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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 km northeast of Bornholm. The distance from east to west is 452 km (over 280 miles), from north to south 360 km (225 miles). 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), Aarhus, Aalborg and Esbjerg (on Jutland) and Odense (on Funen). The country is mostly flat with little elevation; the highest natural point is Møllehøj, at 170.86 meters (560.6 ft). Other hills in the same area southwest of Århus are Yding Skovhøj at 170.77 (560.3 ft) meters and Ejer Bavnehøj at 170.35 meters (558.9 ft). The area of inland water is:(eastern Denmark) 210 km² (81 sq m); (western D.) 490 km² (189 sq m). The circumstance that Denmark is split into many islands is due to the fact that the country´s average height above sea level is only 31 meters (101 ft).This in turn results in a long coastline, more than 7,400 km (4,600 miles). If Denmark was formed as a perfect circle, the circumference would be only 742 km (461 miles). Another feature that shows the close connection between the land and ocean is that no location in Denmark is farther from the nearest coast than 52 km (32.3 miles). In addition, the size of the land area of Denmark cannot be stated exactly, as the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and because of human land reclamation projects (i.e. to counter the erosion). On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 meters (3 to 6.5 feet), and the coastline moves outward and inward on a 10 km (6 mile) stretch. The climate is in the temperate zone. The winters are not particularly cold with mean temperatures of around 0.5 °C and the summers are cool with mean temperature of around 16 °C. There is a lot of wind, which is stronger during the winter and weaker during the summer. Denmark has an average of 170 rainy days. The greatest rainfall comes in September, October and November. Due to Denmark's location in the northern part of the world, the length of the day with sunlight varies a great deal. There are short days during the winter with sunrise coming around 8 A.M. and sunset 3:30 P.M., as well as long summer days with sunrise at 3:30 A.M. and sunset at 10 P.M. The shortest and longest days of the year are celebrated. The celebration for the shortest day is Christmas. Originally, this day was only about the shortest day, but was later combined with Christianity. The celebration for the longest day is Midsummer Day, which is known as Sankthansaften in Denmark. 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. Transnational issues Iceland, the United Kingdom, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles or about 370 km. The Faroe Islands continue to study proposals for full independence. Uncontested sovereignty dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Denmark and Poland have failed to reach an agreement settling the boundary between the two countries. Denmark is currently investigating the extent of the continental shelf of Greenland, in the hope that Greenland's Exclusive Economic Zone can be expanded. One of the areas investigated is the geographical North Pole. |
Denmark Information: Inside
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