Denmark votes on Tuesday in what is set to be a tight parliamentary election between the incumbent left-wing bloc and right-wing and far-right candidates.
Here is all you need to know about the Scandinavian country, home to more bikes than cars and plenty of wind farms.
Three candidates for PM
Facing off with incumbent Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the right and far-right opposition are mainly lining up behind two candidates to form the next government after the November 1 election.
The liberal Jakob Ellemann-Jensen and the conservative Soren Pape Poulsen are in the running to take her place, but a third man could also end up being a key player: the centrist and former Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
Giant nation
Covering some 43,000 square kilometres (about 16,500 square miles), mainland Denmark is home to 5.9 million people, spread across the Jutland peninsula north of Germany and no fewer than 444 islands.
But adding its two autonomous territories, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and the Arctic island of Greenland and its more than two million square kilometres, the Nordic nation claims the title of the largest country in the European Union and the twelfth largest in the world.
The Faroe Islands and Greenland, which also have local parliaments, have four seats in the 179-seat Danish parliament, the Folketing.
With polls predicting a tight race, these MPs could be decisive in forming a parliamentary majority.
In 1998, the election of a left-wing MP in the Faroe Islands, with a lead of only 176 votes, enabled Social Democrat Poul Nyrup Rasmussen to form a government.
Hard line on immigration
As far-right parties have had an influence on politics since the 1990s, Denmark has adopted a hard line on immigration.
Even as a member of the centre-left Social Democratic party, current Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has been an advocate of targeting “zero refugees” since she came to power in 2019.
The country was the first — and to date the only — country in Europe to rescind residence permits of Syrian refugees from Damascus in 2020, on the grounds that the situation there was now sufficiently safe to return.
Like the UK, the government seeks to open centres abroad to relocate asylum seekers during their application process, with discussions ongoing with Rwanda.
At the outset of the 2015 migration crisis, Denmark adopted a number of measures to deter asylum seekers, including passing a law that allowed the confiscation of migrants’ belongings to help finance their care.
Climate concerns
In the small country, which prides itself on being a champion of green energy, climate is one of the main concerns of voters.
According to a recent poll, 36 percent of Danes believe the next government should make climate a priority, just behind healthcare and the economy.
Denmark likes to highlight that it sources 67 percent of its electricity from renewable energy (46.8 percent from wind power and 11.2 percent from biomass), but it is at the same time one of the world’s largest pig-farming nations, a highly polluting industry.
The Social Democrat government has announced plans to introduce a carbon tax on agriculture, a measure supported by the majority of other parties.
Home to the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, Denmark aims to reduce its emissions by 70 percent by 2030, compared to a 55 percent reduction by the EU as a whole.
It aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in line with EU commitments.
Welfare state and progressivism
Denmark sports an extensive welfare state model, financed by high taxes to ensure a social safety net.
Access to education and healthcare is free of charge, and a normal work week is 37 hours.
A staunch defence of freedom of expression is a cornerstone of Danish society, which is modern and progressive.
Homosexuality was for instance decriminalised in 1933 and the country was also the first in the world to recognise same-sex unions with the creation of registered partnership in 1989.
Same-sex marriages were then introduced in 2011.
One of the capital’s landmarks is the libertarian neighbourhood of Christiania, the home of a self-managed community since 1971 known for its overt narcotics trade.
The country also has the largest sperm bank in the world, which exports to over 80 countries.
Bicycle nation
Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard’s win of the 2022 Tour de France, which began in Copenhagen, underscored Danes’ passion for cycling.
The flat country, whose highest point is merely 170 metres (560 feet) above sea level, has more than 12,000 kilometres of cycle paths and 15 percent of daily trips are made by bike, in summer and winter.
In Copenhagen, which claims to be the world’s cycling capital, there are five times as many bicycles as cars.
Sport is also omnipresent.
Danes, who invented handball at the end of the 19th century, are among the most athletic in the EU with 59 percent of them practising some sport at least once a week.
(With inputs from AFP)
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