From Greenland to green energy: Five things to know about Denmark

Denmark goes to the polls Tuesday in legislative elections expected to be close, with 12 parties fielding candidates and a slew of coalition governments possible depending on the election outcome.

Here are five things to know about the Scandinavian country that is home to wind turbines and Lego and that shares a border with Canada.

– Big and small –

Metropolitan Denmark has six million inhabitants and around 4.3 million eligible voters, spread across 43,000 square kilometres (16,602 square miles) from the Jutland peninsula north of Germany, to no fewer than 444 islands, including Zealand, where Copenhagen is located.

With its two autonomous territories — the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland with its two million square kilometres in the Arctic, coveted by US President Donald Trump — Denmark is the biggest country in the European Union in terms of area and 12th biggest in the world.

The Faroe Islands and Greenland each have their own local parliaments, and also have two seats each in the 179-seat Danish parliament, the Folketing.

If Tuesday’s election result is very close, the four representatives from the territories could play a decisive role in the formation of a parliamentary majority.

– No to Trump –

Like the United States, Denmark is a founding member of NATO and has always considered Washington its closest ally.

But Trump’s recent desire to annex Greenland has forced the Scandinavian country to review their relationship.

The American president has repeatedly said the US needs Greenland for national security reasons, and long refused to rule out the use of force to get it until he backed down from those threats in January.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has since said that the United States is no longer Denmark’s closest ally, though it remains its most important ally.

Copenhagen, one of Ukraine’s staunchest defenders in its fight against Russia, has now turned its focus to European solidarity.

Frederiksen’s unwavering stance against Trump saw her popularity soar among Danes, who rallied around their “iron lady”.

Her handling of the crisis in January gave her a boost in opinion polls, which likely spurred her to call the election for March, according to analysts.

– Hard line on immigration –

The far-right has played an influential role in Danish politics since the late 1990s, and almost all parties have now adopted a hard line on immigration.

Even Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has advocated a “zero refugee” target since coming to power in 2019.

Copenhagen has introduced a string of measures to discourage refugees and migrants from coming to Denmark and seeking citizenship. It has also incentivised returns, and it now awards only temporary residency in most cases.

The far-right wants to see permanent residency abolished.

– Climate concerns –

Denmark sees itself as a world leader in green energy, and climate issues are the primary concern of 32 percent of Danes in Tuesday’s election, a recent poll showed.

Renewable energy accounted for about 90 percent of electricity produced in Denmark in 2025.

But at the same time, Denmark is among the world’s biggest pork exporters, a highly polluting industry.

While the government recently announced a carbon tax on agriculture, debate has more recently focused on the quality of drinking water.

Home to Vestas, the world’s biggest manufacturer of wind turbines, Denmark aims to reduce its emissions by 70 percent by 2030 and to be climate neutral by 2045.

– Land of bikes –

Jonas Vingegaard’s victory in the 2022 Tour de France, which started in Copenhagen that year, highlighted the Danish passion for cycling.

The flat country, where the highest elevation is 170 metres (558 feet), counts more than 12,000 kilometres (7,455 miles) of bike lanes.

Fifteen percent of daily transport is done by bike, both winter and summer.

Copenhagen, which claims to be the world capital of cycling, has five times more bicycles than cars.

Sport in general is a big part of Danish life.

Danes invented handball at the end of the 19th century, and are among the most physically active in the European Union, with around 40 percent belonging to a gym or sports club.