YOUR SCHOLARSHIP IN EUROPE

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Your Scholarship in Europe 2008-2009
Denmark
BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT DENMARK
The Kingdom of Denmark is located in Northern Europe between the North Sea and the Baltic.
Its mainland territory is comprised of the Jutland peninsula bordering northern Germany.
Denmark also encompasses two offshore territories, the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the
North Atlantic plus 406 islands, 78 of which are inhabited. This gives Denmark a total coastline
of 7,314 km, corresponding to a sixth of the globe’s circumference. The highest point is 170.68
metres above sea level. The climate is temperate and coastal, January and February are the
coldest months with an average temperature of 0.0°C and August is the warmest with an average
temperature of 15.7°C. Average wind strength across the year is 7.6 metres per second,
which helps explain why Denmark is the world’s largest exporter of wind turbines. 62% of the
total area is cultivated, the highest percentage in Europe. The country’s population was 5.4 million
in 2006. The national capital is Copenhagen (1.21 million inhabitants). Ethnically, Denmark
is one of the world’s most homogeneous nations: 97% of the population is of Danish ancestry.
Danish is the country’s offi cial language, but many Danes also speak very good English.
Denmark is a constitutional monarchy governed according to the 1953 Constitution by Queen
Margrethe II who ascended to the throne in 1972. Like other Scandinavian countries, Denmark
has established a powerful welfare state with a strong social security system and small income
gap enabled by highly effective industrial and agricultural policies and taxation.
THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM
In 2003, 52.5% of Danes who left school applied to higher education institutions. The percentage
of women students was 58%. The total number of fi rst-year students was 47,000 in 2001.
Of these, 4,000 were foreign students.
Denmark’s higher education establishments are classifi ed into universities, professional academies
and colleges.
The university sector includes 11 universities, 5 of which are multi-faculty universities. The other
6 specialise in engineering, education, veterinary science, agriculture, pharmacy, business studies
and a variety of other disciplines. All university study programmes are research-based, and
degrees, including Doctorate degrees, are awarded at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
The Copenhagen University, which is the country’s largest, has 35,000 students while smaller
universities have 3,000-6,000 students. The university education is offered at three levels:
1) The Bachelors degree (B.A./B.Sc.) is awarded after an undergraduate programme of
3 years, normally concentrated on one or two subjects. Programmes are self-contained and
qualify both for occupational functions and for further study.
2) The Masters degree (Candidatus) is awarded after a total of 5 years of study. The programmes
qualify students for occupational functions and scientifi c work. Each candidatus pro-