than 1% each, includes Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Serbian Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Baptist, and Buddhist) 20% (2017 est.)"
 * Scientology practiced in Denmark with the European Headquarters in Denmark. Government does not recognize religion.

Modes and Intermodalism

 * Bicycling is a huge part of Dane lives, it has become one of the primary forms of transportation. Even during all four seasons of the year, Danes will cycle through any weather e.g. Sunshine, rain, hail and snow. Bikes have become a part of a Dane’s life since larger Danish cities have built infrastructure to support a network of bicycle lanes. To better apprehend the importance of the bike, 9 out of 10 Danes own a bicycle. Being that bicycling is a big part of Dane lives, the Capital Region of Denmark has aspired in becoming the leading cycle region in the world. They believe this is possible by investing in infrastructure that will accommodate a dramatic change from gas vehicles to bicycles. 2012 Denmark had established 17 km of cycle superhighways. In 2018, superhighways for cycling now account for 167 km. Denmark envisions to build 45 routes that amount to a total of 746 km. It is estimated that by 2045, all infrastructure in connection with the superhighways for cycling will cost an estimated 295 million euros. Once complete, a socio-economic analysis shows that Denmark can achieve a socio-economic surplus of 765 million euros. This takes into account not enduring 40,000 days of sick leave that is used annually, a decrease in mortality of about 30% for adults who bike 7 days a week, 1 million less car trips taken annually.

Public/Private Dimensions

 * The Storebælt bridge was built by A/S Storbælte (Public sector company) and opened for motor vehicles on 1998 and the railway was opened a year before that. The total cost of construction was set at DKK 21.4 billion back in the late 80s. The bridge consists of two bridges connecting both the eastern and western side of Denmark. A/S Storbælte managed to cover the total costs of the bridge by raising loans in Danish and international capital markets. There lies a strong spatial connection between public financing of the bridge and economic and social outcomes when referencing the Storebælt bridge. Since its opening in 1997 to 2013, traffic though the bridge has increased to a substantial 171 percent. In an analysis published by Denmark’s Ministry of Transport and Sund & Bælt in the year 2014, Denmark is set to directly benefit from it over the course of 50 years. DDK 379 billion will account for this 50 year term, amounting to DDK 9 billion each year. The bridge overall has made spatial processes across Denmark easier for the Danish people. This makes it the best Danish transport investment ever for their society.



Midsummer festival of Saint Hans

 * Denmark celebrates Sankt Hans (John the Baptist) on the evening of 23rd of June. The festival was founded on pagan traditions before Denmark embarked on Christianity. Family and friends begin to celebrate this day with dinner at home with loved ones. The iconic bonfires are commonly by the coast line or on the bank of a lake. It is tradition for a witch like figure to be burning on top of the bonfire. The witch figure burns as the community signs “Midsommervisen” written by Holger Drachmann (Danish Poet) during the late 19th century. During this time, Danish people reminisce on their dark times. An estimated one thousand people (men and women) were convicted of sorcery and were sentenced to death by fire in Denmark during the 16th and 17th century.

Christmas: The highlight of the long Danish winter

 * During mid-December is when Denmark experiences long nights. The sun rising at 9 am and it then sets at 4 pm. Before 958 AD, the Viking era was a time when people living in the Scandinavian area would celebrate during this time to bring in a brighter and joyful time. Once Christianity was popularized, Danish people began naming the celebration during these darken times “Christmas.” Christmas in Denmark is celebrated on the 24th of December. During this time, the country promotes family time by virtually shutting down all stores and services (even city buses) from 5:30 pm to 10 pm. The traditional dinners Danish people have during Christmas are roast duck, roast pork, or roast goose. One traditional dessert during Christmas in Denmark is ris-a-la-mande (rice pudding) with hot cherry sauce.

New Year's Eve in Denmark

 * One of Denmark's most celebrated traditions is a televised speech from the Queen on New Year's Eve. The New Year's Speech has been a reoccurring event since 1941, when King Christian X gave the first radio broadcasted speech. Like traditional New Year celebration in many countries, fireworks being ignited is common after the count down. Though before the fireworks, Danes begin the new year by jumping off furniture (chair or sofa) and leap towards the new year right after the clock strikes 12.

Population

 * Denmark has a population of 5,605,947 as of July 2017. The country currently has a birth rate of 10.5 per thousand and a death rate of 10.3 per thousand. The average life expectancy is 79.5 years, with males living on average for 77.1 years, and females for 82.1 years. The migrant rate is 2.1 per thousand. The country's current population growth rate is 0.22%, ranking it 182nd in the world in terms of population growth. The fertility rate for Denmark sits at 1.71 as of 2016. Denmark is experiencing limited growth in population due to education and other circumstances. Given that more women are now enrolled in college than men allows for economic prosperity, taking away from the desire of having children. Denmark's urban population accounts for 87.9% of its total population, with a 0.51% rate of change in urbanization. Copenhagen remains the largest city in Denmark with a population of 1.2 million people and a metro population of 1.99 million. Copenhagen became Denmark's Capital in 1443 and now currently sits with a population density of 6,800 people per square kilometer.
 * Higher education in Denmark is free for students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland. Denmark Population pyramid.jpg

Population density

 * Copenhagen remains the largest city in Denmark with a population of 1.2 million people and a metro population of 1.99 million. Copenhagen became Denmark's Capital in 1443 and now currently sits with a population density of 6,800 people per square kilometer.




 * Population pyramid source

Race

 * Denmark's ethnic makeup is 86.7% Danish (which includes Inuit Greenlandic and Faroese), 1.1% Turkish, with 12.2% consisting of others such as Polish, Syrian, German, Iraqi, and Romanian (2017 est).

Languages

 * Denmark has only one official language, Danish. The second most spoken language is English (which is taught in elementary school) followed by German (also taught in elementary)

Political Economy
Denmark joined the European Union on the first of January of 1973.

Economy

 * Denmark's Gross domestic product (GDP) was worth 324,871.97 million USD as of 2017. Denmark's GDP per capita is an estimated 49,900 USD as of 2017, placing the country as having the 31st highest GDP per capita in the world. Denmark's exports within the European Union accounts to a total of 62%; the top three countries importing the most are Germany sitting at 16%, followed Sweden at 12%, and the United Kingdom at 6%. In terms of importing goods, Denmark's imports within the European Union constituted a total of 71%. The top three leading countries exporting to Denmark were Germany at 21%, Sweden at 12%, and the Netherlands at 8%. Recent studies are showing that Denmark is benefiting substantially from being a part of the European Union due to the majority of their exports and imports are with other European Union countries.

Top Exports

 * Denmark's top exports are packaged medicaments, pig meat, and human/animal blood. Packaged medicaments bring in approximately $9.37 billion thanks to exporting the majority to the U.S. followed by Sweden and Germany. Exporting pigs account for $2.73 billion. Pig meat is the 112th most traded product and the 260th most complex product according to the Product Complexity Index (PCI). Pig meat is Exported mainly to Japan, Germany and the UK.

Development

 * Denmark is categorized as having high human development, with a Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.929 as of 2017. Compared to 189 other countries and territories, Denmark ranks at 11 in terms of development. Denmark's national education is also well developed, and can most likely be attributed to a compulsory primary and secondary school education. Denmark also has an adult literacy rate of 99.0%. However, this rate is average in relation to bordering countries, as Sweden and Norway have a literacy rate of 99.0% and 100.0% respectively.


 * Denmark has a very low poverty rate of 0.6.

Physical Geography

 * Denmark is located in "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)" . Denmark has a total of 43,094 sq km with 42,434 sq km being land and 660 sq km being water. Denmark's many natural resources include "petroleum, natural gas, fish, arable land, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel, and sand" . It also has a large irrigated land that consists of 4,350 sq km.

Economic Geography

 * These natural resources create a big impact on Denmark's economic geography due to the location and resources they are provided with. Landscape wise, Denmark is low and flat to gently rolling plains which can effect the economic geography of the country by applying the Thunen Model to help look at transportation costs and geographic features that effect the prices for the transportation and economy . The agricultural geography of Denmark consists of 63.4% agricultural land with 58.9% being arable land (highest percentage of arable land for any country in the world), this plays a big factor in the economic geography showing that there is a large amount of land that can be used for agricultural uses although there is plenty of urbanization in the country.

Population Geography

 * The total population of Denmark is 5,809,502 people with a population growth rate of 0.59% . The urban population is 87.9% of the total population with a 0.51% annual rate of change . The population distribution of such a large population is along the coastal areas, particularly in Copenhagen and the eastern side of the country due to access of the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kategatt, and the Baltic Sea . The major urban area is in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, which consists of 1.321 million people . Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 81 years old and the infant mortality rate is 3.2 deaths/1,000 live births . This shows that this country is a highly developed country with advancements in medicine and technology due to such a small amount of infant deaths at birth.

Content That Have Gone Live

 * (POPULATION) Denmark has a population of 5,605,947 as of July 2017. The country currently has a birth rate of 10.5 per thousand and a death rate of 10.3 per thousand. The migrant rate is 2.1 per thousand. The country's current population growth rate is 0.22%, ranking it 182nd in the world in terms of population growth. The fertility rate for Denmark sits at 1.71 as of 2016. Denmark is experiencing limited growth in population due to education and other circumstances. Given that more women are now enrolled in college than men allows for economic prosperity, taking away from the desire of having children. Denmark's urban population accounts for 87.9% of its total population, with a 0.51% rate of change in urbanization. Copenhagen remains the largest city in Denmark with a population of 1.2 million people and a metro population of 1.99 million. Copenhagen became Denmark's Capital in 1443 and now currently sits with a population density of 6,800 people per square kilometer.
 * (AGRICULTURE) Denmark has plenty of rain, flat landscape, and moderate climate. With 55.99% of its land considered as arable, Denmark has model characteristics for agriculture. 61% of the country’s total area is cultivated Farms in Denmark are remarkably large, averaging 172.9 acres per farm. Additionally, homesteads exceeding 247 acres make up more than 20% in Denmark. Many of these large farms harvest fruits and vegetables, the leading exports from Denmark are meat, fur, and dairy products. The animal’s diet in Denmark consist of mainly cereals since it is the dominated field crop. 75% of all cereal produced in Denmark is feed to the four most produced animals which are pigs, cattle, chicken and mink. Denmark overproduces about 66% of food production compared to their own population size (5.7 million) being that they are able to feed 15 million people. This is a byproduct of being highly productive within the Danish agricultural production. In 1961, Denmark's Agricultural land represented 74.5% of land area. Fifty-six years later to 2015, Denmark has decreased its amount of Agricultural land down to 62.1% then to 61% one year later in reference to "Facts and Figures - Danish Agriculture and Food" The decrease in agricultural land comes as farmers are being well educated and the intensive amount of research and development is being implemented. It begins with advancements in agro-technology. The results have improved fertilization and nutrient use on arable land. Digestibility and nutrient uptake are developing from the improvements of new methods that are being implemented. Examples of these new methods are the addition of enzymes and microbial cultures.
 * (Culture)
 *  Midsummer festival of Saint Hans : Denmark celebrates Sankt Hans (John the Baptist) on the evening of 23rd of June. The festival was founded on pagan traditions before Denmark embarked on Christianity. Family and friends begin to celebrate this day with dinner at home with loved ones. The iconic bonfires are commonly by the coast line or on the bank of a lake. It is tradition for a witch like figure to be burning on top of the bonfire. The witch figure burns as the community signs “Midsommervisen” written by Holger Drachmann (Danish Poet) during the late 19th century. During this time, Danish people reminisce on their dark times. An estimated one thousand people (men and women) were convicted of sorcery and were sentenced to death by fire in Denmark during the 16th and 17th century.
 *  Christmas: The highlight of the long Danish winter:  During mid-December is when Denmark experiences long nights. The sun rising at 9 am and it then sets at 4 pm. Before 958 AD, the Viking era was a time when people living in the Scandinavian area would celebrate during this time to bring in a brighter and joyful time. Once Christianity was popularized, Danish people began naming the celebration during these darken times “Christmas.” Christmas in Denmark is celebrated on the 24th of December. During this time, the country promotes family time by virtually shutting down all stores and services (even city buses) from 5:30 pm to 10 pm. The traditional dinners Danish people have during Christmas are roast duck, roast pork, or roast goose. One traditional dessert during Christmas in Denmark is ris-a-la-mande (rice pudding) with hot cherry sauce.
 *  New Year's Eve in Denmark:  One of Denmark's most celebrated traditions is a televised speech from the Queen on New Year's Eve. The New Year's Speech has been a reoccurring event since 1941, when King Christian X gave the first radio broadcasted speech. Like traditional New Year celebration in many countries, fireworks being ignited is common after the count down. Though before the fireworks, Danes begin the new year by jumping off furniture (chair or sofa) and leap towards the new year right after the clock strikes 12.



Agriculture

 * Denmark has plenty of rain, flat landscape, and moderate climate. With 55.99% of its land considered as arable, Denmark has model characteristics for agriculture. 61% of the country’s total area is cultivated. Farms in Denmark are remarkably large, averaging 172.9 acres per farm. Additionally, homesteads exceeding 247 acres make up more than 20% in Denmark. Many of these large farms harvest fruits and vegetables, the leading exports from Denmark are meat, fur, and dairy products. The animal’s diet in Denmark consist of mainly cereals since it is the dominated field crop. 75% of all cereal produced in Denmark is feed to the four most produced animals which are pigs, cattle, chicken and mink. Denmark overproduces about 66% of food production compared to their own population size (5.7 million) being that they are able to feed 15 million people. This is a byproduct of being highly productive within the Danish agricultural production.


 * In 1961, Denmark's Agricultural land represented 74.5% of land area. Fifty-six years later to 2015, Denmark has decreased its amount of Agricultural land down to 62.1% then to 61% one year later in reference to "Facts and Figures - Danish Agriculture and Food" The decrease in agricultural land comes as farmers are being well educated and the intensive amount of research and development is being implemented. It begins with advancements in agro-technology. The results have improved fertilization and nutrient use on arable land. Digestibility and nutrient uptake are developing from the improvements of new methods that are being implemented. Examples of these new methods are the addition of enzymes and microbial cultures.

Agricultural production / use of biotechnology

 * Denmark sets high standards when it comes to Beef, Pigs, and Dairy. The use of hormones and growth promoters during the production process have been banned. Denmark seeks to be transparent during the entire production chain by looking out for the welfare of the animals during production, this cuts back on the need for medicine. Being that the production of Pig is known to be of great importance to Denmark’s economy, food safety of pork is high. Danish pigs have a record low usage of veterinary medicine around the world. For dairy, the use of all medicine is traceable yet its controlled and highly regulated to maintain a transparent production process.