highways and modernization.Population will be in the millions.Giant metropolises from futuristic aid from Transformers Gobot Universe.Zarconian cities will grow and defenses.It will have complicated roads and streets built.Setup for peace time having subdivisions.We will build reactors throughout Greenland and start thawing out and digging out snow.Places will have concrete construction built by using snow removal and construction site removal machines and methods.It will have new airports to link it to space.Only travel to space from Greenland.The world will be manipulated and controlled by Greenland by Zarconian.It will grow into a superpower.It needs to be built to lay down laws on earth.To control earth.This is the Atlantic.Greenland will be a booming society for Transformers Gobot Universe white race to meet the earth and North America.They will have the advancements of tribe of Atlantic.They will be exporting and importing.They will have enterprise developed and society.Education.I always wanted to be off the coast of North America in Greenland.To develop future cities and suburbs.Shopping centers and stores.Futuristic railroad and trains.Nuclear power.Emitters block out harsh climate using field.Placed tops skyscrapers.Laws on overseas and ports.Airports.New subdivisions.Civilization made to the modern era.We will have restoration from past decades which earth is based on past.Past and all the way back in centuries in tv.TV and media and technology.Military and technology as earth's fighters and warships.Its weapons and animals.Its prehistoric animals and creatures.We have share in on them from Atlantic Ocean perspective.Its vast New World but where Greenland is not bad.Its point of view.Perspective.And 20th Century technology and food.Food of North America.Computers over years and internet.Topics.Rock music and cartoons.Movies and Sci-Fi.Home styles and pets.Pet cats.And its history and news.Events matched to outer space.Evolution process.How things changed over decades.Greenland being in the Atlantic and its perspective of things.Upgrades to modern and restoration to catch up and make suburbs and cities,regions that don't exist to millions.Media and entertainment.To interact and catchup share of North America.Learn military technology and secrets.From NATO and how to operate and make our own guns and cannons.What is difference in education and practical learning.Our loyalties from this planet and accomplish tests.Learning history of WW1 and WW2 and history of technology.Space empires near this solar system Sol System and earth class.Getting the technology and learnings.This is staked as our territory on earth.Go back in time to World War.Solid our continent.Visit North America and ON more easier.Get updated as this is in lives of our continent and Transformer Gobot universe people's lives and even fate.Easy one to start as one of our countries.And utilize technology and manpower.Resources all done correctly and proper decisions from learning.Learn from Antarctica and New Zealand,for Greenland ON to upgrades.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2_oagn3Zic
Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat [kaˈlaːɬit ˈnunaːt]) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and later Denmark) for more than a millennium. In 2008, the people of Greenland passed a referendum supporting greater autonomy; 75% of votes cast were in favour. Greenland is, in terms of area, the world's largest island,[6] over 3/4 of which is covered by the only contemporary ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of 56,370[3] (2013), it is the least densely populated country in the world.[7] http://zarconian.wikia.com/wiki/File:KusoCartoon_14951485163311_.jpg
https://zarconian.fandom.com/wiki/File:Sg_1_insignia_by_viperaviator-d3vxlxw.png
Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from Canada.[8] Norsemen settled on the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century. Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century. In the early 18th century, Scandinavia and Greenland came back into contact with each other, and Denmark established sovereignty over the island.Greenland used to exist on a planet in Gattaca.Marble blue Eden class planet.It was space American.Ettrossians.They had Greenland as a continent on planet's surface.It used to create Andromeda class warships space battleship.And robotech Alphas and Vanguard.It had its military create these machines as a fightercraft that Europeans took that was American.It like Antarctica was brought to earth to freeze over.Populations of hundreds of millions gone.All of its American cities and subdivisions,corporations gone.All of its American resources.American music and pride.President.Glaciers and native Indians took over as an era for Greenland.It used to be hot.It had Marines and many houses in hot heat.Buildings and robotech to protect it.It was on Ettrossian American world.Giant planet.Now I am to reckage it and find all of its technology and build it reinforced alloy for land.Make it into entire base of operations.To bring all of those mechas to be Transformer Gobots.It will have giant energy guns for Naval.It will have armies and they can fire at the enemy.Have missiles.Defenses.Deploy Naval ships from naval tunnels from hangars inside Greenland from help of Comet Empire.Mobile fortress and its sky has a barrier to travel through space and fight war.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Greenland+and+US+military&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiu_vSdq-fZAhVH-6wKHbvQDAMQ_AUICygC&biw=1280&bih=910
Having been ruled by Denmark–Norway for centuries, Greenland (Danish: Grønland) became a Danish colony in 1814, and a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark. In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1983, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC, and Greenland officially withdrew in 1985. In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted to transfer more power from the Danish royal government to the local Greenlandic government. Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009,[9] the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs, national defence, the police force, and the justice system. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, slated to diminish gradually over time as Greenland's economy is strengthened by increased income from the extraction of natural resources.Greenland lies between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W and is the third largest country in North America.[39] The Atlantic Ocean borders Greenland's southeast; the Greenland Sea is to the east; the Arctic Ocean is to the north; and Baffin Bay is to the west. The nearest countries are Canada, to the west across Baffin Bay, and Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park, and is the world's largest island and the largest dependent territory by area in the world.Lost its defenses being cities and regions from UFP and Stargate to inhabit Antarctica with brick homes,condos and place for them to have base to land their spacecrafts on earth.They can learn of earth society.They need to conduct classes and start restorage of Queen Aramanda's two homes.Giant cities in new climate zones to we can see rusted buildings former cities.Military project to extract from international world of North America and Europe.We need a place in between of the companies that develope military hardware for a joint effort.International.And to get new and old designs of fighters and warships.1980's Frigates.Cold War tanks and ground units.Weapons like guns from WW2.WW1 and WW2 warships.For us to do a method like my pictures on Zarconian wikia.Grow them giant for service.Get on design from Raytheon of Europe and Grumman.MiG and SU.Extracting everything with Feroz that night last night on earth unless we build this base and communities,cities.
The withdrawal of Greenland from the European Communities took place in 1985. This followed a referendum in 1982 in which 53% voted to leave.[1]
Contents
1 Greenland Treaty
2 See also
3 References
4 Further reading
Greenland Treaty
Greenland TreatyTreaty amending, with regard to Greenland, the Treaties establishing the European Communities
Signed 13 March 1984
Location Brussels
Effective 1 January 1985
Signatories 10
Depositary Government of the Italian Republic
Languages All 8 official Languages of the European Communities
Greenland Treaty at Wikisource
The Greenland Treaty was an agreement between the member states of the European Communities, concerning Greenland's exit from the European Communities. It followed the Greenlandic referendum in 1982 in which voters supported exiting the EC.
The Treaty arranged for the exit of Greenland and amended earlier treaties of the European Communities. As such, it is an integral part of the constitutional basis of the European Union. The decision to withdraw was made after Greenland had achieved self-rule, was made to protect Greenland's rights to its fishing waters and to limit external influence.[2][3]
The Treaty entered into force on 1 January 1985, and on 1 February 1985, Greenland formally withdrew from the European Communities.The average daily temperature of Nuuk, Greenland varies over the seasons from −8 to 7 °C (18 to 45 °F).
Southeast coast of Greenland.
The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km2 (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km3 (680,000 cu mi).[40] The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,139 ft). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 m (4,921 ft) in elevation.
The weight of the ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level,[41][42] while elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.[43] The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.[44] This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord, at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen.All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.[45]
View of mountains on Greenland from the air
At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the map to the right): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. Currently, there is a year-round station, Summit Camp, on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.Air transportation exists both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network,[citation needed] Also the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few countryside roads have been built.
Kangerlussuaq Airport around 100 km (60 miles) from the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen.
In May 2007, Air Greenland initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore in the United States,[61] but on 10 March 2008, the route was cancelled because of financial losses.[62] In 2012 Air Greenland commenced seasonal, biweekly flights between Nuuk and Iqaluit.[63] Working in tandem with First Air passengers can then continue to Ottawa.[64] Air Iceland began operating a twice-weekly Keflavík-Ilulissat route in July 2009.[65] In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen. Air Iceland operates routes between Reykjavík and Narsarsuaq, Ilulissat, Nuuk on the west coast and Kulusuk, Ittoqqortoormiit on the east coast.
Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.
Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, pronounced [kalaːɬit nunaːt]; Danish: Grønland, pronounced [ˈɡʁɶnˌlanˀ]) is an autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium.[9] The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century, gradually settling across the island.
Greenland is the world's largest island. Australia and Antarctica (both larger) are generally considered to be continental landmasses rather than islands.[10] Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480 (2013),[6] it is the least densely populated territory in the world.[11] About a third of the population live in Nuuk, the capital and largest city. The Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland, connecting the various cities and settlements.
Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.[12][13] Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, having previously settled Iceland to escape persecution from the King of Norway and his central government. These Norsemen would later set sail from Greenland and Iceland, with Leif Erikson becoming the first known European to reach North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands. Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century when Norway was hit by the Black Death and entered a severe decline. Soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador in Canada).[14]
In the early 18th century, Danish explorers reached Greenland again. To strengthen trading and power, Denmark–Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Because of Norway's weak status, it lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became Danish in 1814, and was fully integrated in the Danish state in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark.
In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC, which was effected in 1985. Greenland contains the world's largest and most northerly national park, Northeast Greenland National Park (Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq). Established in 1974, and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects 972,001 square kilometres (375,292 sq mi) of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland and is bigger than all but twenty-nine countries in the world. Greenland is divided into five municipalities – Sermersooq, Kujalleq, Qeqertalik, Qeqqata, and Avannaata.[15] Greenland does not have an independent seat at the United Nations.[16]
In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted in favor of the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Greenlandic government. Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009,[17] Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for policing, judicial system, company law, accounting, and auditing; mineral resource activities; aviation; law of legal capacity, family law and succession law; aliens and border controls; the working environment; and financial regulation and supervision, while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defence. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time. Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources. The capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, mostly coming from hydropower.[18][additional citation(s) needed]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures
2.2 Norse settlement
2.3 Thule culture (1300–present)
2.4 1500–1814
2.5 Treaty of Kiel to World War II
2.6 Home rule and self-rule
3 Geography and climate
3.1 Postglacial glacier advances on the peninsula Nuussuaq
4 Biodiversity
5 Politics
5.1 Political system
5.2 Government
5.3 Administrative divisions
6 Economy
6.1 Transportation
7 Population
7.1 Demographics
7.2 Languages
7.3 Religion
7.4 Social issues
8 Culture
8.1 Sport
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
11.1 Bibliography
11.2 Works cited
12 External links
12.1 Overviews and data
12.2 Government
12.3 Trade
12.4 Travel
12.5 Other
Etymology
The early Norse settlers named the island as Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was said to be exiled from Iceland for manslaughter. Along with his extended family and his thralls (i.e. slaves or serfs), he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.[19][20][21] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."[22]
The name of the country in the indigenous Greenlandic language is Kalaallit Nunaat ("land of the Kalaallit").[23] The Kalaallit are the indigenous Greenlandic Inuit people who inhabit the country's western region.
History
Main article: History of Greenland
Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures
Maps showing the different cultures in Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland and the Canadian arctic islands in the years 900, 1100, 1300 and 1500. Green: Dorset Culture; blue: Thule Culture; red: Norse culture; yellow: Innu; orange: Beothuk.
In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to several successive Paleo-Eskimo cultures known today primarily through archaeological finds. The earliest entry of the Paleo-Eskimo into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From around 2500 BC to 800 BC, southern and western Greenland were inhabited by the Saqqaq culture. Most finds of Saqqaq-period archaeological remains have been around Disko Bay, including the site of Saqqaq, after which the culture is named.[24][25]
From 2400 BC to 1300 BC, the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the Arctic small tool tradition.[26][27][28] Towns, including Deltaterrasserne, started to appear.
Around 800 BC, the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early Dorset culture emerged in western Greenland and the Independence II culture in northern Greenland.[29] The Dorset culture was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas, both on the west and east coasts. It lasted until the total onset of the Thule culture in 1500 AD. The Dorset culture population lived primarily from hunting of whales and caribou.[30][31][32][33]
Norse settlement
See also: Herjolfsnes (Norse Greenland)
From 986, Greenland's west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red. They formed three settlements—known as the Eastern Settlement, the Western Settlement and the Middle Settlement—on fjords near the southwestern-most tip of the island.[9][34] They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with the Thule culture that entered from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in 1261 under the Kingdom of Norway (872–1397). Later the Kingdom of Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark in 1380, and from 1397 was a part of the Kalmar Union.[35]
Kingittorsuaq Runestone from Kingittorsuaq Island (Middle Ages)
Erik the Red's recruitment of others to settle in Greenland has been characterized recently as a land scam, the scam (and the name) portraying Greenland as better farm land than in Iceland.[36]
The Norse settlements, such as Brattahlíð, thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age.[37] Apart from some runic inscriptions, no contemporary records or historiography survives from the Norse settlements. Medieval Norwegian sagas and historical works mention Greenland's economy as well as the bishops of Gardar and the collection of tithes. A chapter in the Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror) describes Norse Greenland's exports and imports as well as grain cultivation.
Icelandic saga accounts of life in Greenland were composed in the 13th century and later, and do not constitute primary sources for the history of early Norse Greenland.[21] Modern understanding therefore mostly depends on the physical data from archeological sites. Interpretation of ice core and clam shell data suggests that between 800 and 1300, the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate several degrees Celsius higher than usual in the North Atlantic,[38] with trees and herbaceous plants growing, and livestock being farmed. Barley was grown as a crop up to the 70th parallel.[39] What is verifiable is that the ice cores indicate Greenland has had dramatic temperature shifts many times over the past 100,000 years.[40] Similarly the Icelandic Book of Settlements records famines during the winters, in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs".[38]
One of the last contemporary written mentions of the Norse Greenlanders records a marriage which took place in 1408 in the church of Hvalsey—today the best-preserved Nordic ruins in Greenland.
These Icelandic settlements vanished during the 14th and early 15th centuries.[41] The demise of the Western Settlement coincides with a decrease in summer and winter temperatures. A study of North Atlantic seasonal temperature variability during the Little Ice Age showed a significant decrease in maximum summer temperatures beginning in the late 13th century to early 14th century—as much as 6 to 8 °C (11 to 14 °F) lower than modern summer temperatures.[42] The study also found that the lowest winter temperatures of the last 2000 years occurred in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The Eastern Settlement was likely abandoned in the early to mid-15th century, during this cold period.
Theories drawn from archeological excavations at Herjolfsnes in the 1920s, suggest that the condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, maybe due to soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting. Malnutrition may also have resulted from widespread deaths due to pandemic plague;[43] the decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age; and armed conflicts with the Skrælings (Norse word for Inuit, meaning "wretches"[37]). In 1379, the Inuit attacked the Eastern Settlement, killed 18 men and captured two boys and a woman.[37] Recent archeological studies somewhat challenge the general assumption that the Norse colonisation had a dramatic negative environmental effect on the vegetation. Data support traces of a possible Norse soil amendment strategy.[44] More recent evidence suggests that the Norse, who never numbered more than about 2,500, gradually abandoned the Greenland settlements over the 1400s as walrus ivory,[45] the most valuable export from Greenland, decreased in price due to competition with other sources of higher-quality ivory, and that there was actually little evidence of starvation or difficulties.[46]
Other theories about the disappearance of the Norse settlement have been proposed;
Lack of support from the homeland.[43]
Ship-borne marauders (such as Basque, English, or German pirates) rather than Skraelings, could have plundered and displaced the Greenlanders.[47]
They were "the victims of hidebound thinking and of a hierarchical society dominated by the Church and the biggest land owners. In their reluctance to see themselves as anything but Europeans, the Greenlanders failed to adopt the kind of apparel that the Inuit employed as protection against the cold and damp or to borrow any of the Eskimo hunting gear."[9][37]
"Norse society's structure created a conflict between the short-term interests of those in power, and the long-term interests of the society as a whole."[37]
Thule culture (1300–present)
Pictures of Greenland, c. 1863
The Thule people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. No genes from the Paleo-Eskimos have been found in the present population of Greenland.[48] The Thule Culture migrated eastward from what is now known as Alaska around 1000, reaching Greenland around 1300. The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as dog sleds and toggling harpoons.
1500–1814
In 1500, King Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar Corte-Real to Greenland in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia which, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, was part of Portugal's sphere of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother, Miguel Corte-Real. Finding the sea frozen, they headed south and arrived in Labrador and Newfoundland. Upon the brothers' return to Portugal, the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new map of the world which was presented to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The Cantino planisphere, made in Lisbon, accurately depicts the southern coastline of Greenland.[49]
A 1747 map based on Egede's descriptions and misconceptions
In 1605–1607, King Christian IV of Denmark sent a series of expeditions to Greenland and Arctic waterways to locate the lost eastern Norse settlement and assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders who lacked experience with the difficult arctic ice and weather conditions, and partly because the expedition leaders were given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on the east coast of Greenland just north of Cape Farewell, which is almost inaccessible due to southward drifting ice. The pilot on all three trips was English explorer James Hall.
Godthåb in Greenland, c. 1878
After the Norse settlements died off, Greenland came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Danish government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from the Norse. When it re-established contact with Greenland in the early 17th century, Denmark asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721, a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. This expedition is part of the Dano-Norwegian colonization of the Americas. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of the mission there and returned to Denmark, where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at Godthåb ("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, and closed to those from other countries.
Treaty of Kiel to World War II
Main article: Greenland in World War II
Eirik Raudes Land
When the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's former colonies and left them under the control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which decided against Norway.[50]
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War II, after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.[51] The United States occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine at Ivittuut. The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports. Bluie was the military code name for Greenland.
During this war, the system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish Sirius Patrol guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dogsleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops, who destroyed the facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Albert Speer briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the United States Armed Forces.[52]
Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing only small scale troaking with Scottish whalers. In wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene, recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was initiated when a grand commission was established. A final report (G-50) was presented in 1950: Greenland was to be a modern welfare state with Denmark as sponsor and example. In 1953 Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979.
Home rule and self-rule
See also: Greenlandic independence
The orthography and vocabulary of the Greenlandic language is governed by Oqaasileriffik, the Greenlandic language secretariat, located in the Ilimmarfik University of Greenland, Nuuk.
Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000. Denmark refused to sell it.[53][54] In the 21st century, the United States, according to WikiLeaks, remains highly interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast.[55][56]
In 1950 Denmark agreed to allow the US to reestablish Thule Air Base in Greenland; it was greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO Cold War defense strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm. It managed this project from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandoning it as unworkable. The Danish government did not become aware of the program's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber at Thule in 1968.
With the 1953 Danish constitution, Greenland's colonial status ended as the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county). Danish citizenship was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policies toward Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation—or de-Greenlandification. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and a number lost their cultural ties to Greenland. While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of shifting Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement developed in favour of independence, reaching its peak in the 1970s.[57] As a consequence of political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979.
This gave Greenland limited autonomy with its own legislature taking control of some internal policies, while the Parliament of Denmark maintained full control of external policies, security, and natural resources. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC) upon achieving self-rule, as it did not agree with the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products.[58] Greenland voters approved a referendum on greater autonomy on 25 November 2008.[59][60] According to one study, the 2008 vote created what "can be seen as a system between home rule and full independence."[61]
On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law. (One country, two systems)[62] Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defence matters. Denmark upholds the annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner, but as Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, the grant will gradually be diminished. This is generally considered to be a step toward eventual full independence from Denmark.[63] Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.[3][8][64][65][66]
Geography and climate
Main article: Geography of Greenland
See also: Administrative divisions of Greenland, Territorial claims in the Arctic, Climate change in the Arctic, Climate of the Arctic § Greenland, and Retreat of glaciers since 1850 § Greenland
Greenland map of Köppen climate classification
Map of Greenland
Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island[67] and the third largest country in North America.[68] It is between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W. The Atlantic Ocean borders Greenland's southeast; the Greenland Sea is to the east; the Arctic Ocean is to the north; and Baffin Bay is to the west. The nearest countries are Canada, to the west and southwest across Baffin Bay, and Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park, and it is the largest dependent territory by area in the world, as well as the fourth largest country subdivision in the world, after Sakha Republic in Russia, Australia's state of Western Australia, and Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the largest in North America.
Southeast coast of Greenland
The average daily temperature of Nuuk, Greenland varies over the seasons from −8 to 7 °C (18 to 45 °F). The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km2 (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km3 (680,000 cu mi).[69] The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,139 ft) of the Watkins Range (East Greenland mountain range). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 m (4,921 ft) in elevation.
The weight of the ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level,[70][71] while elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.[72] The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.[73] This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord, at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen.
All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but it is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.[74]
View of mountains on Greenland from the air
At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station Summit Camp on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.
Southern Greenland is suitable for agriculture. Hay is harvested in Igaliku, Kujalleq.
The extreme north of Greenland, Peary Land, is not covered by an ice sheet, because the air there is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice sheet. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt away completely, the world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft).[75]
Between 1989 and 1993, US and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (1.9 mi) long ice cores. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change in the Northern Hemisphere going back about 100,000 years and illustrated that the world's weather and temperature have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide consequences.[76] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level faster than was previously believed.[77] Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) showed that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6 °C (11 °F).[78] Other research has shown that higher snowfalls from the North Atlantic oscillation caused the interior of the ice cap to thicken by an average of 6 cm or 2.36 in/y between 1994 and 2005.[79] However, a recent study suggests a much warmer planet in relatively recent geological times:[80]
Scientists who probed 2 km (1.2 mi) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said that the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants, spiders and insects including butterflies from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. That view contrasts sharply with the prevailing one that a lush forest of this kind could not have existed in Greenland any later than 2.4 million years ago. These DNA samples suggest that the temperature probably reached 10 °C (50 °F) in the summer and −17 °C (1.4 °F) in the winter. They also indicate that during the last interglacial period, 130,000–116,000 years ago, when local temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away.
View of Kangertittivaq in eastern Greenland, one of the largest sund-fjord systems in the world
Greenland bedrock, at current elevation above sea level
In 2003, a small island, 35 by 15 metres (115 by 49 feet) in length and width, was discovered by arctic explorer Dennis Schmitt and his team at the coordinates of 83-42. Whether this island is permanent is not confirmed as of yet. If it is, it is the northernmost permanent known land on Earth.
In 2007 the existence of a new island was announced. Named "Uunartoq Qeqertaq" (English: Warming Island), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.[81] The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.[82] Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented: "In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the Arctic and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this ice bridge on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world's largest island continues to melt".[83]
Some controversy surrounds the history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th century.[84]
See also: Greenland's Grand Canyon
Postglacial glacier advances on the peninsula Nuussuaq
The 1310 m-high Qaqugdluit-mountain-land on the south-side of the peninsula Nuussuaq, situated 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of the Greenland inland ice at 70°7′50″N 51°44′30″W, is exemplary of the numerous mountain areas of West-Greenland. Up to the year 1979 (Stage 0) it shows Historical to Holocene, i.e. Postglacial glacier stages dating back at least 7000 and at most about 10 000 years.[85][86] In 1979 the glacier tongues came to an end – according to the extent and height of the glacier nourishing area – between 660 and 140 metres (2,170 and 460 feet) above sea level. The pertinent climatic glacier snowline (ELA) ran at about 800 metres (2,600 feet) in height. The snowline of the oldest (VII) of the three Holocene glacier stages (V–VII) ran about 230 metres (750 feet) deeper, i.e. at about 570 metres (1,870 feet) in height.[87] The four youngest glacier stages (IV-I) are of a Historical age. They have to be classified as belonging to the global glacier advances in the years 1811 to 1850 and 1880 to 1900 ("Little Ice Age"), 1910 to 1930, 1948 and 1953.[86] Their snowlines rose step by step up to the level of 1979. The current snowline (Stage 0) runs nearly unchanged. During the oldest Postglacial Stage VII an ice-stream-network from valley glaciers joining each other, has completely covered the landscape. Its nourishing areas consisted of high-lying plateau-glaciers and local ice caps. Due to the uplift of the snowline about that about 230 metres (750 feet) – what corresponds to a warming about 1.5 °C (2.7 °F), since 1979 there exists a plateau-glaciation with small glacier tongues hanging down on the margins that nearly did not reach the main valley bottoms any more.[87]
Biodiversity
See also: Flora and fauna of Greenland, Reindeer hunting in Greenland, Fishing industry in Greenland, and Whaling § Greenland
Muskox in Greenland
There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current, and a large part of the Greenland fauna associated with marine production, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the polar bear, reindeer, arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox, collared lemming, ermine, and arctic wolf. The last four are found naturally only in East Greenland, having immigrated from Ellesmere Island. There are dozens of species of seals and whales along the coast. Land fauna consists predominantly of animals that have spread from North America or for a lot of birds and insects coming from Europe. There are no native or free-living reptiles or amphibians on the island.[88]
Phytogeographically, Greenland belongs to the Arctic province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island is sparsely populated in vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland and small bushes, which is regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Greenland is the European white birch (Betula pubescens) along with gray-leaf willow (Salix glauca), rowans (Sorbus aucuparia), common junipers (Juniperus communis) and other smaller trees, mainly willows.
Greenland's flora comprises about 500 species of higher plants, i.e. flowering plants, ferns, horsetails and lycopodiophyta. Of the other groups, the lichens are the largest with about 950 species; of major fungal species are known 600–700; mosses and algae anything less. Most of Greenland's higher plants are widespread, particularly in arctic and alpine regions, and only a dozen species of particular saxifrage and hawkweed is endemic. A few species were introduced by the Norsemen, such as cow vetch.
The animals of Greenland include the Greenland dog, which was introduced by the Inuit, as well as European-introduced species such as Greenlandic sheep, goats, cattle, reindeer, horse, chicken and sheepdog, all descendants of animals imported by Europeans. Marine mammals include the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) as well as the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).[89] Whales frequently pass very close to Greenlandic shores in the late summer and early autumn. Species represented include the beluga whale, blue whale, Greenland whale, fin whale, humpback whale, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, sperm whale.[90]
Approximately 225 species of fish are known from the waters surrounding Greenland, and the fishing industry is a major part of Greenland's economy, accounting for the majority of the country's total exports.
Birds, especially seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life. On steep mountainsides breed large colonies of auks, puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes. By common ducks include eiders, long-tailed ducks and the king eider and in West Greenland white-fronted goose and in East Greenland pink-footed goose and barnacle goose. Breeding migratory birds are also including snow bunting, lapland bunting, ringed plover, red-throated loon and red-necked phalarope. Of land birds that are usually sedentary, can be highlighted arctic redpoll, ptarmigan, short-eared owl, snowy owl, gyrfalcon and in West Greenland the white-tailed eagle.[88]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Greenland
See also: Politics of Denmark, Politics of the Faroe Islands, and Greenland–European Union relations
Margrethe II,
Queen since 1972
Kim Kielsen,
Premier since 2014
Lars Løkke Rasmussen,
Prime Minister since 2015
Greenland Government Building
The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, in which Queen Margrethe II is the head of state. The monarch officially retains executive power and presides over the Council of State (privy council).[91][92] However, following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, the duties of the monarch have since become strictly representative and ceremonial,[93] such as the formal appointment and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers in the executive government. The monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and the monarch's person is sacrosanct.[94]
Political system
The party system is dominated by the social-democratic Forward Party, and the democratic socialist Inuit Community Party, both of which broadly argue for greater independence from Denmark. While the 2009 election saw the unionist—and largely Danish—Democrat Party (2 MPs) decline greatly, the 2013 election consolidated the power of the two main parties at the expense of the smaller groups, and saw the eco-socialist Inuit Party elected to the Parliament for the first time. The dominance of the Forward and Inuit Community parties began to wane after the snap 2014 elections, and 2018 elections.
The non-binding 2008 referendum on self-governance favoured increased self-governance 21,355 votes to 6,663.
In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC later became the European Union (EU, renamed and expanded in scope in 1992). Greenland retains some ties with the EU via Denmark. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade. Greenland is a member state of the Council of Europe.[95]
Government
Main article: Politics of Greenland
Municipalities of Greenland
Greenland's head of state is Margrethe II, Queen regnant of Denmark. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a High Commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The commissioner is Mikaela Engell.
Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, out of a total of 179. The representatives are Aleqa Hammond of the Siumut Party and Aaja Chemnitz Larsen of the Inuit Community Party.[96]
Greenland also has its own Parliament, which has 31 members. The government is the Naalakkersuisut whose members are appointed by the Premier. The head of government is the Premier, usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The Premier is Kim Kielsen of the Siumut Party.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Greenland
Formerly consisting of three counties comprising a total of 18 municipalities, Greenland abolished these in 2009 and has since been divided into large territories known as "municipalities" (Greenlandic: kommuneqarfiit, Danish: kommuner): Sermersooq ("Much Ice") around the capital Nuuk and also including all East Coast communities; Kujalleq ("South") around Cape Farewell; Qeqqata ("Centre") north of the capital along the Davis Strait; Qeqertalik ("The one with islands") surrounding Disko Bay; and Avannaata ("Northern") in the northwest; the latter two having come into being as a result of the Qaasuitsup municipality, one of the original four, being partitioned in 2018. The northeast of the island composes the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Thule Air Base is also unincorporated, an enclave within Avannaata municipality administered by the United States Air Force. During its construction, there were as many as 12,000 American residents but in recent years the number has been below 1,000.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Greenland
Graphical depiction of Greenland's product exports in 28 colour-coded categories
The Greenlandic economy is highly dependent on fishing. Fishing accounts for more than 90% of Greenland's exports.[97] The shrimp and fish industry is by far the largest income earner.[2]
Greenland is abundant in minerals.[97] Mining of ruby deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing. These include iron, uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. Despite resumption[when?] of several hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company Nunaoil was created to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. The state company Nunamineral has been launched on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange to raise more capital to increase the production of gold, started in 2007.
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland
Royal Greenland fishing vessel "Akamalik", anchored at Sisimiut
Electricity has traditionally been generated by oil or diesel power plants, even if there is a large surplus of potential hydropower. There is a programme to build hydro power plants. The first, and still the largest, is Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant.
There are also plans to build a large aluminium smelter, using hydropower to create an exportable product. It is expected that much of the labour needed will be imported.[98]
The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict People's Republic of China development of rare-earth projects, as China accounts for 95% of the world's current supply. In early 2013, the Greenland government said that it had no plans to impose such restrictions.[99]
The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. About half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the average economies of Europe.
Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s. But, since 1993, the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s, which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign-trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mine that year. More recently,[when?] new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered, promising to bring new industry and a new export from the country. (See Gemstone industry in Greenland).
Transportation
Main articles: Transport in Greenland and List of airports in Greenland
Air Greenland Airbus A330-200 in-flight
The port of Ilulissat
Air transportation exists both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are virtually no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network. The only exception is a gravel road of 3 miles length between Kangilinnguit and the now abandoned former cryolite mining town of Ivittuut.[100] In addition, the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few countryside roads have been built.
All civil aviation matters are handled by the Danish Transport Authority. Most airports including Nuuk Airport have short runways and can only be served by special fairly small aircraft on fairly short flights. Kangerlussuaq Airport around 100 kilometres (62 miles) inland from the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. Travel between international destinations (except Iceland) and any city in Greenland requires a plane change.
Air Iceland operates flights from Reykjavík to a number of airports in Greenland, and the company promotes the service as a day-trip option from Iceland for tourists.[101]
There are no direct flights to the United States or Canada, although there have been flights Kangerlussuaq – Baltimore,[102] and Nuuk – Iqaluit,[103] which were cancelled because of too few passengers and financial losses.[104] An alternative between Greenland and the United States/Canada is Air Iceland/Icelandair with a plane change in Iceland.[105]
Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.
Population
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Greenland
See also: List of Greenlanders
Tunumiit Inuit couple from Kulusuk
Greenland has a population of 56,370 (January 2013 estimate),[6] of whom 88% are Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed persons). The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Greenland Danes. Several thousand Greenlandic Inuit reside in the Danish Peninsula. The majority of the population is Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.[106] More than 17,000 people reside in Nuuk, the capital city.
vte
Largest cities or towns in Greenland
2019 Estimate[107]
Rank Name Municipality Pop. Rank Name Municipality Pop.
Nuuk
Nuuk
Sisimiut
Sisimiut 1 Nuuk Sermersooq 17,984 11 Nanortalik Kujalleq 1,196 Ilulissat
Ilulissat
Aasiaat
Aasiaat
2 Sisimiut Qeqqata 5,509 12 Qasigiannguit Qeqertalik 1,075
3 Ilulissat Avannaata 4,554 13 Upernavik Avannaata 1,073
4 Aasiaat Qeqertalik 3,212 14 Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertalik 854
5 Qaqortoq Kujalleq 3,012 15 Qaanaaq Avannaata 621
6 Maniitsoq Qeqqata 2,582 16 Kangaatsiaq Qeqertalik 561
7 Tasiilaq Sermersooq 2,063 17 Kangerlussuaq Qeqqata 538
8 Narsaq Kujalleq 1,374 18 Kullorsuaq Avannaata 422
9 Uummannaq Avannaata 1,364 19 Ittoqqortoormiit Sermersooq 355
10 Paamiut Sermersooq 1,334 20 Kangaamiut Qeqqata 304
Languages
A bilingual sign in Nuuk, displaying the Danish and Kalaallisut for "Parking forbidden for all vehicles"
Both Greenlandic (an Eskimo–Aleut language) and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979; the majority of the population can speak both languages. Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009,[108] In practice, Danish is still widely used in the administration and in higher education, as well as remaining the first or only language for some Danish immigrants in Nuuk and other larger towns. Debate about the roles of Greenlandic and Danish in the country's future is ongoing. The orthography of Greenlandic was established in 1851[109] and revised in 1973. The country has a 100% literacy rate.[2]
A majority of the population speaks Greenlandic, most of them bilingually. It is spoken by about 50,000 people, making it the most populous of the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by more people than all the other languages of the family combined.
Kalaallisut is the Greenlandic dialect of West Greenland, which has long been the most populous area of the island. This has led to its de facto status as the official "Greenlandic" language, although the northern dialect Inuktun remains spoken by 1,000 or so people around Qaanaaq, and the eastern dialect Tunumiisut by around 3,000.[110] Each of these dialects is almost unintelligible to the speakers of the other and are considered by some linguists to be separate languages.[citation needed] A UNESCO report has labelled the other dialects as endangered, and measures are now being considered to protect the East Greenlandic dialects.[111]
About 12% of the population speak Danish as a first or sole language, particularly Danish immigrants in Greenland, many of whom fill positions such as administrators, professionals, academics, or skilled tradesmen. While Greenlandic is dominant in all smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or mixed ancestry, especially in towns, speaks Danish. Most of the Inuit population speaks Danish as a second language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk and in the higher social strata, this is still a large group. While one strategy aims at promoting Greenlandic in public life and education, developing its vocabulary and suitability for all complex contexts, there are opponents of this.[citation needed]
English is another important language for Greenland, taught in schools from the first school year.[112]
Religion
Main article: Religion in Greenland
Religion in Greenland (2010)[113][114]
Protestantism (95.5%)
Roman Catholicism (0.2%)
Other Christian (0.4%)
Inuit spiritual beliefs (0.8%)
Agnostic (2.3%)
Atheist (0.2%)
Other Religion (0.6%)
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik, have their own church.
The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with appeasing a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.
The first Norse colonists worshipped the Norse gods, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 999 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.
Rediscovering these colonists and spreading ideas of the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements, but no Norse were found, and instead they began preaching to the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.[115]
Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, represented mainly by the Church of Denmark, which is Lutheran in orientation. While there are no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen[116] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.[117] The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State.
— Section IV of Constitution of Denmark[118]
This applies to all of the Kingdom of Denmark, except for the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007.
The Roman Catholic minority is pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen. There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements proselytizing fellow Christians.[119][120][121][122]
Social issues
The rate of suicide in Greenland is very high. According to a 2010 census, Greenland holds the highest suicide rate in the world.[123][124] Other significant social issues faced by Greenland are high rates of unemployment, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS.[125] Alcohol consumption rates in Greenland reached their height in the 1980s, when it was twice as high as in Denmark, and had by 2010 fallen slightly below the average level of consumption in Denmark (which is the 12th highest in the world). But at the same time alcohol prices are much higher, meaning that consumption has a high social impact.[126][127]
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Greenland and Music of Greenland
Nive Nielsen, Greenlandic singer and songwriter
Panel discussion with Greenlandic movie maker Inuk Silis Høegh at the launch of his movie about groundbreaking Greenlandic band Sumé. Journalist and Sumé's record producer Karsten Sommer is speaking.
Today Greenlandic culture is a blending of traditional Inuit (Kalaallit) and Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition, dating back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for an art form of figures called tupilak or a "spirit object." Traditional art-making practices thrive in the Ammassalik.[128] Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.[129]
Greenland also has a successful, albeit small, music culture. Some popular Greenlandic bands and artists include Sume (classic rock), Chilly Friday (rock), Nanook (rock), Siissisoq (rock), Nuuk Posse (hip hop) and Rasmus Lyberth (folk), who performed in the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performing in Greenlandic. The singer-songwriter Simon Lynge is the first musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and to perform at the UK's Glastonbury Festival. The music culture of Greenland also includes traditional Inuit music, largely revolving around singing and drums.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Greenland
Sport is an important part of Greenlandic culture, as the population is generally quite active.[130]
Popular sports include association football, track and field, handball and skiing. Handball is often referred to as the national sport,[131] and Greenland's men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001.
Greenland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking are preferred by the general public. Although the country's environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there are nevertheless golf courses on the island.
The history of Greenland is a history of life under extreme Arctic conditions: currently, an ice cap covers about 80 percent of the island, restricting human activity largely to the coasts.
The first humans are thought to have arrived in Greenland around 2500 BC. Their descendants apparently died out and were succeeded by several other groups migrating from continental North America. There has been no evidence discovered that Greenland was known to Europeans until the 10th century, when Icelandic Vikings settled on its southwestern coast, which seems to have been uninhabited when they arrived. The ancestors of the Inuit Greenlanders who live there today appear to have migrated there later, around 1200 AD, from northwestern Greenland. While the Inuit survived in the icy world of the Little Ice Age, the early Norse settlements along the southwestern coast disappeared, leaving the Inuit as the only inhabitants of the island for several centuries. During this time, Denmark-Norway, apparently believing the Norse settlements had survived, continued to claim sovereignty over the island despite the lack of any contact between the Norse Greenlanders and their Scandinavian brethren. In 1721, aspiring to become a colonial power, Denmark-Norway sent a missionary expedition to Greenland with the stated aim of reinstating Christianity among descendants of the Norse Greenlanders who may have reverted to paganism. When the missionaries found no descendants of the Norse Greenlanders, they baptized the Inuit Greenlanders they found living there instead. Denmark-Norway then developed trading colonies along the coast and imposed a trade monopoly and other colonial privileges on the area.
During World War II, when Germany invaded Denmark, Greenlanders became socially and economically less connected to Denmark and more connected to the United States and Canada.[1] After the war, Denmark resumed control of Greenland and in 1953, converted its status from colony to overseas amt (county). Although Greenland is still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it has enjoyed home rule since 1979. In 1985, the island decided to leave the European Union, which it had joined as a part of Denmark in 1973; the Faroes had never joined.
After Norway regained full independence in 1905, it argued that Danish claims to Greenland were invalid since the island had been a Norwegian possession prior to 1815. In 1931, Norwegian whaler Hallvard Devold occupied uninhabited eastern Greenland, on his own initiative. After the fact, the occupation was supported by the Norwegian government, who claimed the area as Erik the Red's Land. Two years later, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled in favor of Denmark.
The Thule Air Base, established after World War II, is the northernmost base of the US Air Force
World War II
During World War II, when Nazi Germany extended its war operations to Greenland, Henrik Kauffmann, the Danish Minister to the United States — who had already refused to recognize the German occupation of Denmark — signed a treaty with the United States on April 9, 1941, granting the US Armed Forces permission to establish stations in Greenland.[50] Kauffmann did this without the knowledge of the Danish government, and consequently "the Danish government accused him of high treason, fired him and told him to come home immediately – none of which had any result."[50] Because it was difficult for the Danish government to govern the island during the war, and because of successful exports, especially of cryolite, Greenland came to enjoy a rather independent status. Its supplies were guaranteed by the United States and Canada.
One Dane was killed in combat with Germans in Greenland.[50]
Cold War
During the Cold War, Greenland had a strategic importance, controlling parts of the passage between the Soviet Arctic harbours and the Atlantic, as well as being a good base for observing any use of intercontinental ballistic missiles, typically planned to pass over the Arctic. The United States therefore had a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946, the United States offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100,000,000 but Denmark did not agree to sell.[51][52] In 1951, the Kauffman treaty was replaced by another one. The Thule Air Base at Thule (now Qaanaaq) in the northwest was made a permanent air force base. In 1953, some Inuit families were forced by Denmark to move from their homes to provide space for extension of the base. For this reason, the base has been a source of friction between the Danish government and the Greenlandic people. Tensions mounted when, on January 21, 1968, there was a nuclear accident — a B-52 Stratofortress carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed near the base, contaminating the area with radioactive debris. Although most of the contaminated ice was cleaned up, controversy currently surrounds recently declassified information indicating that one of the bombs was not accounted for. A 1995 Danish parliamentary scandal, dubbed Thulegate, highlighted that nuclear weapons were routinely present in Greenland's airspace in the years leading up to the accident, and that Denmark had tacitly given the go-ahead for this activity despite its official nuclear free policy.
Another recent controversy surrounds the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS), which the United States Air Force upgraded in recent years to a phased array radar.[53] Opponents argue that the system presents a threat to the local population, as it would be targeted in the event of nuclear war.
From 1948 to 1950, the Greenland Commission studied the conditions on the island, seeking to address its isolation, unequal laws, and economic stagnation. In the end, the Royal Greenland Trading Department's monopolies were finally removed. In 1953, Greenland was raised from the status of colony to that of an autonomous province or constituent country of the Danish Realm. Greenland was also assigned its own Danish county. Despite its small population, it was provided nominal representation in the Danish Folketing.
A plantation of exotic arctic trees was created in 1954 near Narsarsuaq.[54]
Blok P, the largest building in Greenland and formerly home to about 1% of its population, was demolished on October 19, 2012.
Denmark also began a number of reforms aimed at urbanizing the Greenlanders, principally to replace their dependence on (then) dwindling seal populations and provide workers for the (then) swelling cod fisheries, but also to provide improved social services such as health care, education, and transportation. These well-meaning reforms have led to a number of problems, particularly modern unemployment and the infamous Blok P housing project. The attempt to introduce European-style urban housing suffered from such inattention to local detail that Inuit could not fit through the doors in their winter clothing and fire escapes were constantly blocked by fishing gear too bulky to fit into the cramped apartments.[55] Television broadcasts began in 1982. The collapse of the cod fisheries and mines in the late 1980s and early 1990s greatly damaged the economy, which now principally depends on Danish aid and cold-water shrimp exports. Large sectors of the economy remain controlled by state-owned corporations, with Air Greenland and the Arctic Umiaq ferry heavily subsidized to provide access to remote settlements. The major airport remains the former US air base at Kangerlussuaq well north of Nuuk, with the capital unable to accept international flights on its own, owing to concerns about expense and noise pollution.
Greenland's minimal representation in the Folketing meant that despite 70.3% of Greenlanders rejecting entry into the European Common Market (EEC), it was pulled in along with Denmark in 1973. Fears that the customs union would allow foreign firms to compete and overfish its waters were quickly realized and the local parties began to push strongly for increased autonomy. The Folketing approved devolution in 1978 and the next year enacted home rule under a local Landsting. On 23 February 1982, a bare majority (53%) of Greenland's population voted to leave the EEC, a process which lasted until 1985. This resulted in The Greenland Treaty of 1985. [56]
Greenland Home Rule has become increasingly Greenlandized, rejecting Danish and avoiding regional dialects to standardize the country under the language and culture of the Kalaallit (West Greenland Inuit). The capital Godthåb was renamed Nuuk in 1979; a local flag was adopted in 1985; the Danish KGH became the locally administered Kalaallit Niuerfiat (now KNI A/S) in 1986. Following a successful referendum on self-government in 2008, the local parliament's powers were expanded and Danish was removed as an official language in 2009.
International relations are now largely, but not entirely, also left to the discretion of the home rule government. As part of the treaty controlling Greenland's exit of the EEC, Greenland was declared a "special case" with access to the EEC market as a constituent country of Denmark, which remains a member. [56] Greenland is also a member of several small organizations[which?] along with Iceland, the Faroes, and the Inuit populations of Canada and Russia.[citation needed] It was one of the founders of the environmental Arctic Council in 1996. The US military bases on the island remain a major issue, with some politicians pushing for renegotiation of the 1951 US–Denmark treaty by the Home Rule government. The 1999–2003 Commission on Self-Governance even proposed that Greenland should aim at Thule Air Base's removal from American authority and operation under the aegis of the United Nations.[57]
Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island[67] and the third largest country in North America.[68] It is between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W. Greenland is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Greenland Sea to the east, the North Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, the Davis Strait to the southwest, Baffin Bay to the west, and the Nares Strait to the northwest. The nearest countries are Canada, to the west and southwest across Nares Strait and Baffin Bay; and Iceland, southeast of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park, and it is the largest dependent territory by area in the world, as well as the fourth largest country subdivision in the world, after Sakha Republic in Russia, Australia's state of Western Australia, and Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the largest in North America.
Southeast coast of Greenland
The average daily temperature of Nuuk, Greenland varies over the seasons from −8 to 7 °C (18 to 45 °F). The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km2 (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km3 (680,000 cu mi).[69] The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,139 ft) of the Watkins Range (East Greenland mountain range). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 m (4,921 ft) in elevation.
The weight of the ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level,[70][71] while elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.[72] The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.[73] This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord, at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen.
All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but it is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.[74]
View of mountains on Greenland from the air
At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station Summit Camp on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.
Southern Greenland is suitable for agriculture. Hay is harvested in Igaliku, Kujalleq.
The extreme north of Greenland, Peary Land, is not covered by an ice sheet, because the air there is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice sheet. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt away completely, the world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft).[75]
Between 1989 and 1993, US and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (1.9 mi) long ice cores. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change in the Northern Hemisphere going back about 100,000 years and illustrated that the world's weather and temperature have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide consequences.[76] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level faster than was previously believed.[77] Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) showed that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6 °C (11 °F).[78] Other research has shown that higher snowfalls from the North Atlantic oscillation caused the interior of the ice cap to thicken by an average of 6 cm or 2.36 in/y between 1994 and 2005.[79] However, a recent study suggests a much warmer planet in relatively recent geological times:[80]
Scientists who probed 2 km (1.2 mi) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said that the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants, spiders and insects including butterflies from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. That view contrasts sharply with the prevailing one that a lush forest of this kind could not have existed in Greenland any later than 2.4 million years ago. These DNA samples suggest that the temperature probably reached 10 °C (50 °F) in the summer and −17 °C (1.4 °F) in the winter. They also indicate that during the last interglacial period, 130,000–116,000 years ago, when local temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away.
View of Kangertittivaq in eastern Greenland, one of the largest sund-fjord systems in the world
Greenland bedrock, at current elevation above sea level
In 2003, a small island, 35 by 15 metres (115 by 49 feet) in length and width, was discovered by arctic explorer Dennis Schmitt and his team at the coordinates of 83-42. Whether this island is permanent is not confirmed as of yet. If it is, it is the northernmost permanent known land on Earth.
In 2007 the existence of a new island was announced. Named "Uunartoq Qeqertaq" (English: Warming Island), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.[81] The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.[82] Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented: "In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the Arctic and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this ice bridge on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world's largest island continues to melt".[83]
Some controversy surrounds the history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th century.[84]
See also: Greenland's Grand Canyon
Postglacial glacier advances on the peninsula Nuussuaq
The 1310 m-high Qaqugdluit-mountain-land on the south-side of the peninsula Nuussuaq, situated 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of the Greenland inland ice at 70°7′50″N 51°44′30″W, is exemplary of the numerous mountain areas of West-Greenland. Up to the year 1979 (Stage 0) it shows Historical to Holocene, i.e. Postglacial glacier stages dating back at least 7000 and at most about 10 000 years.[85][86] In 1979 the glacier tongues came to an end – according to the extent and height of the glacier nourishing area – between 660 and 140 metres (2,170 and 460 feet) above sea level. The pertinent climatic glacier snowline (ELA) ran at about 800 metres (2,600 feet) in height. The snowline of the oldest (VII) of the three Holocene glacier stages (V–VII) ran about 230 metres (750 feet) deeper, i.e. at about 570 metres (1,870 feet) in height.[87] The four youngest glacier stages (IV-I) are of a Historical age. They have to be classified as belonging to the global glacier advances in the years 1811 to 1850 and 1880 to 1900 ("Little Ice Age"), 1910 to 1930, 1948 and 1953.[86] Their snowlines rose step by step up to the level of 1979. The current snowline (Stage 0) runs nearly unchanged. During the oldest Postglacial Stage VII an ice-stream-network from valley glaciers joining each other, has completely covered the landscape. Its nourishing areas consisted of high-lying plateau-glaciers and local ice caps. Due to the uplift of the snowline about that about 230 metres (750 feet) – what corresponds to a warming about 1.5 °C (2.7 °F), since 1979 there exists a plateau-glaciation with small glacier tongues hanging down on the margins that nearly did not reach the main valley bottoms any more.[87]
Biodiversity
See also: Flora and fauna of Greenland, Reindeer hunting in Greenland, Fishing industry in Greenland, and Whaling § Greenland
Muskox in Greenland
There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current, and a large part of the Greenland fauna associated with marine production, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the polar bear, reindeer, arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox, collared lemming, ermine, and arctic wolf. The last four are found naturally only in East Greenland, having immigrated from Ellesmere Island. There are dozens of species of seals and whales along the coast. Land fauna consists predominantly of animals that have spread from North America or for a lot of birds and insects coming from Europe. There are no native or free-living reptiles or amphibians on the island.[88]
Phytogeographically, Greenland belongs to the Arctic province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island is sparsely populated in vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland and small bushes, which is regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Greenland is the European white birch (Betula pubescens) along with gray-leaf willow (Salix glauca), rowans (Sorbus aucuparia), common junipers (Juniperus communis) and other smaller trees, mainly willows.
Greenland's flora comprises about 500 species of higher plants, i.e. flowering plants, ferns, horsetails and lycopodiophyta. Of the other groups, the lichens are the largest with about 950 species; of major fungal species are known 600–700; mosses and algae anything less. Most of Greenland's higher plants are widespread, particularly in arctic and alpine regions, and only a dozen species of particular saxifrage and hawkweed is endemic. A few species were introduced by the Norsemen, such as cow vetch.
The animals of Greenland include the Greenland dog, which was introduced by the Inuit, as well as European-introduced species such as Greenlandic sheep, goats, cattle, reindeer, horse, chicken and sheepdog, all descendants of animals imported by Europeans. Marine mammals include the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) as well as the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).[89] Whales frequently pass very close to Greenlandic shores in the late summer and early autumn. Species represented include the beluga whale, blue whale, Greenland whale, fin whale, humpback whale, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, sperm whale.[90]
Approximately 225 species of fish are known from the waters surrounding Greenland, and the fishing industry is a major part of Greenland's economy, accounting for the majority of the country's total exports.
Birds, especially seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life. On steep mountainsides breed large colonies of auks, puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes. By common ducks include eiders, long-tailed ducks and the king eider and in West Greenland white-fronted goose and in East Greenland pink-footed goose and barnacle goose. Breeding migratory birds are also including snow bunting, lapland bunting, ringed plover, red-throated loon and red-necked phalarope. Of land birds that are usually sedentary, can be highlighted arctic redpoll, ptarmigan, short-eared owl, snowy owl, gyrfalcon and in West Greenland the white-tailed eagle.[88]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Greenland
See also: Politics of Denmark, Politics of the Faroe Islands, and Greenland–European Union relations
Margrethe II,
Queen since 1972
Kim Kielsen,
Premier since 2014
Lars Løkke Rasmussen,
Prime Minister since 2015
Greenland Government Building
The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, in which Queen Margrethe II is the head of state. The monarch officially retains executive power and presides over the Council of State (privy council).[91][92] However, following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, the duties of the monarch have since become strictly representative and ceremonial,[93] such as the formal appointment and dismissal of the Prime Minister and other ministers in the executive government. The monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and the monarch's person is sacrosanct.[94]
Political system
The party system is dominated by the social-democratic Forward Party, and the democratic socialist Inuit Community Party, both of which broadly argue for greater independence from Denmark. While the 2009 election saw the unionist—and largely Danish—Democrat Party (2 MPs) decline greatly, the 2013 election consolidated the power of the two main parties at the expense of the smaller groups, and saw the eco-socialist Inuit Party elected to the Parliament for the first time. The dominance of the Forward and Inuit Community parties began to wane after the snap 2014 elections, and 2018 elections.
The non-binding 2008 referendum on self-governance favoured increased self-governance 21,355 votes to 6,663.
In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC later became the European Union (EU, renamed and expanded in scope in 1992). Greenland retains some ties with the EU via Denmark. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade. Greenland is a member state of the Council of Europe.[95]
Government
Main article: Politics of Greenland
Municipalities of Greenland
Greenland's head of state is Margrethe II, Queen regnant of Denmark. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a High Commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The commissioner is Mikaela Engell.
Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, out of a total of 179. The representatives are Aleqa Hammond of the Siumut Party and Aaja Chemnitz Larsen of the Inuit Community Party.[96]
Greenland also has its own Parliament, which has 31 members. The government is the Naalakkersuisut whose members are appointed by the Premier. The head of government is the Premier, usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The Premier is Kim Kielsen of the Siumut Party.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Greenland
Formerly consisting of three counties comprising a total of 18 municipalities, Greenland abolished these in 2009 and has since been divided into large territories known as "municipalities" (Greenlandic: kommuneqarfiit, Danish: kommuner): Sermersooq ("Much Ice") around the capital Nuuk and also including all East Coast communities; Kujalleq ("South") around Cape Farewell; Qeqqata ("Centre") north of the capital along the Davis Strait; Qeqertalik ("The one with islands") surrounding Disko Bay; and Avannaata ("Northern") in the northwest; the latter two having come into being as a result of the Qaasuitsup municipality, one of the original four, being partitioned in 2018. The northeast of the island composes the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Thule Air Base is also unincorporated, an enclave within Avannaata municipality administered by the United States Air Force. During its construction, there were as many as 12,000 American residents but in recent years the number has been below 1,000.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Greenland
Graphical depiction of Greenland's product exports in 28 colour-coded categories
The Greenlandic economy is highly dependent on fishing. Fishing accounts for more than 90% of Greenland's exports.[97] The shrimp and fish industry is by far the largest income earner.[2]
Greenland is abundant in minerals.[97] Mining of ruby deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing. These include iron, uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. Despite resumption[when?] of several hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company Nunaoil was created to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. The state company Nunamineral has been launched on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange to raise more capital to increase the production of gold, started in 2007.
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland
Royal Greenland fishing vessel "Akamalik", anchored at Sisimiut
Electricity has traditionally been generated by oil or diesel power plants, even if there is a large surplus of potential hydropower. There is a programme to build hydro power plants. The first, and still the largest, is Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant.
There are also plans to build a large aluminium smelter, using hydropower to create an exportable product. It is expected that much of the labour needed will be imported.[98]
The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict People's Republic of China development of rare-earth projects, as China accounts for 95% of the world's current supply. In early 2013, the Greenland government said that it had no plans to impose such restrictions.[99]
The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. About half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the average economies of Europe.
Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s. But, since 1993, the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s, which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign-trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mine that year. More recently,[when?] new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered, promising to bring new industry and a new export from the country. (See Gemstone industry in Greenland).
Transportation
Main articles: Transport in Greenland and List of airports in Greenland
Air Greenland Airbus A330-200 in-flight
The port of Ilulissat
Air transportation exists both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are virtually no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network. The only exception is a gravel road of 3 miles length between Kangilinnguit and the now abandoned former cryolite mining town of Ivittuut.[100] In addition, the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few countryside roads have been built.
All civil aviation matters are handled by the Danish Transport Authority. Most airports including Nuuk Airport have short runways and can only be served by special fairly small aircraft on fairly short flights. Kangerlussuaq Airport around 100 kilometres (62 miles) inland from the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. Travel between international destinations (except Iceland) and any city in Greenland requires a plane change.
Air Iceland operates flights from Reykjavík to a number of airports in Greenland, and the company promotes the service as a day-trip option from Iceland for tourists.[101]
There are no direct flights to the United States or Canada, although there have been flights Kangerlussuaq – Baltimore,[102] and Nuuk – Iqaluit,[103] which were cancelled because of too few passengers and financial losses.[104] An alternative between Greenland and the United States/Canada is Air Iceland/Icelandair with a plane change in Iceland.[105]
Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.
Population
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Greenland
See also: List of Greenlanders
Tunumiit Inuit couple from Kulusuk
Greenland has a population of 56,370 (January 2013 estimate),[6] of whom 88% are Greenlandic Inuit (including Danish-Inuit mixed). The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Greenland Danes. Several thousand Greenlandic Inuit reside in the Danish Peninsula. The majority of the population is Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.[106] More than 17,000 people reside in Nuuk, the capital city.
vte
Largest cities or towns in Greenland
2019 Estimate[107]
Rank Name Municipality Pop. Rank Name Municipality Pop.
Nuuk
Nuuk
Sisimiut
Sisimiut 1 Nuuk Sermersooq 17,984 11 Nanortalik Kujalleq 1,196 Ilulissat
Ilulissat
Aasiaat
Aasiaat
2 Sisimiut Qeqqata 5,509 12 Qasigiannguit Qeqertalik 1,075
3 Ilulissat Avannaata 4,554 13 Upernavik Avannaata 1,073
4 Aasiaat Qeqertalik 3,212 14 Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertalik 854
5 Qaqortoq Kujalleq 3,012 15 Qaanaaq Avannaata 621
6 Maniitsoq Qeqqata 2,582 16 Kangaatsiaq Qeqertalik 561
7 Tasiilaq Sermersooq 2,063 17 Kangerlussuaq Qeqqata 538
8 Narsaq Kujalleq 1,374 18 Kullorsuaq Avannaata 422
9 Uummannaq Avannaata 1,364 19 Ittoqqortoormiit Sermersooq 355
10 Paamiut Sermersooq 1,334 20 Kangaamiut Qeqqata 304
Languages
A bilingual sign in Nuuk, displaying the Danish and Kalaallisut for "Parking forbidden for all vehicles"
Both Greenlandic (an Eskimo–Aleut language) and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979; the majority of the population can speak both languages. Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009,[108] In practice, Danish is still widely used in the administration and in higher education, as well as remaining the first or only language for some Danish immigrants in Nuuk and other larger towns. Debate about the roles of Greenlandic and Danish in the country's future is ongoing. The orthography of Greenlandic was established in 1851[109] and revised in 1973. The country has a 100% literacy rate.[2]
A majority of the population speaks Greenlandic, most of them bilingually. It is spoken by about 50,000 people, making it the most populous of the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by more people than all the other languages of the family combined.
Kalaallisut is the Greenlandic dialect of West Greenland, which has long been the most populous area of the island. This has led to its de facto status as the official "Greenlandic" language, although the northern dialect Inuktun remains spoken by 1,000 or so people around Qaanaaq, and the eastern dialect Tunumiisut by around 3,000.[110] Each of these dialects is almost unintelligible to the speakers of the other and are considered by some linguists to be separate languages.[citation needed] A UNESCO report has labelled the other dialects as endangered, and measures are now being considered to protect the East Greenlandic dialects.[111]
About 12% of the population speak Danish as a first or sole language, particularly Danish immigrants in Greenland, many of whom fill positions such as administrators, professionals, academics, or skilled tradesmen. While Greenlandic is dominant in all smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or mixed ancestry, especially in towns, speaks Danish. Most of the Inuit population speaks Danish as a second language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk and in the higher social strata, this is still a large group. While one strategy aims at promoting Greenlandic in public life and education, developing its vocabulary and suitability for all complex contexts, there are opponents of this.[citation needed]
English is another important language for Greenland, taught in schools from the first school year.[112]
Religion
Main article: Religion in Greenland
Religion in Greenland (2010)[113][114]
Protestantism (95.5%)
Roman Catholicism (0.2%)
Other Christian (0.4%)
Inuit spiritual beliefs (0.8%)
Agnostic (2.3%)
Atheist (0.2%)
Other Religion (0.6%)
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik, have their own church.
The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with appeasing a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.
The first Norse colonists worshipped the Norse gods, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 999 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.
Rediscovering these colonists and spreading ideas of the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements, but no Norse were found, and instead they began preaching to the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.[115]
Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, represented mainly by the Church of Denmark, which is Lutheran in orientation. While there are no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen[116] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.[117] The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State.
— Section IV of Constitution of Denmark[118]
This applies to all of the Kingdom of Denmark, except for the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007.
The Roman Catholic minority is pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen. There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements proselytizing fellow Christians.[119][120][121][122]
Social issues
The rate of suicide in Greenland is very high. According to a 2010 census, Greenland holds the highest suicide rate in the world.[123][124] Other significant social issues faced by Greenland are high rates of unemployment, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS.[125] Alcohol consumption rates in Greenland reached their height in the 1980s, when it was twice as high as in Denmark, and had by 2010 fallen slightly below the average level of consumption in Denmark (which is the 12th highest in the world). But at the same time alcohol prices are much higher, meaning that consumption has a high social impact.[126][127]
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Greenland and Music of Greenland
Nive Nielsen, Greenlandic singer and songwriter
Panel discussion with Greenlandic movie maker Inuk Silis Høegh at the launch of his movie about groundbreaking Greenlandic band Sumé. Journalist and Sumé's record producer Karsten Sommer is speaking.
Today Greenlandic culture is a blending of traditional Inuit (Kalaallit) and Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition, dating back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for an art form of figures called tupilak or a "spirit object." Traditional art-making practices thrive in the Ammassalik.[128] Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.[129]
Greenland also has a successful, albeit small, music culture. Some popular Greenlandic bands and artists include Sume (classic rock), Chilly Friday (rock), Nanook (rock), Siissisoq (rock), Nuuk Posse (hip hop) and Rasmus Lyberth (folk), who performed in the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performing in Greenlandic. The singer-songwriter Simon Lynge is the first musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and to perform at the UK's Glastonbury Festival. The music culture of Greenland also includes traditional Inuit music, largely revolving around singing and drums.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Greenland
Sport is an important part of Greenlandic culture, as the population is generally quite active.[130]
Popular sports include association football, track and field, handball and skiing. Handball is often referred to as the national sport,[131] and Greenland's men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001.
Greenland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking are preferred by the general public. Although the country's environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there are nevertheless golf courses on the island.
When the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's former colonies and left them under the control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which decided against Norway.[50]
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War II, after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.[51] The United States occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine at Ivittuut. The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports. Bluie was the military code name for Greenland.
During this war, the system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish Sirius Patrol guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dogsleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops, who destroyed the facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Albert Speer briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the United States Armed Forces.[52]
Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing only small scale troaking with Scottish whalers. In wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene, recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was initiated when a grand commission was established. A final report (G-50) was presented in 1950: Greenland was to be a modern welfare state with Denmark as sponsor and example. In 1953 Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979.
Home rule and self-rule
See also: Greenlandic independence
The orthography and vocabulary of the Greenlandic language is governed by Oqaasileriffik, the Greenlandic language secretariat, located in the Ilimmarfik University of Greenland, Nuuk.
Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000. Denmark refused to sell it.[53][54] In the 21st century, the United States, according to WikiLeaks, remains highly interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast.[55][56]
In 1950 Denmark agreed to allow the US to reestablish Thule Air Base in Greenland; it was greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO Cold War defense strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm. It managed this project from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandoning it as unworkable. The Danish government did not become aware of the program's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber at Thule in 1968.
With the 1953 Danish constitution, Greenland's colonial status ended as the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county). Danish citizenship was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policies toward Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation—or de-Greenlandification. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and a number lost their cultural ties to Greenland. While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of shifting Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement developed in favour of independence, reaching its peak in the 1970s.[57] As a consequence of political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979.
This gave Greenland limited autonomy with its own legislature taking control of some internal policies, while the Parliament of Denmark maintained full control of external policies, security, and natural resources. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC) upon achieving self-rule, as it did not agree with the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products.[58] Greenland voters approved a referendum on greater autonomy on 25 November 2008.[59][60] According to one study, the 2008 vote created what "can be seen as a system between home rule and full independence."[61]
On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law. (One country, two systems)[62] Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defence matters. Denmark upholds the annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner, but as Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, the grant will gradually be diminished. This is generally considered to be a step toward eventual full independence from Denmark.[63] Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.[3][8][64][65][66]
Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, pronounced [kalaːɬit nunaːt]; Danish: Grønland, pronounced [ˈkʁɶnˌlænˀ]) is the world's largest island,[d] located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is an autonomous territory[11] within the Kingdom of Denmark. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium.[12] The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors migrated from Alaska through Northern Canada, gradually settling across the island by the 13th century.[13]
Nowadays, the population is concentrated mainly on the southwest coast, while the rest of the island is sparsely populated. Greenland is divided into five municipalities – Sermersooq, Kujalleq, Qeqertalik, Qeqqata, and Avannaata. It has two unincorporated areas – the Northeast Greenland National Park and the Thule Air Base. The latter, while under Danish control, is administered by the United States Air Force.[14] Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of 56,081 (2020),[7] it is the least densely populated region in the world.[15] About a third of the population lives in Nuuk, the capital and largest city; the second-largest city in terms of population is Sisimiut, 320 kilometres (200 mi) north of Nuuk. The Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland, connecting the various cities and settlements.
Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.[16][17] Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, having previously settled Iceland. These Norsemen later set sail from Greenland and Iceland, with Leif Erikson becoming the first known European to reach North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands. Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1261. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century when Norway was hit by the Black Death and entered a severe decline. Soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador in Canada).[18]
In the early 17th century, Danish explorers reached Greenland again. To strengthen trading and power, Denmark–Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Because of Norway's weak status, it lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became Danish in 1814 and was fully integrated in Denmark in 1953 organised in the Danish constitution. With the Constitution of 1953, the people in Greenland became citizens of Denmark. From 1961 Greenland joined the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which Denmark joined as a founding member of the EFTA in 1960, but its membership ceased with effect from 1973 when Denmark joined the European Communities. In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC. This was effected in 1985, changing Greenland to an OCT (Overseas Countries and Territories) associated with the EEC, now the European Union (EU). The associated relationship with the EU also means that all Greenlandic nationals (OCT-nationals) are EU citizens.[19]
Greenland contains the world's largest and most northerly national park, Northeast Greenland National Park (Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq). Established in 1974 and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects 972,001 square kilometres (375,292 sq mi) of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland and is bigger than all but twenty-nine countries in the world.
In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland; in 2008, Greenlanders voted in favour of the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Greenlandic government.[20] Under the new structure, Greenland has gradually assumed responsibility for policing, the judicial system, company law, accounting, auditing, mineral resource activities, aviation, law of legal capacity, family law and succession law, aliens and border controls, the working environment, and financial regulation and supervision. The Danish government still retains control of foreign affairs and defence. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time. Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources. The capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, mostly coming from hydropower.[21]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Early Paleo-Inuit cultures
2.2 Norse settlement
2.3 Thule culture (1300–present)
2.4 1500–1814
2.5 Treaty of Kiel to World War II
2.6 Home rule and self-rule
3 Geography and climate
3.1 Climate change
3.2 Postglacial glacier advances on Nuussuaq peninsula
4 Biodiversity
5 Politics
5.1 Political system
5.2 Government
5.3 Military
5.4 Administrative divisions
6 Economy
6.1 Transport
7 Population
7.1 Demographics
7.2 Languages
7.3 Education
7.4 Religion
7.5 Social issues
8 Culture
8.1 Sport
8.2 Cuisine
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
11.1 Bibliography
11.2 Works cited
12 External links
Etymology
The early Norse settlers named the island as Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was said to be exiled from Iceland for manslaughter. Along with his extended family and his thralls (i.e. slaves or serfs), he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.[22][23][24] The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name."[25]
The name of the country in the indigenous Greenlandic language is Kalaallit Nunaat ("land of the Kalaallit").[26] The Kalaallit are the indigenous Greenlandic Inuit people who inhabit the country's western region.
History
Main article: History of Greenland
Early Paleo-Inuit cultures
Maps showing the different cultures in Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland and the Canadian Arctic islands in the years 900, 1100, 1300 and 1500. Green: Dorset Culture; blue: Thule Culture; red: Norse culture; yellow: Innu; orange: Beothuk
In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to several successive Paleo-Inuit cultures known today primarily through archaeological finds. The earliest entry of the Paleo-Inuit into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From around 2500 BC to 800 BC, southern and western Greenland were inhabited by the Saqqaq culture. Most finds of Saqqaq-period archaeological remains have been around Disko Bay, including the site of Saqqaq, after which the culture is named.[27][28]
From 2400 BC to 1300 BC, the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the Arctic small tool tradition.[29][30][31] Towns, including Deltaterrasserne, started to appear. Around 800 BC, the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early Dorset culture emerged in western Greenland and the Independence II culture in northern Greenland.[32] The Dorset culture was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas, both on the west and east coasts. It lasted until the total onset of the Thule culture in 1500 AD. The Dorset culture population lived primarily from hunting of whales and caribou.[33][34][35][36]
Norse settlement
The Kingittorsuaq Runestone from Kingittorsuaq Island (Middle Ages)
From 986, Greenland's west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red. They formed three settlements – known as the Eastern Settlement, the Western Settlement and the Middle Settlement – on fjords near the southwesternmost tip of the island.[12][37] They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with the Thule culture that entered from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in 1261 under the Kingdom of Norway. Later the Kingdom of Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark in 1380 and from 1397 was a part of the Kalmar Union.[38]
The Norse settlements, such as Brattahlíð, thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age.[39] Apart from some runic inscriptions, no contemporary records or historiography survives from the Norse settlements. Medieval Norwegian sagas and historical works mention Greenland's economy as well as the bishops of Gardar and the collection of tithes. A chapter in the Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror) describes Norse Greenland's exports and imports as well as grain cultivation.
One of the last contemporary written mentions of the Norse Greenlanders records a marriage which took place in 1408 in the church of Hvalsey – today the best-preserved Nordic ruins in Greenland.
Icelandic saga accounts of life in Greenland were composed in the 13th century and later, and do not constitute primary sources for the history of early Norse Greenland.[24] Modern understanding therefore mostly depends on the physical data from archeological sites. Interpretation of ice core and clam shell data suggests that between 800 and 1300 AD, the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate several degrees Celsius higher than usual in the North Atlantic,[40] with trees and herbaceous plants growing, and livestock being farmed. Barley was grown as a crop up to the 70th parallel.[41] The ice cores indicate Greenland has had dramatic temperature shifts many times over the past 100,000 years.[42] Similarly the Icelandic Book of Settlements records famines during the winters, in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs".[40]
Ingibjørg Tombstone.
These Icelandic settlements vanished during the 14th and early 15th centuries.[43] The demise of the Western Settlement coincides with a decrease in summer and winter temperatures. A study of North Atlantic seasonal temperature variability during the Little Ice Age showed a significant decrease in maximum summer temperatures beginning in the late 13th century to early 14th century – as much as 6 to 8 °C (11 to 14 °F) lower than modern summer temperatures.[44] The study also found that the lowest winter temperatures of the last 2,000 years occurred in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The Eastern Settlement was likely abandoned in the early to mid-15th century, during this cold period.
Theories drawn from archeological excavations at Herjolfsnes in the 1920s suggest that the condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, possibly because of soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting. Malnutrition may also have resulted from widespread deaths from pandemic plague;[45] the decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age; and armed conflicts with the Skrælings (Norse word for Inuit, meaning "wretches"[39]). Recent archeological studies somewhat challenge the general assumption that the Norse colonisation had a dramatic negative environmental effect on the vegetation. Data support traces of a possible Norse soil amendment strategy.[46] More recent evidence suggests that the Norse, who never numbered more than about 2,500, gradually abandoned the Greenland settlements over the 15th century as walrus ivory,[47] the most valuable export from Greenland, decreased in price because of competition with other sources of higher-quality ivory, and that there was actually little evidence of starvation or difficulties.[48]
Other theories about the disappearance of the Norse settlement have been proposed;
Lack of support from the homeland.[45]
Ship-borne marauders (such as Basque, English, or German pirates) rather than Skraelings, could have plundered and displaced the Greenlanders.[49]
They were "the victims of hidebound thinking and of a hierarchical society dominated by the Church and the biggest land owners. In their reluctance to see themselves as anything but Europeans, the Greenlanders failed to adopt the kind of apparel that the Inuit employed as protection against the cold and damp or to borrow any of the Inuit hunting gear."[12][39]
"Norse society's structure created a conflict between the short-term interests of those in power, and the long-term interests of the society as a whole."[39]
Thule culture (1300–present)
Pictures of Greenland, c. 1863
The Thule people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. No genes from the Paleo-Inuit have been found in the present population of Greenland.[50] The Thule culture migrated eastward from what is now known as Alaska around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300. The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as dog sleds and toggling harpoons.
1500–1814
In 1500, King Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar Corte-Real to Greenland in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia which, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, was part of Portugal's sphere of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother, Miguel Corte-Real. Finding the sea frozen, they headed south and arrived in Labrador and Newfoundland. Upon the brothers' return to Portugal, the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new map of the world which was presented to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The Cantino planisphere, made in Lisbon, accurately depicts the southern coastline of Greenland.[51]
An English map of 1747, based on Hans Egede's descriptions and misconceptions, by Emanuel Bowen
In 1605–1607, King Christian IV of Denmark sent a series of expeditions to Greenland and Arctic waterways to locate the lost eastern Norse settlement and assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders who lacked experience with the difficult arctic ice and weather conditions, and partly because the expedition leaders were given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on the east coast of Greenland just north of Cape Farewell, which is almost inaccessible due to southward drifting ice. The pilot on all three trips was English explorer James Hall.
Godthåb in Greenland, c. 1878
After the Norse settlements died off, Greenland came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Danish government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from the Norse. When it re-established contact with Greenland in the early 17th century, Denmark asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721, a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. This expedition is part of the Dano-Norwegian colonization of the Americas. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of the mission there and returned to Denmark, where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at Godthåb ("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, and closed to those from other countries.
Treaty of Kiel to World War II
Main article: Greenland in World War II
1869 photograph of Greenlandic Inuit.
When the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's former colonies and left them under the control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which decided against Norway.[52]
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War II, after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.[53] The United States occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine at Ivittuut. The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports. Bluie was the military code name for Greenland.
Map of Eirik Raudes Land
During this war, the system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish Sirius Patrol guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dogsleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops, who destroyed the facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Albert Speer briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the United States Armed Forces.[54]
Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing only small scale troaking with Scottish whalers. In wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene, recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was initiated when a grand commission was established. A final report (G-50) was presented in 1950: Greenland was to be a modern welfare state with Denmark as sponsor and example. In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979.
Home rule and self-rule
See also: Greenlandic independence
The orthography and vocabulary of the Greenlandic language is governed by Oqaasileriffik, the Greenlandic language secretariat, located in the Ilimmarfik University of Greenland, Nuuk.
Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000. Denmark refused to sell it.[55][56] Historically this repeated an interest by Secretary of State William H. Seward. In 1867 he worked with former senator Robert J. Walker to explore the possibility of buying Greenland and perhaps Iceland. Opposition in Congress ended this project.[57] In the 21st century, the United States, according to WikiLeaks, remains interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast.[58][59] In August 2019, the American president Donald Trump again proposed to buy the country, prompting premier Kim Kielsen to issue the statement, "Greenland is not for sale and cannot be sold, but Greenland is open for trade and cooperation with other countries – including the United States."[60]
In 1950, Denmark agreed to allow the US to reestablish Thule Air Base in Greenland; it was greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO Cold War defense strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm. It managed this project from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandoning it as unworkable.[61] The Danish government did not become aware of the program's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber at Thule in 1968.[62]
The United States has operated Thule Air Base since the 1950s.
With the 1953 Danish constitution, Greenland's colonial status ended as the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county). Danish citizenship was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policies toward Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation – or de-Greenlandification. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and a number lost their cultural ties to Greenland. While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of shifting Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement developed in favour of independence, reaching its peak in the 1970s.[63] As a consequence of political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979.
Sermiligaaq. Greenland has more than 60 settlements.
This gave Greenland limited autonomy with its own legislature taking control of some internal policies, while the Parliament of Denmark maintained full control of external policies, security, and natural resources. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC) upon achieving self-rule, as it did not agree with the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products.[64] Greenland voters approved a referendum on greater autonomy on 25 November 2008.[65][66] According to one study, the 2008 vote created what "can be seen as a system between home rule and full independence."[67]
On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law.[68] Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defence matters. Denmark upholds the annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner, but as Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, the grant will gradually be diminished. This is generally considered to be a step toward eventual full independence from Denmark.[69] Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.[2][4][70][71][72]
Geography and climate
Main article: Geography of Greenland
See also: Administrative divisions of Greenland, Territorial claims in the Arctic, and Climate of the Arctic § Greenland
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Map of Greenland
Greenland bedrock, at current elevation above sea level
Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island[73] and the third largest area in North America after Canada and the United States.[74] It is between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W. Greenland is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Greenland Sea to the east, the North Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, the Davis Strait to the southwest, Baffin Bay to the west, the Nares Strait and Lincoln Sea to the northwest. The nearest countries are Canada, to the west and southwest across Nares Strait and Baffin Bay; and Iceland, southeast of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park, and it is the largest dependent territory by area in the world, as well as the fourth largest country subdivision in the world, after Sakha Republic in Russia, Australia's state of Western Australia, and Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the largest in North America.
Southeast coast of Greenland
The lowest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded in Greenland, near the topographic summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet, on 22 December 1991, when the temperature reached −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F).[75] In Nuuk, the average daily temperature varies over the seasons from −5.1 to 9.9 °C (23 to 50 °F)[76] The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km2 (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km3 (680,000 cu mi).[77] The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,139 ft) of the Watkins Range (East Greenland mountain range). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 m (4,921 ft) in elevation.
The weight of the ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level,[78][79] while elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.[80]
The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.[81] This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord, at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen.
All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but it is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.[82]
Aerial view of mountains on Greenland
At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station Summit Camp on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.
Southern Greenland is suitable for agriculture. Hay is harvested in Igaliku, Kujalleq.
The extreme north of Greenland, Peary Land, is not covered by an ice sheet, because the air there is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice sheet. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt away completely, the world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft).[83]
In 2003, a small island, 35 by 15 metres (115 by 49 feet) in length and width, was discovered by arctic explorer Dennis Schmitt and his team at the coordinates of 83-42. Whether this island is permanent is not yet confirmed. If it is, it is the northernmost permanent known land on Earth.
In 2007, the existence of a new island was announced. Named "Uunartoq Qeqertaq" (English: Warming Island), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.[84] The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.[85] Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented: "In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the Arctic and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this ice bridge on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world's largest island continues to melt".[86] Some controversy surrounds the history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th century.[87]
Climate change
See also: Climate change in the Arctic, Retreat of glaciers since 1850 § Greenland, and Greenland's Grand Canyon
Between 1989 and 1993, US and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (1.9 mi) long ice cores. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change in the Northern Hemisphere going back about 100,000 years and illustrated that the world's weather and temperature have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide consequences.[88] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level faster than was previously believed.[89] Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) showed that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6 °C (11 °F).[90] Other research has shown that higher snowfalls from the North Atlantic oscillation caused the interior of the ice cap to thicken by an average of 6 cm or 2.36 in/y between 1994 and 2005.[91]
View of Kangertittivaq in eastern Greenland, one of the largest sund-fjord systems in the world
Postglacial glacier advances on Nuussuaq peninsula
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The 1,310-metre (4,300 ft) Qaqugdluit mountain land on the south side of Nuussuaq peninsula, 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of the Greenland inland ice at 70°7′50″N 51°44′30″W, is an example of the many mountainous areas of west Greenland. Up to 1979 (Stage 0) it showed postglacial glacier stages dating back about 7,000–10,000 years.[92][93] In 1979 the glacier tongues retreated – according to the extent and height of the glacier-nourishing area – from 140 to 660 metres (460 to 2,170 feet) above sea level. The climatic glacier snowline (ELA) was at about 800 metres (2,600 feet). The snowline of the oldest (VII) of the three Holocene glacier stages (V–VII) was about 230 metres (750 feet) deeper, i.e. at about 570 metres (1,870 feet).[94] The four youngest glacier stages (IV-I) can be classified as belonging to the global glacier advances in the years 1811 to 1850 and 1880 to 1900 ("Little Ice Age"), 1910 to 1930, 1948 and 1953.[93] Their snowlines rose step by step up to the level of 1979. The current snowline (Stage 0) is nearly unchanged. During the oldest Postglacial Stage VII an ice-stream network from valley glaciers joined each other and completely covered the land. Its nourishing areas consist of high-lying plateau glaciers and local ice caps. However, due to the rise of the snowline about 230 metres (750 feet) – corresponding to a warming of about 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) since 1979 - there is now only plateau-glaciation with small glacier tongues that hardly reach the main valley bottoms.[94] 96 polar scientists of the IMBIE research community from 50 scientific bodies, led by Professor Andrew Schaefer of the University of Leeds, produced the most complete study during the 1992–2018 period. Findings show that Greenland has lost 3.8 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, enough to raise sea levels by almost 11mm (1.06 cm). The rate of ice loss has increased from an average of 33 billion tonnes a year in the 1990s, to 254 billion tonnes a year in the last decade.[95] Research published in 2020 includes that "the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at accelerated rates rates in the 21st century, making it the largest single contributor to rising sea levels".[96]
Biodiversity
See also: Flora and fauna of Greenland, Reindeer hunting in Greenland, Fishing industry in Greenland, and Whaling § Greenland
Muskoxen in Greenland
There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current; a large part of the Greenland fauna is associated with marine-based food chains, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the polar bear, reindeer (introduced by Europeans), arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox, collared lemming, ermine, and arctic wolf. The last four are found naturally only in East Greenland, having immigrated from Ellesmere Island. There are dozens of species of seals and whales along the coast. Land fauna consists predominantly of animals which have spread from North America or, in the case of many birds and insects, from Europe. There are no native or free-living reptiles or amphibians on the island.[97]
Phytogeographically, Greenland belongs to the Arctic province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island is sparsely populated in vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland and small shrubs, which are regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Greenland is the European white birch (Betula pubescens) along with gray-leaf willow (Salix glauca), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), common juniper (Juniperus communis) and other smaller trees, mainly willows.
Greenland's flora consists of about 500 species of "higher" plants, i.e. flowering plants, ferns, horsetails and lycopodiophyta. Of the other groups, the lichens are the most diverse, with about 950 species; there are 600–700 species of fungi; mosses and bryophytes are also found. Most of Greenland's higher plants have circumpolar or circumboreal distributions; only a dozen species of saxifrage and hawkweed are endemic. A few plant species were introduced by the Norsemen, such as cow vetch.
The Greenland Dog was brought from Siberia 1,000 years ago.
The terrestrial vertebrates of Greenland include the Greenland dog, which was introduced by the Inuit, as well as European-introduced species such as Greenlandic sheep, goats, cattle, reindeer, horse, chicken and sheepdog, all descendants of animals imported by Europeans.[citation needed] Marine mammals include the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) as well as the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).[98] Whales frequently pass very close to Greenland's shores in the late summer and early autumn. Whale species include the beluga whale, blue whale, Greenland whale, fin whale, humpback whale, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, sperm whale.[99]
As of 2009, 269 species of fish from over 80 different families are known from the waters surrounding Greenland. Almost all are marine species with only a few in freshwater, notably Atlantic salmon and charr.[100] The fishing industry is the primary industry of Greenland's economy, accounting for the majority of the country's total exports.[101]
Birds, particularly seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life; breeding populations of auks, puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes are found on steep mountainsides.[citation needed] Greenland's ducks and geese include common eider, long-tailed duck, king eider, white-fronted goose, pink-footed goose and barnacle goose. Breeding migratory birds include the snow bunting, lapland bunting, ringed plover, red-throated loon and red-necked phalarope. Non-migratory land birds include the arctic redpoll, ptarmigan, short-eared owl, snowy owl, gyrfalcon and white-tailed eagle.[97]
Politics
Main article: Politics of Greenland
See also: Politics of Denmark, Politics of the Faroe Islands, and Greenland–European Union relations
Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
Premier
Kim Kielsen
The special territories of the European Union
Nuuk is Greenland's capital and the seat of the government.
The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, in which Queen Margrethe II is the head of state. The monarch officially retains executive power and presides over the Council of State (privy council).[102][103] However, following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, the duties of the monarch have since become strictly representative and ceremonial,[104] such as the formal appointment and dismissal of the prime minister and other ministers in the executive government. The monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and the monarch's person is sacrosanct.[105]
Political system
The party system is dominated by the social-democratic Forward Party, and the democratic socialist Inuit Community Party, both of which broadly argue for greater independence from Denmark. While the 2009 election saw the unionist Democrat Party (two MPs) decline greatly, the 2013 election consolidated the power of the two main parties at the expense of the smaller groups, and saw the eco-socialist Inuit Party elected to the Parliament for the first time. The dominance of the Forward and Inuit Community parties began to wane after the snap 2014 and 2018 elections.
The non-binding 2008 referendum on self-governance favoured increased self-governance by 21,355 votes to 6,663.
In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC later became the European Union (EU, renamed and expanded in scope in 1992). Greenland retains some ties through its associated relationship with the EU. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade. Greenland is designated as a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) and is thus officially not a part of the European Union, though Greenland can and does receive support from the European Development Fund, Multiannual Financial Framework, European Investment Bank and EU Programs.[106][107]
Government
Main article: Politics of Greenland
Municipalities of Greenland
Greenland's head of state is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a high commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The commissioner is Mikaela Engell.
Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, out of a total of 179. The current representatives are Aleqa Hammond of the Siumut Party and Aaja Chemnitz Larsen of the Inuit Community Party.[108]
Greenland also has its own Parliament, which has 31 members. The government is the Naalakkersuisut whose members are appointed by the premier. The head of government is the premier, usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The premier is Kim Kielsen of the Siumut party.
Military
Main article: Military of Greenland
Several American and Danish military bases are located in Greenland, including Thule Air Base, which is home to the United States Space Force's 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).[109]
In 1995, a political scandal resulted in Denmark after a report revealed the government had given tacit permission for nuclear weapons to be located in Greenland, in contravention of Denmark's 1957 nuclear-free zone policy.[110][62] The United States built a secret nuclear powered base, called Camp Century, in the Greenland ice sheet.[111] On 21 January 1968, a B-52G, with four nuclear bombs aboard as part of Operation Chrome Dome, crashed on the ice of the North Star Bay while attempting an emergency landing at Thule Air Base.[112] The resulting fire caused extensive radioactive contamination.[113] One of the H-bombs remains lost.[114][115]
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Greenland
Formerly consisting of three counties comprising a total of 18 municipalities, Greenland abolished these in 2009 and has since been divided into large territories known as "municipalities" (Greenlandic: kommuneqarfiit, Danish: kommuner): Sermersooq ("Much Ice") around the capital Nuuk and also including all East Coast communities; Kujalleq ("South") around Cape Farewell; Qeqqata ("Centre") north of the capital along the Davis Strait; Qeqertalik ("The one with islands") surrounding Disko Bay; and Avannaata ("Northern") in the northwest; the latter two having come into being as a result of the Qaasuitsup municipality, one of the original four, being partitioned in 2018. The northeast of the island composes the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Thule Air Base is also unincorporated, an enclave within Avannaata municipality administered by the United States Air Force. During its construction, there were as many as 12,000 American residents but in recent years the number has been below 1,000.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Greenland
Graphical depiction of Greenland's product exports in 28 colour-coded categories
The Greenlandic economy is highly dependent on fishing. Fishing accounts for more than 90% of Greenland's exports.[116] The shrimp and fish industry is by far the largest income earner.[117]
Greenland is abundant in minerals.[116] Mining of ruby deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing. These include iron, uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. Despite resumption[when?] of several hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company Nunaoil was created to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. The state company Nunamineral has been launched on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange to raise more capital to increase the production of gold, started in 2007.
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.
Royal Greenland fishing vessel "Akamalik", anchored at Sisimiut
Electricity has traditionally been generated by oil or diesel power plants, even if there is a large surplus of potential hydropower. There is a programme to build hydro power plants. The first, and still the largest, is Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant.
There are also plans to build a large aluminium smelter, using hydropower to create an exportable product. It is expected that much of the labour needed will be imported.[118]
The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict People's Republic of China development of rare-earth projects, as China accounts for 95% of the world's current supply. In early 2013, the Greenland government said that it had no plans to impose such restrictions.[119]
The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. About half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the average economies of Europe.
Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s. But, since 1993, the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s, which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign-trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mine that year. In 2017, new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered, promising to bring new industry and a new export from the country.[120] (See Gemstone industry in Greenland).
Transport
Main articles: Transport in Greenland and List of airports in Greenland
Air Greenland operates passenger and cargo freight services by air from, to and across Greenland.
Arctic Umiaq Line operates passenger and freight services by sea across Greenland.
Royal Arctic Line operates cargo freight services by sea from, to and across Greenland.
The port of Ilulissat
There is air transport both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are virtually no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network. The only exception is a gravel road of 5 km (3 mi) length between Kangilinnguit and the now abandoned former cryolite mining town of Ivittuut.[121] In addition, the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few country roads have been built.
Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) [122] is the largest airport and the main aviation hub for international passenger transport. It serves international and domestic airline operated flight.[123] SFJ is far from the vicinity of the larger metropolitan capital areas, 317 km (197 mi) to the capital Nuuk, and airline passenger services are available.[124] Greenland has no passenger railways.
Nuuk Airport (GOH) [125] is the second-largest airport located just 6.0 km (3.7 mi) from the centre of the capital. GOH serves general aviation traffic and has daily- or regular domestic flights within Greenland. GOH also serves international flights to Iceland, business and private airplanes.
Ilulissat Airport (JAV) [126] is a domestic airport that also serves international flights to Iceland. There are a total of 13 registered civil airports and 47 helipads in Greenland; most of them are unpaved and located in rural areas. The second longest runway is at Narsarsuaq, a domestic airport with limited international service in south Greenland.
All civil aviation matters are handled by the Danish Transport Authority. Most airports including Nuuk Airport have short runways and can only be served by special fairly small aircraft on fairly short flights. Kangerlussuaq Airport around 100 kilometres (62 miles) inland from the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. Travel between international destinations (except Iceland) and any city in Greenland requires a plane change.
Air Iceland operates flights from Reykjavík to a number of airports in Greenland, and the company promotes the service as a day-trip option from Iceland for tourists.[127]
There are no direct flights to the United States or Canada, although there have been flights Kangerlussuaq – Baltimore,[128] and Nuuk – Iqaluit,[129] which were cancelled because of too few passengers and financial losses.[130] An alternative between Greenland and the United States/Canada is Air Iceland/Icelandair with a plane change in Iceland.[131]
Sea passenger transport is served by several coastal ferries. Arctic Umiaq Line makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.[132]
Cargo freight by sea is handled by the shipping company Royal Arctic Line from, to and across Greenland. It provides trade and transport opportunities between Greenland, Europe and North America.
Population
Demographics
For statistics on demographics, see Demographics of Greenland.
See also: List of Greenlanders, Greenlandic Inuit, and Danes in Greenland
Tunumiit Inuit couple from Kulusuk
Ethnic groups of Greenland[6]
Ethnic groups percent
Greenlandic
89.7%
Danish
7.8%
Other
1.4%
Nordic
1.1%
Greenland has a population of 56,081 (January 2020 Estimate).[7] In terms of country of birth, the population is estimated to be of 89.7% Greenlandic (Inuit including European-Inuit multi-ethnic), 7.8% Danish, 1.1% Nordic and 1.4% other. The multi-ethnic population of European-Inuit represent people of Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, Dutch (whalers), German (Herrnhuters), Czech (Jednota bratrská) descent and others.
The Inuit are indigenous to the Arctic and have traditionally inhabited Greenland, as well as areas in Canada and in Alaska in the United States. A 2015 wide genetic study of Greenlanders found modern-day Inuit in Greenland are direct descendants of the first Inuit pioneers of the Thule culture with ∼25% admixture of the European colonizers from the 16th century. Despite previous speculations, no evidence of Viking settlers predecessors has been found.[133] The majority of the population is Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.[134] In 2020, 18,326 people reside in Nuuk, the capital city. Greenland's warmest climates such as the vegetated area around Narsarsuaq are sparsely populated, whereas the majority of the population lives north of 64°N in colder coastal climates.
vte
Largest cities or towns in Greenland
2020 Estimate[135]
Rank Name Municipality Pop. Rank Name Municipality Pop.
Nuuk
Nuuk
Sisimiut
Sisimiut 1 Nuuk Sermersooq 18,326 11 Nanortalik Kujalleq 1,185 Ilulissat
Ilulissat
Aasiaat
Aasiaat
2 Sisimiut Qeqqata 5,582 12 Upernavik Avannaata 1,092
3 Ilulissat Avannaata 4,670 13 Qasigiannguit Qeqertalik 1,081
4 Aasiaat Qeqertalik 3,069 14 Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertalik 839
5 Qaqortoq Kujalleq 3,050 15 Qaanaaq Avannaata 646
6 Maniitsoq Qeqqata 2,534 16 Kangaatsiaq Qeqertalik 520
7 Tasiilaq Sermersooq 2,063 17 Kangerlussuaq Qeqqata 508
8 Uummannaq Avannaata 1,407 18 Kullorsuaq Avannaata 453
9 Narsaq Kujalleq 1,346 19 Ittoqqortoormiit Sermersooq 345
10 Paamiut Sermersooq 1,308 20 Kangaamiut Qeqqata 293
Languages
A bilingual sign in Nuuk, displaying the Danish and Kalaallisut for "Parking forbidden for all vehicles"
Both Greenlandic (an Eskimo–Aleut language) and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979; the majority of the population can speak both languages. Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009,[136] In practice, Danish is still widely used in the administration and in higher education, as well as remaining the first or only language for some Danish immigrants in Nuuk and other larger towns. Debate about the roles of Greenlandic and Danish in the country's future is ongoing. The orthography of Greenlandic was established in 1851[137] and revised in 1973. The country has a 100% literacy rate.[117]
A majority of the population speaks Greenlandic, most of them bilingually. It is spoken by about 50,000 people, making it the most populous of the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by more people than all the other languages of the family combined.
Kalaallisut is the Greenlandic dialect of West Greenland, which has long been the most populous area of the island. This has led to its de facto status as the official "Greenlandic" language, although the northern dialect Inuktun remains spoken by 1,000 or so people around Qaanaaq, and the eastern dialect Tunumiisut by around 3,000.[138] Each of these dialects is almost unintelligible to the speakers of the other and are considered by some linguists to be separate languages.[citation needed] A UNESCO report has labelled the other dialects as endangered, and measures are now being considered to protect the East Greenlandic dialects.[139]
About 12% of the population speak Danish as a first or sole language, particularly Danish immigrants in Greenland, many of whom fill positions such as administrators, professionals, academics, or skilled tradesmen. While Greenlandic is dominant in all smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or multi-ethnic ancestry, especially in towns, speaks Danish. Most of the Inuit population speaks Danish as a second language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk and in the higher social strata, this is still a large group. While one strategy aims at promoting Greenlandic in public life and education, developing its vocabulary and suitability for all complex contexts, there are opponents of this.[140]
English is another important language for Greenland, taught in schools from the first school year.[141]
Education
Ilimmarfik university Campus in Nuuk
Education is organised in a similar way to Denmark. There is ten year mandatory primary school. There is also a secondary school, with either work education or preparatory for university education. There is one university, the University of Greenland (Greenlandic: Ilisimatusarfik) in Nuuk. Many Greenlanders attend universities in Denmark or elsewhere.
Religion
Main article: Religion in Greenland
Religion in Greenland (2010):[142][143]
Protestantism (95.5%)
Roman Catholicism (0.2%)
Other Christian (0.4%)
Inuit spiritual beliefs (0.8%)
Agnostic (2.3%)
Atheist (0.2%)
Other Religion (0.6%)
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik, have their own church.
The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with appeasing a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.
The first Norse colonists worshipped the Norse gods, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 999 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.
Rediscovering these colonists and spreading ideas of the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements, but no Norse were found, and instead they began preaching to the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.[144]
Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, represented mainly by the Church of Denmark, which is Lutheran in orientation. While there are no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen[145] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.[146] The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark.[147]
The Roman Catholic minority is pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen. There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements proselytizing fellow Christians.[148] According to Operation World, just 4.7% of Greenlanders are Evangelical Christian, although the Evangelical population is growing at an annual rate of 8.4%.[149]
Social issues
The rate of suicide in Greenland is very high. According to a 2010 census, Greenland holds the highest suicide rate in the world.[150][151] Another significant social issue faced by Greenland is a high rate of alcoholism.[152] Alcohol consumption rates in Greenland reached their height in the 1980s, when it was twice as high as in Denmark, and had by 2010 fallen slightly below the average level of consumption in Denmark (which at the time were 12th highest in the world, but has since fallen). However, at the same time, alcohol prices are far higher, meaning that consumption has a large social impact.[153][154] Prevalence of HIV/AIDS used to be high in Greenland and peaked in the 1990s when the fatality rate also was relatively high. Through a number of initiatives the prevalence (along with the fatality rate through efficient treatment) has fallen and is now low, c. 0.13%,[155][156] below most other countries. In recent decades, the unemployment rates have generally been somewhat above those in Denmark;[157] in 2017, the rate was 6.8% in Greenland,[158] compared to 5.6% in Denmark.[159]
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Greenland and Music of Greenland
See also: Human rights in Denmark § Indigenous rights
Nive Nielsen, Greenlandic singer and songwriter
Panel discussion with Greenlandic movie maker Inuk Silis Høegh at the launch of his movie about groundbreaking Greenlandic band Sumé
Today Greenlandic culture is a blending of traditional Inuit (Kalaallit, Tunumiit, Inughuit) and Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition, dating back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for an art form of figures called tupilak or a "spirit object." Traditional art-making practices thrive in the Ammassalik.[160] Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.[161]
Greenland also has a successful, albeit small, music culture. Some popular Greenlandic bands and artists include Sume (classic rock), Chilly Friday (rock), Nanook (rock), Siissisoq (rock), Nuuk Posse (hip hop) and Rasmus Lyberth (folk), who performed in the Danish national final for the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, performing in Greenlandic. The singer-songwriter Simon Lynge is the first musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and to perform at the UK's Glastonbury Festival. The music culture of Greenland also includes traditional Inuit music, largely revolving around singing and drums.
Sport
Main article: Sport in Greenland
Sport is an important part of Greenlandic culture, as the population is generally quite active.[162] Popular sports include association football, track and field, handball and skiing. Handball is often referred to as the national sport,[163] and Greenland's men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001.
Greenland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking are preferred by the general public. Although the environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there is a golf course in Nuuk.
Cuisine
Main article: Greenlandic cuisine
The national dish of Greenland is suaasat. Meat from marine mammals, game, birds, and fish play a large role in the Greenlandic diet. Due to the glacial landscape, most ingredients come from the ocean.[164] Spices are seldom used besides salt and pepper.[165] Greenlandic coffee is a "flaming" dessert coffee (set alight before serving) made with coffee, whiskey, Kahlúa, Grand Marnier, and whipped cream. It is stronger than the familiar Irish dessert coffee.[166]
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