Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the largest of the kingdom's three parts by land area. The other two are Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenland are citizens of Denmark, and so they are also citizens of the European Union (EU), even though Greenland is not part of the EU. It is the world's largest island. It lies between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It shares a small 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) border with Canada on Hans Island. The capital and largest city is Nuuk.

Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land. Cape Morris Jesup on the main island was thought to hold that title until the 1960s. Greenland relies heavily on aid from Denmark, which averaged 5.4 billion kr. (€724 million) a year from 2019 to 2023. That aid made up more than 20% of the territory's gross domestic product.

Although Greenland is part of the continent of North America, it was politically and culturally linked with the European kingdom of Norway from 986 until the early 15th century. From the 18th century, after the union of Denmark and Norway and the establishment of the Nuuk settlement, Greenland gradually became linked with Denmark. People called circumpolar peoples, whose ancestors moved there from what is now Canada, have lived on the island at intervals for at least the last 4,500 years. Norsemen from Norway settled the empty southern part of Greenland starting in the 10th century, after they had already settled Iceland. Their descendants lived there for 400 years before disappearing in the late 15th century.

When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland passed from the Norwegian crown to the Danish crown. The Constitution of Denmark from 1953 ended Greenland's status as a colony and fully joined it to the Danish state. Denmark granted home rule to Greenland in the 1979 Greenlandic home rule referendum. In the 2008 Greenlandic self-government referendum, Greenlanders voted for a law that moved more power from the Danish government to the local Naalakkersuisut, the Greenlandic government. Greenland has gradually taken on responsibility for more government services. The Danish government still controls citizenship, monetary policy, security, and foreign affairs. Because of the melting ice caused by global warming, Greenland's mineral wealth, and its position between Eurasia, North America, and the Arctic, it is strategically important to the Kingdom of Denmark, NATO, and the European Union. Since 2025, the United States has pursued threats to annex Greenland, which has triggered the Greenland crisis.

Most residents of Greenland are Inuit. Most people live on the southwest coast, where climate and geography have a strong influence, while the rest of the island is sparsely populated. With a population of 56,583 in 2022, Greenland is the least densely populated country in the world. Like metropolitan Denmark, Greenland is socially progressive. Education and healthcare are free, and LGBTQ rights in Greenland are some of the most extensive in the world. Sixty-seven percent of its electricity comes from renewable energy, mostly from hydropower. For the island itself, see Geography of Greenland.

Etymology

The early Norse settlers named the island Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland with his father, Thorvald Asvaldsson, who had committed manslaughter. Erik set out with his family and his thralls (slaves or serfs) in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After he found a habitable area and settled there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly because he hoped the pleasant name would attract settlers. 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 favourable name."

The name of the territory in the Greenlandic language is Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning 'land of the Kalaallit'. The Kalaallit are the main group of Greenlandic Inuit who live in the territory's western region. The Greenlandic Inuit word Nunaat does not include waters and ice.

History

Main article: History of Greenland

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Greenland.

The first people in Greenland were the Palaeo-Inuit, who lived there in several successive cultures long ago. They are known mainly from archaeological finds. The Saqqaq culture lived in southern and western Greenland, mostly around Disko Bay. From 986, Icelanders and Norwegians settled the west coast, led by Erik the Red. Their settlements thrived for centuries but disappeared in the 15th century, perhaps when the Little Ice Age began. Later, the Thule people arrived. They are the ancestors of today's Greenlandic population. In 1721, Hans Egede led a mission to Greenland, and the colony was centred at Godthåb, today's Nuuk. When the union between Denmark and Norway ended in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel left Greenland under the Danish king.

See also: Greenland in World War II

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Greenland and Climate of Greenland

See also: Climate of the Arctic § Greenland, Administrative divisions of Greenland, and Territorial claims in the Arctic

Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island. Over 80% of its land lies north of the Arctic Circle. The Greenland ice sheet covers about 81% of the island, and most of the land is less than 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) high. The highest point is Gunnbjørn Fjeld. Below the ice are deep canyons, the biggest called Greenland's Grand Canyon. All towns and settlements are along the ice-free coast, and the northeast is home to the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was measured near the top of the ice sheet in 1991.

The ice sheet keeps losing ice at its edges. Greenland has been warming since around 1900, and since the 1980s it has lost more ice than it gains. In the 2010s, the ice melted faster than at any time in at least the past 12,000 years. This melting adds to sea level rise. If the whole ice sheet melted, global sea levels would rise by about 7.5 metres (25 feet). In 2007, a new island called Uunartoq Qeqertaq was revealed when a glacier that had covered it melted away.

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Greenland

See also: 2025 Greenlandic general election, Greenland and the European Union, and Politics of Denmark

Greenland is a self-governing part of the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Denmark. King Frederik X is head of state, but his role is mostly representative and ceremonial. Mette Frederiksen is the Prime Minister of Denmark, and Jens-Frederik Nielsen is the Premier of Greenland. The Greenlandic government, Naalakkersuisut, holds power over local affairs, and its members are called ministers (Naalakkersuisoq). The Greenlandic parliament, Inatsisartut, has 31 members. Greenland elects two representatives to the Danish parliament, Folketinget. Greenland's path to more control began when Denmark integrated it in 1952, and home rule was introduced in 1979. A 2009 law gave Greenland control over many more areas of government, and a 2008 referendum on self-governance in favour of more autonomy passed with 76.22% of the vote. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community, unlike Denmark, and it is officially not a part of the EU, though it still has ties to the European Union.

Greenland has no military of its own. The Danish military is responsible for its defence, and the island is within the area overseen by the NATO alliance. The Joint Arctic Command is the Danish military branch that works in Greenland. The Pituffik Space Base is administered by the United States Space Force, which provides missile warning and space monitoring to NORAD. Greenland is divided into large territories called municipalities, which were set up in 2009 to replace three older counties. In 1995, a political scandal in Denmark arose after a report showed that the government had given secret permission for nuclear weapons to be placed in Greenland, against Denmark's nuclear-free zone policy. In 1968, a B-52G aircraft carrying four nuclear bombs as part of Operation Chrome Dome crashed on the ice, and one of the H-bombs remains lost.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Greenland

The most important part of Greenland's economy is financial aid from Denmark, mainly the block grant. In 2024 the block grant was 4.3 billion kr., about a third of public revenue. Denmark also paid for things such as the courts and defence, which together were estimated at over 1 billion kr. From 2019 to 2023, Danish aid averaged 5.4 billion kr. (€724 million) a year, more than 20% of the territory's GDP. In 2023, GDP was DKK 22.9 billion and GDP per person was DKK 405,000, equal to that of the average economies of Europe. The economy performed well in the early 2020s, despite the pandemic, energy crisis and war in Europe, because of good conditions for industry and strong infrastructure investments.

Fishing is very important, making up more than 90% of exports, and the shrimp and fish industry earns the most. Greenland has many minerals, but mining has been limited. A state company, Nunaoil, was created to help develop oil and gas, but in July 2021 Greenland banned all new oil and gas exploration after officials said the environmental "price of oil extraction is too high." About 80% of electricity comes from hydropower, and the largest plant, the Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant, supplies Nuuk. Smaller villages still rely on oil or diesel power plants, which also supply district heating.

Air transport connects Greenland internally and with other nations, since there are almost no roads between cities. The only exception is a 4.8 km gravel road between Kangilinnguit and the former cryolite mining town of Ivittuut. Greenland has no passenger railways. Nuuk Airport is the main hub for international and domestic flights, and Air Greenland is the flag carrier. Tourism grew from 77,000 to 105,000 visitors per year between 2015 and 2019, but it slowed sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mining is difficult because of extreme weather and strong environmental concern, and the Copenhagen Stock Exchange has been used to raise money for the state company Nunamineral, which produces gold.

Demographics

For statistics on demographics, see Demographics of Greenland.

See also: List of Greenlanders, Greenlandic Inuit, and Danish people in Greenland

Main article: Religion in Greenland

Main article: Spiral case

In 2025, Greenland had a population of 56,542, and 88% of them were born in Greenland. That year, 19,905 people lived in Nuuk. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, where the climate is relatively mild.

About 89.5% of the population is Greenlandic Inuit, 7.5% is Danish, 1.1% is other Nordic, and 1.9% has other origins. Many Greenlanders also have European ancestry, including Danish, Norwegian, and smaller numbers of Faroese, Icelandic, Dutch, German, and American ancestry.

Greenlandic, mainly West Greenlandic, became the only official language in 2009. Most people speak both Danish and Greenlandic, and Danish is still widely used in government, universities, and skilled jobs.

Greenland's education system is similar to Denmark's. Children have 10 years of compulsory primary school, and Greenland has one university, the University of Greenland, in Nuuk. Most of the population is Protestant, mainly through the Church of Denmark.

Culture

See also: Human rights in Denmark § Indigenous rights

Main article: Sport in Greenland

Greenlandic culture mixes traditional Inuit culture, including the Tunumiit and Inughuit peoples, with Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition that goes back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for carved figures called tupilak, or "spirit objects." Traditional art-making thrives in the Ammassalik area, and sperm whale ivory is still a valued material for carving. Greenlandic painting began with Aron von Kangeq in the mid-19th century, and landscape painting later became popular. The Nuuk Art Museum is a museum of fine arts in Nuuk. Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) is the public broadcasting company of Greenland and an associate member of the Eurovision and Nordvision networks. The television channel Nanoq Media, created in 2002, is the largest local television station in Greenland. Two newspapers, the weekly Sermitsiaq and the bi-weekly Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten, are published in Greenland and distributed nationally. Greenland's music blends traditional Inuit forms with modern styles. The traditional drum dance and song qilaatersorneq is a cornerstone of Greenlandic culture, and it uses a frame drum called the qilaat, made from driftwood or walrus ribs. In 2021, UNESCO recognized Inuit drum dancing and singing as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Christian missionaries in the 18th century stopped drum dances, which they considered pagan, and choral singing took their place. European whalers brought instruments like the fiddle and accordion, which led to kalattuut, a fast-paced Greenlandic polka. Today, the band Sumé helped start Greenlandic rock music in the 1970s, and Nanook, a pop-rock band formed in 2008, sings in Greenlandic. Other artists include Chilly Friday, Siissisoq, Nuuk Posse, and Rasmus Lyberth, who sang in Greenlandic in the Danish national final for the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest. Simon Lynge was the first Greenlandic solo artist to release an album across the United Kingdom. The national dish is suaasat, a soup made from seal meat, and marine mammals and fish are important in the diet. Sport is also important, and popular sports include association football, handball, and skiing. Handball is often called the national sport, and the men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001. Greenland has good conditions for snowboarding, ice climbing, rock climbing, and mountain climbing, although many people prefer hiking.