Greenland

For other uses, see Greenland (disambiguation).

Greenland Kalaallit Nunaat
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit (Greenlandic) "You Our Ancient Land!"
Capital and largest city	Nuuk (Godthåb)
Official languages	Danish, Greenlandic (Kalaallisut)
Ethnic groups	88% Inuit (and Inuit-Danish mixed), 12% Europeans, mostly Danish
Demonym(s)	Greenlander, Greenlandic
Government	Parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Margrethe II
• High Commissioner	Søren Hald Møller
• Prime Minister	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
• First Minister	Kuupik Kleist (Elect)
Autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark
• Home rule	1979
• Extended competencies for local government	June 21, 2009
Area
• Total	2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (13th)
• Water (%)	83.11
Population
• July 2007 estimate	57,564
• Density	0.027/km2 (0.1/sq mi) (241st)
GDP (PPP)	2001 estimate
• Total	$1.1 billion (not ranked)
• Per capita	$20,0002 (not ranked)
HDI (1998)	0.927  (n/a)
Currency	Danish krone (DKK)
Time zone	UTC+0 to -4 (GMT)
Drives on	right
Calling code	299
ISO 3166 code	GL
Internet TLD	.gl
As of 2000: 410,449 km² (158,433 sq. miles) ice-free; 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq. miles) ice-covered. 2001 estimate.

Greenland (Template:Lang-da; Template:Lang-kl, meaning "Land of the Greenlanders") is a semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Though physiographically and ethnically a part of the continent of North America, since the 18th century Greenland has been politically associated with Europe, specifically Denmark. In 1979, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, with a relationship known in Danish as Rigsfællesskabet, and in 2008 Greenland voted to transfer more competencies to the local government, effective June 21, 2009, with the Danish royal government only being in charge of foreign, security and financial policy. Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island that is not a continent in its own right, as well as the least densely populated country in the world. However, since the 1950s, scientists have postulated that the ice cap covering the country may actually conceal three separate island land masses that have been bridged by glacier.

History

Main article: History of Greenland

In prehistoric times Greenland was home of several successive Paleo-Eskimo cultures known primarily through archaeological findings. From around 2500 BC to 800 BC Southern and western Greenland was inhabited by the Saqqaq culture. Most findings of Saqqaq period archaeological remains have been found around the Disko Bay. From ca. 2400 BC to 1300 BC the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. Independence one was a part of the Arctic small tool tradition. Around 800 BC the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early Dorset culture emerged in western Greenland and Independence II culture in northern Greenland. Dorset culture was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas both on the west and east coast and it lasted until the arrival of the Thule culture in 1500 AD. The Dorset culture were primarily whale hunters. The Thule culture is the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. They started migrating from Alaska around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300 AD. The Thule culture were the first to introduce such technological innovations to Greenland as dog sleds and toggling harpoons.

From AD 986, Greenland's west coast was colonised by Icelanders in two settlements on fjords near the southwestern-most tip of the island. They shared the island with the late Dorset culture occupying the northern and eastern parts, and later with the Thule culture arriving from the north. The settlements, such as Brattahlid, thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 1400s, at the time of one given date for the outbreak of the Little Ice Age. It is debated whether data from ice cores indicate that between AD 800 and 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a mild climate, with trees and herbaceous plants growing and livestock being farmed. What is verifiable is that the ice cores indicate Greenland experienced dramatic temperature shifts many times over the past 100,000 years. That fact makes it possible to state that areas of Greenland may have been much warmer during the medieval period than it is now and that the ice sheet contracted significantly.

These Icelandic settlements vanished during the 14th and 15th centuries, likely due to famine and increasing conflicts with the Inuit. The condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, probably because of soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation to allow for farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting, because of a decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age, and because of armed conflicts with the Inuit. Jared Diamond suggests that cultural practices, such as rejecting fish as a source of food and relying solely on livestock ill-adapted to Greenland's (degrading) climate resulted in recurring famine which led to abandonment of the colony. However, isotope analysis of the bones of inhabitants shows that marine food sources supplied more and more of the diet of the Norse Greenlanders, making up between 50% and 80% of their diet by the 1300s.

The last written records of the Norse Greenlanders are of a marriage in 1408 in the church of Hvalsey — today the best-preserved Norse ruins in Greenland.

In the 16th century Greenland was visited by Corte-Real and according to the Treaty of Tordesillas part of the Portuguese area of influence. It is possible that some Portuguese settlements were created there in that period, as attested in some maps.

In 1721 a joint merchant-clerical expedition led by Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. The expedition can be seen as part of the Danish colonization of the Americas. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of his mission in Greenland and returned to Denmark where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centered at Godthåb ("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland became opened for Danish merchants, and closed to those from other countries.

Norway occupied and claimed parts of the then-uninhabited eastern Greenland (also called 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.

Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on April 9, 1940, when, early in World War II, Denmark was occupied by Germany. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine in Ivittuut. 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 US to lead the commission to supply Greenland. A sledge patrol (in 1942, named the Sirius Patrol), guarding the northeastern shores of Greenland using dog sleds, detected and alerted American troops who then destroyed several German weather stations, giving Denmark a better position in the postwar turmoil.

Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government, which governed Greenland as its colony, had been convinced that the society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country was opened up. But wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world.

However, a commission in 1946 (with the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene, as a participant) recommended patience and no radical reformation of the system. Two years later, the first step towards changing the 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.

Sovereignty

Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century, and Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark in 1380 and from 1397 as a part of the Kalmar Union . After the Norse settlements died off, the area was de facto controlled by various Inuit groups. Eventually, the dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands became part of the reorganised "Kingdom of Denmark" after the Napoleonic Wars.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, the reigning monarch of Greenland.

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, but the Permanent Court of Arbitration decided that the entire island belonged to Denmark. During the Cold War, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and therefore in 1946, the United States offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100,000,000, but Denmark refused to sell.

Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule by the Folketing (Danish parliament) in 1979. The law went into effect on May 1, 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, due to commercial fishing regulations and a EEC ban on seal skin products. A referendum on greater autonomy was approved on 25 November 2008. Internationally, on June 21, 2009, Greenland assumes self-determination with the responsiblities of self-government of judicial affairs, policing and its natural resources. Denmark maintains control of finances, foreign affairs and defense. It is a step towards full indepedence from Danish rule. Kalaallisut will become the official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Greenland

Greenland's Head of State is 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.

As part of the realm of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenlanders elect two representatives who sit in the Danish parliament.

In 1985, Greenland left the European Community (EC), unlike Denmark which remains a member. The EC later became the EU (European Union) when it was 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.

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of Greenland

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

Geography of Greenland

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 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. However, since the fifties, scientists have postulated that the ice cap covering the country may actually conceal three separate island land masses that have been bridged by glacier over the last geologic cooling period.

Southeast coast of Greenland

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%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 cubic kilometres (680,000 cu mi). The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430 miles) long, about the same length as the Earth's circumference at the Equator. The highest point on Greenland is Mkoliohn at 3,859 metres (12,119 ft). However, the majority of Greenland is under 1,500 metres (5,000 ft) elevation.

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. The ice flows generally to the coast from the center of the island.

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.

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.

Southern Greenland scenery, near Nanortalik, where fjords and mountains dominate the landscape.

View from the air

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 level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft) and Greenland would most likely become an archipelago.

Qaqortoq town in southern Greenland.

Between 1989 and 1993, U.S. and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (2 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. The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to global sea level rise at a faster rate than was previously believed. Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) found that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6 °C (11 °F). 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.

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 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.

Scoresby Sund in eastern Greenland, the longest fjord in the world.

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 "Uunartoq Qeqertoq" (English: Warming Island), 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. The island was named "Place of the Year" by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007. 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."

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.

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") in the hope the pleasant name would attract settlers. 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. The southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glacier) is indeed very green in the summer and was likely to have been even greener in Erik's time because of the Medieval Warm Period.

Topography

About 81 percent of Greenland's surface is covered by the Greenland ice sheet. The weight of the ice has depressed the central land area into a basin shape, whose base lies more than 300 metres (984 ft) below the surrounding ocean. Elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.

Economy

Colorful houses dot the town of Ittoqqortoormiit.

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 hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company NUNAOIL was created in order 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. Exploitation of ruby deposits began in 2007. other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing;. These include uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. 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 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 weaker 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, new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered promising to bring new industry and a new export to the country. (See Greenland Ruby).

Transport

Air transportation exists within Greenland, and to and from the island from other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances cause 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.

Kangerlussuaq Airport on the West coast at Kangerlussuaq is the major airport in Greenland. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. In May 2007, Air Greenland initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore in the United States. However, on March 10, 2008, the route was cancelled due to financial losses. Air Iceland is opening a new route, Keflavík-Ilulissat, operated twice weekly from July 2009. In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen, between Kulusuk on the east coast and Reykjavík, and between Keflavík and Nuuk. Kangerlussuaq is the hub for domestic flights within Greenland.

Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It has only one round trip per week which takes 80 hours per direction.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Greenland

Greenland has a population of 57,564 (2008), of whom 88% are Inuit or mixed Danish and Inuit. The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Danish. The majority of the population is Evangelical Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which have a relatively mild climate.

Languages

Main article: Greenlandic language

Both Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979, and most of the population speak both of the languages. Greenlandic, spoken by about 50,000 people, some monolingual, became the sole official language in June 2009. A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language, and Danish, which was formerly one of the official languages, will remain a language of higher education. English is widely spoken as a third language. The country has a 100% literacy rate.

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 oraasiat or Tunumiutut spoken in eastern Greenland.

Culture

An Inuit family in Greenland, 1917.

Main articles: Culture of Greenland and Music of Greenland

The culture of Greenland has much in common with Inuit tradition, as the majority of people are descended from Inuit. People continue the Inuit tradition of ice-fishing and there are annual dog-sled races. Fishing by traditional methods has been increasingly replaced by the use of firearms and modern technology.

Sport

See also: Football in Greenland

Football is the national sport of Greenland. 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 biennial Island Games.

See also

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Main article: List of Greenland-related topics

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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.
• Bardarson, I. (ed. Jónsson, F.) "Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse af Ívar Bárðarson (Ivar Bårdssön)", (Copenhagen, 1930).
• 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).
• Stern, Pamela R. Historical dictionary of the Inuit. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0810850583

External links

Government

• Greenland Home Rule official government website (in English)
• Map of new municipalities official government website (in Greenlandic)
• Greenland.com from the Greenland Tourism & Business Council
• Statistics Greenland

General information

• Country Profile and Timeline from BBC News
• "Greenland". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• Greenland from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Template:Dmoz
• Greenland Map
• Wikimedia Atlas of Greenland
• Template:Wikitravel

Other

• Dallas Morning News article by Dave Levinthal, Staff Writer
• Greenland Braces for Independence and Wealth by Manfred Ertel, Der Spiegel, November 11 2008
• Massive support for Greenland self-rule referendum, 75 percent vote yes November 26 2008
• Greenland Expedition 2010

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