Denmark is a sovereign state in Northern Europe, located south-west of Sweden, south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark has two autonomous constituent countries in the north Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary constitutional monarchy with Margrethe II as queen regnant, organized in a parliamentary democracy. Ending absolute monarchy introduced in 1660, the Constitution of Denmark was signed four times in the past, with the latest revision being in 1953.The government is Copenhagen, and Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm by devolving political powers to handle internal affairs to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark became a member of the European Union in 1973, maintaining four opt-outs from European Union policies, as outlined in the 1992 Edinburgh Agreement. Both the Faroe Islands and Greenland remain outside the Union. At 16,638.69 square miles and with a population of around 5.6 million inhabitants, Denmark consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and the Danish archipelago of 407 islands of which around 70 are inhabited,  characterized by flat, arable land and sandy coasts with little elevation and a temperate climate. The national language is Danish.