Kalaallit Nunaat Grønland Greenland
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit
Capital (and largest city)		Nuuk (Godthåb) 64°10′N, 51°43′W
Official languages		Greenlandic, Danish[1]
Demonym		Greenlandic
Government		Parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Margrethe II
-	Prime Minister	Hans Enoksen
Autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark
-	Home rule	1979
Area
-	Total	2,166,086 km² (13th) 836,109 sq mi
-	Water (%)	81. The flag of Greenland was designed by Greenland native Thue Christiansen. The Coat of arms of Greenland is a blue shield featuring a silver Polar bear. A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history traditions and struggles of its people recognized either by a nation's "Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit" ( Our Country Who's Become So Old) is the National anthem of Greenland, an autonomous province of Denmark Population 56344 (July 2007 est Age structure 0-14 years 24% (male 6926 female 6597 15-64 years 69 Nuuk (Godthåb is the Capital and largest city of Greenland. It is located at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (Godthåbsfjorden inlet on the west coast An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. This is a list of Danish Monarchs, that is the Kings and Queens regnant of Denmark. Early life Princess Margrethe was born, to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. The following is a list of Prime ministers of Greenland. The prime minister - sometimes referred to in English as Premier - is the Hans Enoksen (born 1956 is the current Prime Minister of Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. M^2 redirects here For other uses see M². CM2 redirects here This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by total area. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. In Mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a Fraction of 100 ( per cent meaning "per hundred" 11
Population
-	July 2007 estimate	56,344 [2]
-	Density	0. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume 026/km² (241th) 0. List of countries and dependencies by Population density in inhabitants/km² 067/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2001 estimate
-	Total	$1. The purchasing power parity ( PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium Exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their Purchasing power. 1 billion (not ranked)
-	Per capita	$19,0002 (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		+298
1	As of 2000: 410,449 km² (158,433 sq. There are three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP (the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head with Per meaning 'through' or 'by' This article includes three lists of Countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP at Purchasing power parity (PPP Per capita The Human Development Index ( HDI) is an index combining normalized measures of Life expectancy, Literacy, Educational attainment, and GDP This is a list of countries by Human Development Index as included in the United Nations Development Program 's Human Development Report 2007 A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The krone ( sign: kr; code: DKK) is the Currency of Denmark, including the autonomous provinces of Greenland ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established A country This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.  miles) ice-free; 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq.  miles) ice-covered.
2	2001 estimate.

Greenland (Kalaallisut: Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the Greenlanders"; Danish: Grønland) is a self-governing Danish province located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the A federacy is a Form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division. The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as just the Arctic Archipelago, is an Archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic Though physiographically and ethnically an Arctic island nation associated with the continent of North America, politically and historically Greenland is associated with Europe, specifically Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. Physical geography (also known as geosystems or physiography) is one of the three major subfields of Geography. The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. An island country is a Country that is wholly confined to an Island, several islands an Island group or several island groups and has no territory on A continent is one of several large Landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by Convention rather than any strict criteria with seven regions Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe In 1978, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, making it an equal member of the Rigsfællesskab. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government Rigsfællesskabet (Community of the Realm officially rendered in English as the United Kingdom of Denmark by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is a Danish Greenland is the world's largest island by area (Australia and Antarctica are considered continents rather than islands). This is a list of Islands in the world ordered by area. It includes all islands with an area greater than 2500 km² (970 square miles For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. A continent is one of several large Landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by Convention rather than any strict criteria with seven regions

Contents 1 History 2 Etymology 3 Sovereignty 4 Politics 5 Geography and climate 6 Topography 7 Economy 8 Transport 9 Demographics 10 Languages 11 Culture 12 Sport 13 See also 14 Footnotes 15 References 16 External links 16.1 News

History

Main article: History of Greenland

In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures. The history of Greenland, the world's largest island is the history of life under extreme Arctic conditions an Ice cap covers about 95 percent of the island Stone Age Paleolithic See also Paleolithic, Recent African Origin, Early Homo sapiens, Early human migrations "Paleolithic" The Dorset culture (also called the Dorset Tradition were a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. From AD 984 it was colonized by Norse settlers in two settlements on the west coast on the fjords near the very southwestern tip of the island. A fjord or fiord (fjɔːd|fiːɔːd or fiːɔːd is a long narrow Inlet with steep sides created in a valley carved by glacial activity. They thrived for a few centuries, but disappeared sometime in the 15th century. ^[3]

Data from ice cores indicate that from AD 800 to 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate, with temperatures similar to today. Trees and herbaceous plants grew there, and the climate initially allowed farming of livestock as in Norway. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or A herbaceous plant (or in botanical use a Herb) is a Plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of ^[3] These remote communities thrived on farming, hunting and trade with Norway. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional When the Norwegian kings converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop was installed in Greenland, subordinate to the archdiocese of Nidaros. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. Nidaros was the old name of Trondheim (Trond(hjem sometimes Drontheim a city of Norway, in the Middle Ages. The settlements seem to have coexisted relatively peacefully with the Inuit, who had migrated south from the Arctic islands of North America around 1200. Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. In 1261, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Norway.

Around the 14th and 15th centuries, the Norwegian settlements vanished, likely due to famine and increasing conflicts with the Inuit. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting ^[4] The condition of human bones from this period indicates the Norse population was malnourished. Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or insufficient diet. Main reasons appeared to have been soil erosion due to destruction of the natural vegetation for farming, turf, and wood by the Norse, a decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age, and armed conflicts with the Inuit. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind The Little Ice Age (LIA was a period of cooling occurring after a warmer era known as the Medieval Warm Period or Medieval Climate Optimum ^[3] Jared Diamond suggests that cultural practices, such as rejecting fish as a source of food and reliance solely on livestock ill-adapted to Greenland's climate, caused by the mini-ice age, which resulted in recurring famines, with environmental degradation led to the abandonment of the colony. TemplateInfobox writer --> Jared Mason Diamond (b 10 September, 1937) is an American Evolutionary biologist ^[3] However, other research has suggested that fish were a major source of food for the Norse Greenlanders from the early 1300s on. ^[5]

The Kingdom of Denmark–Norway reasserted its latent claim to the colony in 1721. Denmark–Norway ( Danish: Danmark-Norge Norwegian: Danmark-Norge or Danmark-Noreg is the historiographical name for a former political entity union But ties with Norway were severed by the Treaty of Kiel of 1814, ceding Norway to the king of Sweden while Denmark seized the Norwegian 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). The Treaty of Kiel was a settlement between Sweden and Denmark-Norway on January 14, 1814, whereby the Danish king a loser in the "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe(s or Faeroes (Føroyar meaning " Sheep Islands" Færøerne Old Norse India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a Panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. The Danish Gold Coast was a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day Ghana) which is on the West African Gulf of Guinea (hence the territory The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting The Danish West Indies ( Danish: Dansk Vestindien or De dansk-vestindiske øer) or "Danish Antilles" were a colony of Denmark-Norway

Norway occupied and claimed parts of (then uninhabited) East Greenland also called Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted Terra nullius. Tunu / Østgrønland (East Greenland is one of the three counties (''amt'' of Greenland. Erik the Red's Land ( Eirik Raudes Land) was the name given by Norwegians to an area on East Greenland coast occupied by Norway in the early 1930s Terra nullius ( English pronunciation ˈtɛrə nəˈlaɪəs Latin pronunciation ˈtɛrːa nʊlːˈiʊs is a Latin expression deriving from Norway and Denmark agreed to settle the matter at the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1933, where Norway lost. The Permanent Court of International Justice, sometimes called the World Court, was the international court of the League of Nations, established in 1922

During World War II, Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on April 9, 1940 when Denmark was occupied by Germany. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Events 193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum (in the Balkans) Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada, by selling cryolite from the mine in Ivigtût. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Cryolite ( Na 3 Al[[fluorine F]]6 Sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is an uncommon Mineral identified with the once large deposit Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body Ivittuut, (old spelling Ivigtût) has been a Municipality in the south of West Greenland since 1951 During the war the system of government changed. Governor Eske Brun ruled the island via a 1925 law that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances. Eske Brun (1904&ndash1987 was a high civil servant in Greenland and in relation to Greenland from 1932 till 1964 The other governor, Aksel Svane, was transferred to the US to lead 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. Slædepatruljen Sirius or informally Siriuspatruljen ( The Sirius patrol) is a Danish unit and Dog sled Patrol A dog sled is a Sled pulled by one or more Sled dogs used to travel over Ice and through Snow. Weather Station Kurt, officially Wetter-Funkgerät Land-26, was a Weather station erected by a German U-boat crew in northern Labrador

Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government, which governed its colony Greenland, had been convinced that the society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country was opened up. The Politics of Denmark takes place in a framework of a parliamentary, Representative democratic, Constitutional monarchy, in which the But during World War II, Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through its 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 changing the government 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. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government

Etymology

The name Greenland comes from Scandinavian settlers. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. The Sagas of Icelanders ( Icelandic: Íslendingasögur)&mdashmany of which are also known as family sagas &mdashare prose histories describing Erik the Red (950–c 1003 ( Old Norse: Eiríkr rauði; Icelandic: Eiríkur rauði; Norwegian: Eirik Raude; Danish Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( He, along with his extended family and thralls, set out in ships to find the land that was rumoured to be to the northwest. A thrall ( Þræll; Þír, f) was a variety of slave in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age. A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size After settling there, he named the land Grænland ("Greenland"), possibly in order to attract more people to settle there. ^[6] 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 to have been even greener in Erik's time because of the Medieval Warm Period. The Medieval Warm Period (MWP or Medieval Climate Optimum was a time of unusually Warm Climate in the North Atlantic region lasting from about

Sovereignty

Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century — and Norway entered in a personal union with Denmark in 1380 and from 1397 as a part of the Kalmar Union. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe The Kalmar Union ( Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: Kalmarunionen) is a historiographical term meaning a series of Personal From 1536, after Sweden had broken out of the union, Norway entered into a closer dependency of Denmark, i. e. , kingdom of Denmark-Norway which existed until 1814. Denmark–Norway ( Danish: Danmark-Norge Norwegian: Danmark-Norge or Danmark-Noreg is the historiographical name for a former political entity union At that time, the kingdom of Denmark-Norway found itself on the losing side of the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark–Norway ( Danish: Danmark-Norge Norwegian: Danmark-Norge or Danmark-Noreg is the historiographical name for a former political entity union The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions 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. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional A personal union is the combination by which two different States are governed by the same Monarch, while their boundaries their laws and their interests remain distinct The dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, however, remained part of the reorganised "Kingdom of Denmark". Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe(s or Faeroes (Føroyar meaning " Sheep Islands" Færøerne Old Norse

In the early 20th century, the United States was believed to have claims made good by discovery and exploration of the Peary expeditions. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Robert Edwin Peary ( May 6, 1856 &ndash February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed

In 1933, Norway attempted to claim eastern Greenland. The Permanent Court of Arbitration decided that the entire island belonged to Denmark. The Permanent Court of Arbitration ( PCA) is an International organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

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 did not agree to sell. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Geopolitics is the study that analyzes Geography, History and Social science with reference to Spatial politics and patterns at various scales ^{[7] [8]}

Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule by the Folketing (Danish parliament) in 1978. Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a State to government at subnational level The Folketing, or Folketinget, is the national Parliament of Denmark. The law went into effect on May 1, 1979. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of State. This is a list of Danish Monarchs, that is the Kings and Queens regnant of Denmark. Early life Princess Margrethe was born, to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a Monarchic or Republican Nation-state Greenlandic voters subsequently chose to leave the European Economic Community upon achieving self-rule, because they did not want to allow European fishing fleets in Greenlandic waters. The European Community (EC is one of the Three pillars of the European Union (EU created under the Maastricht Treaty (1992 A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial Fishing vessels.

A referendum on further self-rule is scheduled for 25 November 2008. A self-government referendum will be held in Greenland on 25 November 2008. Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

Politics

Main article: Politics of Greenland

Greenland's Head of State is currently Margrethe II. Politics of Greenland takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Danish dependency, whereby the Prime Minister Early life Princess Margrethe was born, to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a Rigsombudsmand (High commissioner) representing the Danish government and monarchy. High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking special executive positions held by a commission of appointment

Greenland has an elected parliament of thirty-one members. TalkParliament#Screen-size. -->A  parliament is a Legislature, especially in those The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. This article focuses on the cases where the Head of Government is a separate office from the Head of State The following is a list of Prime ministers of Greenland. The prime minister - sometimes referred to in English as Premier - is the The current Prime Minister is Hans Enoksen. Hans Enoksen (born 1956 is the current Prime Minister of Greenland.

In 1985, Greenland left the European Community (EC), unlike Denmark which remains a member. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Greenland originally joined the European Community with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 after a dispute over fishing rights and a referendum on the issue The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe The EC later became the EU (European Union) when it was renamed and expanded in scope in 1992. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Greenland retains some ties with the EU via Denmark.

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

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. Greenland, the largest Island in the world is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest Greenland consists of three counties ( amt) Kitaa /Vestgrønland (West Greenland Tunu /Østgrønland (East Greenland and Under international law no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it Arctic shrinkage is the marked decrease in Arctic sea ice and the observed melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet in recent years The Climate of the Arctic is characterized broadly by long cold winters and short cool summers The Greenland Sea is an area of the Arctic Ocean, considered the northern part of the Norwegian Sea, spanning Greenland, Svalbard, The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major Baffin Bay (French Baie de Baffin) is a Sea between the Atlantic and Arctic oceans The nearest countries are Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and Canada, to the west and across Baffin Bay. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland ( Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Greenland is the world's largest island, and is the largest dependent territory by area in the world. This is a list of Islands in the world ordered by area. It includes all islands with an area greater than 2500 km² (970 square miles An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant This is a list of the countries of the world sorted by total area. A dependent territory dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political Independence or Sovereignty as a It also contains the world's largest national park. A national park is a reserve of land usually declared and owned by a national Government, protected from most Human development and pollution

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%). Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of The Greenland Ice Sheet is a vast body of ice covering 171 million km² roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430 mi) long, about the same length as the Earth's circumference at the Equator. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the

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. ^[9] The ice flows generally to the coast from the center of the island. Ice sheet dynamics describe the motion within large bodies of ice, such those currently on Greenland and Antarctica.

All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. This is a list of cities towns and settlements in Greenland. The English term 'city' hardly applies to any populated area in Greenland (although several places in Greenland 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. Avannaa / Nordgrønland (North Greenland also called Avannaarsua or Avanersuaq) is one of the three counties (''amt'' of Greenland Tunu / Østgrønland (East Greenland is one of the three counties (''amt'' of Greenland. Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest National park in the world with an area of 972000 square kilometres (375000 square miles making the park larger than

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. Eismitte was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931 and claimed the life of noted German North Ice was the name of a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954 on the inland ice of Greenland. 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. Nanortalik is the tenth biggest town of Greenland and is located at on a small island (also called Nanortalik roughly 100 km from the southern tip of Greenland Peary Land is a Peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. If the Greenland ice sheet were to completely melt away, sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft)^[10] and Greenland would most likely become an archipelago. The Greenland Ice Sheet is a vast body of ice covering 171 million km² roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian

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. Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of 2 km) ice cores. An ice core is a Core sample from the accumulation of snow and ice over many years that have re-crystallized and have trapped air bubbles from previous time periods 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. Northern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is North of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' The weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given Atmosphere at a given Time. Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences ^[11] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to global sea level rise at a faster rate than was previously believed. ^[12] 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. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. 10 °F). Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 ^[13] 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. The North Atlantic oscillation (NAO is a climatic phenomenon in the North Atlantic Ocean of fluctuations in the difference of Sea-level pressure between ^[14]

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. ^[15]

In 1996, the American "Top of the World" expedition found the world's northernmost island off Greenland: ATOW1996. ATOW1996 is a small island that is documented as the northernmost land on earth 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. Uunartoq Qeqertoq, Kalaallisut for "The Warming Island" is an island discovered in September 2005 by American explorer Dennis Schmitt off This ice sheet was discovered to be shrinking rapidly in 2002, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island. ^[16] This however was not the first occurrence of the island distinction. In Arctic Riviera, published by Ernst Hofer in 1957, in maps, and pictures, Ernst Hofer showed the distinct three fingered island separate from the mainland, during a similar warming event.

Topography

About 81 percent of Greenland's surface is covered by the Greenland ice sheet. The Greenland Ice Sheet is a vast body of ice covering 171 million km² roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. 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. ^[17] 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. The Economy of Greenland suffered negative growth in the early 1990s but since 1993 the economy has improved For the computer security term see Phishing. Fishing is the activity of catching Fish. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two True shrimp are swimming decapod Crustaceans classified in the Infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh Despite resumption of several interesting hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before production can materialize. In Organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an Organic compound consisting entirely of Hydrogen and Carbon. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific The state oil company NUNAOIL was created in order to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. NUNAOIL is the National Oil Company of Greenland founded in 1985 as an equal partnership between the Greenland Home Rule Government and DONG Energy Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel 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 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. Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Zinc (ˈzɪŋk from Zink is a Metallic Chemical element with the symbol Zn and Atomic number 30

Transport

The major airport is Kangerlussuaq Airport on the West coast at Kangerlussuaq. Kangerlussuaq Airport, also known as Søndre Strømfjord Airport, is located in Kangerlussuaq (Danish name Søndre Strømfjord) Greenland Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord is a settlement in west Greenland at the head of a Fjord of the same name Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city As of May 2007, Air Greenland initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore in the United States. Air Greenland Inc is the regional The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[18] However, on March 10, 2008, the route was cancelled due to finanical losses. ^[19] Also new for summer 2007, Air Iceland plans to fly between Keflavík and Nuuk three times a week. Air Iceland or Flugfélag Íslands is a Regional airline based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Keflavík International Airport (Keflavíkurflugvöllur is the largest Airport in Iceland and the country’s main hub for international transportation Nuuk (Godthåb is the Capital and largest city of Greenland. It is located at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (Godthåbsfjorden inlet on the west coast ^[20] In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen and between Kulusuk on the East coast to Reykjavík. Narsarsuaq (variously spelled the name is Greenlandic for Great Plain was the principal city of Greenland in the times of Erik the Red whose farm Kulusuk is a settlement in the Municipality of Ammasalik, Greenland. Reykjavík Airport ( Icelandic: Reykjavíkurflugvöllur, is the chiefly domestic airport serving Reykjavík, Iceland. Kangerlussuaq is the hub for domestic flights within Greenland.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Greenland

Greenland has a population of 56,344 (2007),^[2] of whom 88% are Inuit or mixed Danish and Inuit. Population 56344 (July 2007 est Age structure 0-14 years 24% (male 6926 female 6597 15-64 years 69 Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting The term Dane may refer to People with a Danish ancestral or ethnic identity whether living in Denmark, emigrants or the descendants of emigrants The remaining 12% are of European extraction, mainly Danish. The European peoples are the various Nations and Ethnic groups of Europe. The majority of the population is Evangelical Lutheran. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate. A fjord or fiord (fjɔːd|fiːɔːd or fiːɔːd is a long narrow Inlet with steep sides created in a valley carved by glacial activity. ^[21]

Languages

Main article: Kalaallisut

The official languages of Greenland are Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Danish, and most of the population speak both of the languages. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Greenlandic is spoken by about 50,000 people, some of whom are monolingual. Monoglottism ( Greek monos, "alone solitary" + glotta, "tongue language" or more commonly monolingualism or unilingualism A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language. Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the English is widely spoken as a third language. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

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. Eskimo-Aleut is a Language family native to Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, and parts of Siberia. 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. Inuktun (Polar Eskimo Thulesproget Avanersuarmiutut is the language of approximately 1000 indigenous Inughuit, inhabiting the world's most northerly settlements in

Culture

Main article: Culture of Greenland

The Greenland National Museum and Archives is located in Nuuk. The culture of Greenland has much in common with Inuit tradition as the majority of people are descended from Inuit Nuuk (Godthåb is the Capital and largest city of Greenland. It is located at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (Godthåbsfjorden inlet on the west coast ^[22]

Sport

See also: Football in Greenland

Association football is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a member of FIFA. Football in Greenland is one of the most popular sports in the Danish Overseas Territory. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for International Federation of Association Football) In January 2007, Greenland took part in the World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams. The World Championship in team handball for men has been organized by the International Handball Federation since 1938

Greenland competes in the bi-annual Island Games. International Island Games Association (IGA is an organisation the sole purpose of which is to organise the Island Games a friendly biennial Athletic competition between teams

See also

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

Footnotes

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. The Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University.
• CIA World Factbook, 2000. The World Factbook ( ISSN; also known as the CIA World Factbook) is an annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency of the
• 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 Bárðarson (Ivar Bårdssön)", (Copenhagen, 1930).

External links

• Official Government Site
• Official Greenland tourism information
• CIA World Factbook
• Statistics Greenland
• Greenland Map
• Greenland Dumps Ice into Sea at Faster Pace

News

• BBC: Country profile
• BBC: Timeline
• Dallas Morning News article by Dave Levinthal, Staff Writer

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