Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the Kalaallit (Greenlanders)"; Danish: Grønland, meaning "Greenland") is a self-governingDanish province located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Though geographically and ethnically an Arcticisland nation associated with the continent of North America, politically and historically Greenland is closely tied to Europe, specifically Norway and Denmark. In 1978, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, making it an equal member of the Rigsfællesskab. It is the largest island in the world that is not also considered a continent.

History

Main article: History of Greenland

Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures in prehistory. From AD 984 it has been colonized by Norse settlers who lived in two settlements on the west coast on the fjords near the very southwestern tip of the island. The Norse settlements thrived for the next few centuries, and then disappeared sometime in the 15th century after nearly 500 years of habitation.^[1]

Data obtained from ice cores indicate that between AD 800 and 1300 the regions around the fjords of the southern part of the island experienced a relatively mild climate similar to today. Trees and herbaceous plants grew in the south of the island and the prevailing climate initially permitted farming of domestic livestock species as farmed in Norway.^[1] These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading with the motherland, and when the Norwegian kings converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop was installed in Greenland as well, subordinate to the archdiocese of Nidaros. The settlements seem to have coexisted relatively peacefully with the Inuit, who had migrated southwards from the Arctic islands of North America around 1200. In 1261, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Norway.

After almost five hundred years, the Scandinavian settlements vanished, likely due to famine and increasing conflicts among the Norse themselves and with the Inuit during the fifteenth century. Main contributors to the demise of the Norse settlements appeared to have been destruction of the natural vegetation for farming, turf, and wood by the Norse and ensuing soil erosion and a decline in local temperatures during the Little Ice Age, as well as armed conflicts with the Inuit.^[1] The condition of human bones from this late period indicates malnutrition of the Norse population. It has been suggested that cultural practices, such as spurning fish as a source of food and reliance solely on livestock ill-adapted to Greenland's climate caused recurring famines, which along with environmental degradation resulted in the abandonment of the Greenland Norse colony.^[1]

Denmark-Norway reasserted its latent claim to the colony in 1721. The island's ties with Norway were severed by the Treaty of Kiel of 1814, through which Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden, while Denmark retained all of her common overseas possessions: the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, as well as Denmark-Norway's small territories in India (Tranquebar), West Africa (Danish Gold Coast) and the West Indies (Danish Virgin Islands).

Norway occupied and claimed parts of (then uninhabited) East Greenland aka Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted Terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to settle the matter at the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1933, where Norway lost.

During World War II, Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on April 9, 1940 when Denmark was occupied by Germany. Through the cryolite from the mine in Ivigtût, Greenland was able to pay for goods bought in the United States and Canada. During the war the system of government changed. Eske Brun was governor and ruled the island via a 1925 law concerning the governing of the island where, under extreme circumstances, the governors could take control. The other governor, Aksel Svane, was transferred to the United States as leader of the commission to supply Greenland. The Sirius Patrol, guarding the northeastern shores of Greenland using dog sleds, detected and destroyed several German weather stations, giving Denmark a better position in the postwar turmoil.

Greenland had been a protected and thereby very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government, which governed the colonies of Greenland, had been convinced that the society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country was opened up. During World War II, though, Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance during its period of self-government and independent communication with the outside world.

However, a commission in 1946 (with the highest Greenlandic council Landsrådet as participant) recommended patience and no radical reformation of the system. Two years later the first step towards an alteration of the governing of Greenland was initiated when a grand commission was founded. In 1950 the report (G-50) was presented. Greenland was to be a modern welfare society with Denmark as the sponsor and example. In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom; home rule was granted in 1979.

Etymology

The name Greenland comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his extended family and thralls, set out in ships to find the land that was rumoured to be to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grænland ("Greenland"), possibly in order to attract more people to settle there.^[2] Greenland was also called Gruntland ("Ground-land") and Engronelant (or Engroneland) on early maps. Whether green is an erroneous transcription of grunt ("ground"), which refers to shallow bays, or vice versa, is not known. It should also be noted, however, that the southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glacier) is indeed very green in the summer, and was likely even greener in Erik's time because of the Medieval Warm Period.

Sovereignty

Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century and in 1536 became a Danish dependency, along with Norway under the Kalmar Union which existed until 1814. At that time, the kingdom of Denmark-Norway found itself on the losing side of the Napoleonic Wars. In gratitude to Sweden for her assistance in defeating Napoleon (and as a consolation for the recent loss of Finland to Russia), mainland Norway and certain Norwegian territories were transferred to Sweden — thus, the personal union of Norway and Denmark ended. The dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, however, remained part of the reorganised "Kingdom of Denmark."

In the early 20th century, the United States was believed to have claims made good by discovery and exploration of the Peary expeditions.

In 1933, Norway attempted to claim eastern Greenland. The Permanent Court of Arbitration decided that the entire island belonged to Denmark.

Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule by the Folketing (Danish parliament) in 1978. The law went into effect on May 11979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of State. Greenlandic voters subsequently chose to leave the European Economic Community upon achieving self-rule.

Hans Island

Main article: Hans Island

There is an on-going diplomatic sovereignty dispute between Canada and Greenland (represented internationally by Denmark) over the tiny Hans Island. This Arctic territorial dispute concerns the governments of Canada and Denmark because the island is located in what will likely become a major shipping lane as polar ice recedes. Both nations have sent vessels to the region to emphasize their claim to sovereignty over the island.

Politics

Greenland's Head of State is the Danish Monarch, currently Margrethe II. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a Rigsombudsmand (High commissioner) representing the Danish government and monarchy.

Greenland has an elected parliament of thirty-one members. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The current Prime Minister is Hans Enoksen.

Unlike Denmark, Greenland is not part of the European Union, having left the European Community, one of the pillars of the EU, in 1985.

Geography and climate

Main articles: Geography of Greenland and Global warming

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 Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and Canada, to the west and across Baffin Bay. Greenland is the world's largestisland, and is the largestdependent territory by area in the world. It also contains the world's largest national park.

The total area of Greenland measures 2,166,086 km² (836,109 sq mi), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq mi) (81%). The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430 mi) long, about the same length as the Earth's circumference at the Equator.

The weight of the massive Greenlandic ice cap has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (1,000 ft) below sea level.^[3] All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. The northeastern part of Greenland, which includes sections of North Greenland and East Greenland, is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.

At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the map to the right), on the ice sheet: 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 Brøndlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.

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 completely melt away, sea levels would rise more than 7 m (23 ft)^[4] and Greenland would most likely become an archipelago.

Between 1989 and 1993, U.S. and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of two-mile-long (3.2 km) 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.^[5] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to global sea level rise at a faster rate than was previously believed.^[6] In February 2006, researchers reported that Greenland's glaciers are melting twice as fast as they were five years ago. According to satellite gravity measurements, the annual loss was estimated at 216 km³/yr (52 cubic miles per year) by 2005. Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) found that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6°C (approx. 10°F).^[7] 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/yr between 1994 and 2005.^[8]

However, a recent study suggests a much warmer planet in relatively recent geological times:

Scientists who probed two kilometers (1.2 miles) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said Thursday the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders 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 only have existed in Greenland as recently as 2.4 million years ago. The existence of those DNA samples suggest the temperature probably reached 10 degrees C (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer and -17 °C (1 °F) in the winter. They also indicated that during the last interglacial period, 116,000–130,000 years ago, when temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away.^[9]

In 1996, the American "Top of the World" expedition found the world's northernmost island off Greenland: ATOW1996. An even more northerly candidate was spotted during the return from the expedition, but its status is yet to be confirmed.

In 2007, the existence of a "new" island was announced. Named Warming Island (Inuit: Uunartoq Qeqertoq), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by an ice sheet. This ice sheet was discovered to be shrinking rapidly in 2002, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.^[10]

Topography

About 81% of its surface is covered by ice, known as the Greenland ice sheet, the weight of which has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 metres (984 ft) below the surrounding ocean. Approximately one-twentieth of the world's ice and one-quarter of the earth's surface ice is found in Greenland.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Greenland

Greenland today is critically dependent on fishing and fish exports; the shrimp fishing industry is by far the largest income earner. Despite resumption of several interesting hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before production can materialize. The state oil company NUNAOIL was created in order to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the 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 weaker economies of Europe.

Greenland suffered 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 in 1990.

Transportation

The major airport is Kangerlussuaq Airport on the West coast at Kangerlussuaq. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. As of May 2007, Air Greenland has also initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore, USA^[11]. Also new for summer 2007, Air Iceland plans to fly between Keflavík and Nuuk three times a week.^[12] In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen and between Kusuluk on the East coast to Reykjavík. Kangerlussuaq is the hub for domestic flights within Greenland.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Greenland

Greenland has a population of 56,361, of whom 87% are of Greenlandic nationality, built up by KalaallitInuit and ScandinavianEuropeans. The majority of the population is Evangelical Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.

Languages

Main article: Kalaallisut

The official languages of Greenland are Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Danish, and most of the population speak both of the languages. Greenlandic is spoken by about 50,000 people, some of whom are monolingual. A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language. English is widely spoken as a third language.

The Greenlandic language is the most populous of the languages of the Eskimo-Aleut language family and it has as many speakers as all the other languages of the family combined. Within Greenland three main dialects are recognized: the northern dialect Inuktun or Avanersuarmiutut spoken by around 1000 people in the region of Qaanaaq, Western Greenlandic or Kalaallisut which serves as the official standard language, and the Eastern dialect Tunumiit Orasiaat or Tunumiutut spoken in eastern Greenland.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Greenland

The Greenland National Museum and Archives^[13] is located in Nuuk.

Sport

Football (soccer) is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a member of FIFA. In January 2007, Greenland took part in the World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams.

Greenland competes in the bi-annual Island Games.

See also

Kalaallit Nunaat Grønland Greenland
Flag of Greenland Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit Nuna asiilasooq
Location of Greenland
Capital (and largest city)		Nuuk (Godthåb)
Official languages		Greenlandic, Danish
Government		Parliamentary democracy (within constitutional monarchy)
-	Monarch	Margrethe II
-	Prime Minister	Hans Enoksen
Autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark
-	Home rule	1979
-	Water (%)	81.11
Population
-	Dec 2006 estimate	57,100 (200th)
GDP (PPP)		2001 estimate
-	Total	$1.1 billion (not ranked)
-	Per capita	$20,0002 (not ranked)
HDI (n/a)		n/a (n/a) (n/a)
Currency		Danish krone (DKK)
Time zone		(UTC0 to -4)
Internet TLD		.gl
Calling code		+299
1	As of 2000: 410,449 km² (158,433 sq. miles) ice-free; 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq. miles) ice-covered.

Rigsfællesskabet Communications in Greenland Danish colonization of the Americas Foreign relations of Greenland History of Denmark Kalaallisut language

List of mountains in Greenland Military of Greenland Towns and settlements in Greenland Transport in Greenland University of Greenland

References

• Alley, Richard B. The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. Princeton University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-691-00493-5
• CIA World Factbook, 2000
• Lund, S. 1959. The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 1. Taxonomical Part. Meddr Gronland. 156(1), pp.1-245.
• Lund, S. 1959. The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 11. Geographic Distribution. Meddr Gronland. 156, pp.1-70.
• Steffen, Konrad, N. Cullen, and R. Huff (2005). "Climate variability and trends along the western slope of the Greenland Ice Sheet during 1991-2004," Proceedings of the 85th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting (San Diego).
• Bardarson, I. (ed. Jónsson, F.) "Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse af Ívar Bárğarson (Ivar Bårdssön)", (Copenhagen, 1930).
• Willerslev et al, "Ancient biomolecules from Deep Sea Ice Cores reveal a Forested Greenland", Science, 317, 111ff (2007).

External links

• Official Government Site
• Official Greenland tourism information
• [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gl.html CIA World Factbook]
• Statistics Greenland
• Greenland Map
• Greenland Dumps Ice into Sea at Faster Pace

News

• BBC: Country profile
• BBC: Timeline

•  • [ e] Administrative divisions of Greenland
Counties East Greenland North Greenland West Greenland Municipalities Aasiaat Ammassalik Ilulissat Ittoqqortoormiit Ivittuut Kangaatsiaq Maniitsoq Nanortalik Narsaq Nuuk Paamiut Qaanaaq Qaqortoq Qasigiannguit Qeqertarsuaq Sisimiut Upernavik Uummannaq

Geographic locale

•  • [ e] Countries of North America Several nations listed here straddle both North and South America or can also be considered Caribbean Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies Denmark Greenland France Guadeloupe Martinique Saint Barthelemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Netherlands Aruba Netherlands Antilles United Kingdom Anguilla Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands United States Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands  •  • [ e] Countries and territories of Northern America Canada Bermuda Greenland Saint Pierre and Miquelon United States

International membership

•  • [ e] Danish overseas colonies and territories Former colonies Danish Gold Coast (Danish Guinea) Danish India Tranquebar (Tharangambadi) • Balasore • Frederiksnagore (Serampore) • Dannemarksnagore (Gondalpara) • Calicut (Kozhikode) • Oddeway Torre (Malabar Coast) • Frederikserne (Nicobar Islands) Danish West Indies (U.S. Virgin Islands) Current overseas territories Faroe Islands Greenland See also Danish East India Company • Danish West India Company  •  • [ e] Outlying territories of European countries Territories under European sovereignty but closer to or on continents other than Europe (see for further information) Denmark Greenland France Clipperton Island French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Amsterdam • Saint-Paul • Crozet • Kerguelen • Adlie Land1 • Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean: Bassas da India • Europa Island • Glorioso Islands • Juan de Nova Island • Tromelin Island) Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte New Caledonia Runion Saint Barthelemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna Italy Pantelleria Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa • Lampione • Linosa) Netherlands Aruba Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire • Curaao • Saba • Sint Maarten • Sint Eustatius) Norway Bouvet Island Peter I Island1 Queen Maud Land1 Portugal Azores Islands Madeira Islands Russia Khabomai Ratmanov Island Shikotan Spain Canary Islands CeutaIsla de Alborn Isla Perejil Islas Chafarinas Melilla Pen de Alhucemas Pen de Vlez de la Gomera United Kingdom Anguilla Ascension Island Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Montserrat Saint Helena Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands British Antarctic Territory1 British Indian Ocean Territory Pitcairn Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 1 Claims to sovereignty over territories in Antarctica are currently suspended under the Antarctic Treaty System.  •  • [ e] Non-sovereign territories of Europe Dependent territories and autonomous regions Adjara (Georgia) Akrotiri and Dhekelia (UK) land (Finland) Azores (Portugal) Canary Islands1 (Spain) Ceuta1 (Spain) Crimea (Ukraine) Faroe Islands (Denmark) Gagauzia (Moldova) Gibraltar (UK) Greenland1 (Denmark) Guernsey (UK) Jersey (UK) Madeira1 (Portugal) Man, Isle of (UK) Melilla1 (Spain) Mount Athos (Greece) Nakhchivan1 (Azerbaijan) Vojvodina (Serbia) Unrecognized republics and territories Abkhazia (Georgia) Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan)1 South Ossetia (Georgia) Transnistria (Moldova) Northern Cyprus (Cyprus)2 Administered by the United Nations Kosovo (Serbia) 1 Entirely on another continent but having sociopolitical connections with Europe. 2 Recognized only by Turkey.  •  • [ e] West Nordic Council  Faroe Islands •  Greenland •  Iceland  •  • [ e] Nordic Council Members Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden Associates land Faroe Islands Greenland