:Greenland

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, who had committed manslaughter. With his extended family and his thralls {{gloss|mode=def|slaves or serfs}}, he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it {{lang|non|{{linktext|Grœnland}}}} (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.{{Cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17946/17946-h/17946-h.htm |title=Eirik the Red's Saga |date=8 March 2006 |publisher=Gutenberg.org |access-date=6 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511061916/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17946/17946-h/17946-h.htm |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=live}}[http://ancientstandard.com/2010/12/17/how-greenland-got-its-name/ "How Greenland got its name"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319050912/http://ancientstandard.com/2010/12/17/how-greenland-got-its-name/ |date=19 March 2012 }}. The Ancient Standard. 17 December 2010.{{Cite journal |last=Grove |first=Jonathan |year=2009 |title=The place of Greenland in medieval Icelandic saga narrative |url=https://cambridge.academia.edu/JonathanGrove/Papers/397439/The_Place_of_Greenland_In_Medieval_Icelandic_Saga_Narrative |url-status=dead |journal=Journal of the North Atlantic |volume=2 |pages=30–51 |doi=10.3721/037.002.s206 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411212816/http://cambridge.academia.edu/JonathanGrove/Papers/397439/The_Place_of_Greenland_In_Medieval_Icelandic_Saga_Narrative |archive-date=11 April 2012 |s2cid=163032041}} 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."Evans, Andrew. [https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/iceland-greenland-name-swap/ "Is Iceland Really Green and Greenland Really Icy?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204222855/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/iceland-greenland-name-swap/ |date=4 December 2017}}, National Geographic (30 June 2016).

The name of the territory in the Greenlandic language is {{lang|kl|Kalaallit Nunaat}} {{gloss|land of the Kalaallit}}.Stern, p. 89 The Kalaallit are the Greenlandic Inuit who inhabit the territory's western region. Inuit Nunaat was also formerly the name of Inuit Nunangat within Canada. The Greenlandic Inuit term Nunaat excludes the waters and ice. In 2009 the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami formally switched to the Inuktitut Nunangat in 2009 to reflect the integral nature "land, water, and ice" have to Inuit culture.{{cite web |title=Maps Of Inuit Nunangat (Inuit Regions Of Canada) |url=https://www.itk.ca/maps-of-inuit-nunangat/ |website=Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ |date=5 September 2008 |publisher=Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami |access-date=20 June 2019}}

{{Main|History of Greenland}}

{{For timeline|Timeline of Greenland}}

File:Independence-fjord.svg

In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to several successive Palaeo-Inuit cultures known primarily through archaeological finds. The earliest entry of the Palaeo-Inuit into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From about 2500 BC to 800 BC, southern and western Greenland was inhabited by the Saqqaq culture. Most finds of remains from that period have been around Disko Bay, including the site of Saqqaq, for which the culture is named.{{Cite journal |last=Grønnow |first=B. |year=1988 |title=Prehistory in permafrost: Investigations at the Saqqaq site, Qeqertasussuk, Disco Bay, West Greenland |journal=Journal of Danish Archaeology |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=24–39 |doi=10.1080/0108464X.1988.10589995}}{{Cite journal |last=Møbjerg |first=T. |year=1999 |title=New adaptive strategies in the Saqqaq culture of Greenland, c. 1600–1400 BC |journal=World Archaeology |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=452–65 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1999.9980423 |jstor=124963}}

From 2400 BC to 1300 BC, the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the Arctic small-tool tradition.{{Cite web |title=The history of Greenland – From dog sled to snowmobile |url=http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/kultur-sjael/historie.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927011214/http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/kultur-sjael/historie.aspx |archive-date=27 September 2011 |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=Greenland.com}}{{Cite web |title=Migration to Greenland – the history of Greenland |url=http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/kultur-sjael/historie/indvandringerne-til-groenland.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905074558/http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/kultur-sjael/historie/indvandringerne-til-groenland.aspx |archive-date=5 September 2011 |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=Greenland.com}}{{Cite journal |last1=Rasch |first1=M. |last2=Jensen |first2=J. F. |year=1997 |title=Ancient Eskimo dwelling sites and Holocene relative sea-level changes in southern Disko Bugt, central West Greenland |journal=Polar Research |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=101–15 |bibcode=1997PolRe..16..101R |doi=10.3402/polar.v16i2.6629}} Towns, including Deltaterrasserne, appeared. About 800 BC, the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early Dorset culture emerged in western Greenland and the Independence II culture in northern Greenland.{{Cite journal |last1=Ramsden |first1=P. |last2=Tuck |first2=J. A. |year=2001 |title=A Comment on the Pre-Dorset/Dorset Transition in the Eastern Arctic |url=https://www.academia.edu/231379 |url-status=live |journal=Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska |series=New Series |volume=1 |pages=7–11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408154010/https://www.academia.edu/231379 |archive-date=2022-04-08}} It is unknown whether the Dorset people ever encountered the later Thule people. The people of the Dorset culture lived mainly by hunting whales and reindeer.{{Cite journal |last=Grønnow |first=B. |year=1986 |title=Recent archaeological investigations of West Greenland caribou hunting |journal=Arctic Anthropology |volume=23 |issue=1/2 |pages=57–80 |jstor=40316103}}{{Cite journal |last=Rowley |first=G. |year=1940 |title=The Dorset culture of the eastern Arctic |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=490–99 |doi=10.1525/aa.1940.42.3.02a00080 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite book |last1=Gulløv |first1=H. C. |title=The archaeology of shamanism |last2=Appelt |first2=M. |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=0-415-25255-5 |page=146 |chapter=Social bonding and shamanism among Late Dorset groups in High Arctic Greenland}}{{Cite book |last=Gulløv |first=H. C. |title=In search of the Dorset culture in the Thule culture. The Paleoo Cultures of Greenland |publisher=Copenhagen: Danish Polar Center (Publication No. 1) |year=1996 |pages=201–14}}

{{main|Norse settlements in Greenland}}

File:I. E. C. Rasmussen - Sommernat under den Grønlandske Kyst circa Aar 1000.jpg, 1875]]

From 986, the west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red. They formed three settlements—the Eastern Settlement, the Western Settlement, and the Middle Settlement—on fjords near the southwestern tip of the island.Kudeba, N. (19 April 2014). Chapter 5, "Norse Explorers from Erik the Red to Leif Erikson", in Canadian Explorers. They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants, who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with those of the Thule culture, who entered from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in 1261 under the Kingdom of Norway.{{cite web |title=Viking Settlers in Greenland |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/viking-settlers-greenland |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=2023-12-18 |language=en |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610113237/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/viking-settlers-greenland |url-status=live}} The Kingdom of Norway entered a personal union with Denmark in 1380, and from 1397 was a part of the Kalmar Union.{{Cite book |last=Boraas |first=Tracey |url=https://archive.org/details/sweden0000bora/page/24 |title=Sweden |publisher=Capstone Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-7368-0939-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sweden0000bora/page/24 24]}}

The Norse settlements, such as Brattahlíð, thrived for centuries, before disappearing in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age.{{Cite book |last=Diamond |first=Jared |title=Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed |title-link=Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed |publisher=Penguin |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-14-303655-5 |location=Harmondsworth [Eng.] |author-link=Jared Diamond}} Except for some runic inscriptions, the only contemporary records or historiography that survive from the Norse settlements are of their contact with Iceland or Norway. Medieval Norwegian sagas and historical works mention Greenland's economy, the bishops of Gardar, and the collection of tithes. A chapter in the Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror) describes Norse Greenland's exports, imports, and grain cultivation.

File:Hvalsey Church.jpg are from a 1408 marriage at Hvalsey Church, which is now the best-preserved Norse ruin.]]

Icelandic saga accounts of life in Greenland were composed in the 13th century and later, and are not primary sources for the history of early Norse Greenland. Those accounts are closer to primary for more contemporaneous accounts of late Norse Greenland. Modern understanding therefore mostly depends on the physical data from archaeological sites. Interpretation of ice-core and clam-shell data suggests that between AD 800 and 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland had a relatively mild climate, several degrees Celsius warmer than usual in the North AtlanticArnold C. (June 2010) "Cold Did In the Norse", Earth Magazine. p. 9. with trees and herbaceous plants growing and livestock being farmed. Barley was grown as a crop up to the 70th parallel.{{Cite book |last=Behringer |first=Wolfgang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqjESAAACAAJ |title=Kulturgeschichte des Klimas: Von der Eiszeit zur globalen Erwärmung |language=de |location=Munich |publisher=Dt. Taschenbuch-Verlag |date=9 September 2009 |isbn=978-3-406-52866-8 |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624225857/https://books.google.com/books?id=VqjESAAACAAJ |url-status=live}} The ice cores show that Greenland has had dramatic temperature shifts many times in the past 100,000 years.{{Cite journal |last1=Alley |first1=R. |last2=Mayewski |first2=P. |last3=Peel |first3=D. |last4=Stauffer |first4=B. |year=1996 |title=Twin ice cores from Greenland reveal history of climate change, more |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ers_facpub/252 |url-status=live |journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union |volume=77 |issue=22 |pages=209–10 |bibcode=1996EOSTr..77R.209A |doi=10.1029/96EO00142 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414125211/https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ers_facpub/252/ |archive-date=14 April 2018 |access-date=16 August 2019}} Similarly the Icelandic Book of Settlements records famines during the winters, in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs".

These Norse settlements vanished during the 14th and early 15th centuries."[http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2003/07/17/2858655.htm Why societies collapse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802053920/http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2003/07/17/2858655.htm |date=2 August 2012 }}". ABC Science. The demise of the Western Settlement coincides with a decrease in summer and winter temperatures. A study of North Atlantic seasonal temperature variability during the Little Ice Age showed a significant decrease in maximum summer temperatures beginning about the turn of the 14th century—as much as {{convert|6|to|8|C-change}} lower than modern summer temperatures.{{Cite journal |last1=Patterson |first1=W. P. |last2=Dietrich |first2=K. A. |last3=Holmden |first3=C. |last4=Andrews |first4=J. T. |date=23 March 2010 |title=Two millennia of North Atlantic seasonality and implications for Norse colonies |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=107 |issue=12 |pages=5306–5310 |bibcode=2010PNAS..107.5306P |doi=10.1073/pnas.0902522107 |pmc=2851789 |pmid=20212157 |doi-access=free}} The study also found that the lowest winter temperatures of the last 2,000 years occurred in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The Eastern Settlement was probably abandoned in the early to mid-15th century, during this cold period.File:Dorset, Norse, and Thule cultures 900-1500.svg, Thule, and Norse cultures.|left]]

Theories drawn from archaeological excavations at Herjolfsnes in the 1920s suggest that the condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, possibly because of soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting. Malnutrition may also have resulted from widespread deaths from pandemic plague;{{Cite book |last1=Ingstad |first1=Helge |url={{GBurl|Gj-I5hdpzGoC |p=28}} |title=The Viking Discovery of America: The Excavation of a Norse Settlement in L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland |last2=Stine Ingstad |first2=Anne |publisher=Breakwater Books |year=2000 |isbn=1-55081-158-4 |pages=28–}} the decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age; and armed conflicts with the Skrælings (Norse word for Inuit, meaning "wretches"). Recent archaeological studies somewhat challenge the general assumption that the Norse colonization had a dramatic negative environmental effect on the vegetation. Data support traces of a possible Norse soil amendment strategy.Bishop, Rosie R., et al. "A charcoal-rich horizon at Ø69, Greenland: evidence for vegetation burning during the Norse landnám?." Journal of Archaeological Science 40.11 (2013): 3890–902 More recent evidence suggests that the Norse, who never numbered more than about 2,500, gradually abandoned the Greenland settlements over the 15th century as walrus ivory,{{Cite book |last1=Leone |first1=Mark P. |url={{GBurl |id=zJy4CQAAQBAJ |p=211}} |title=Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism |last2=Knauf |first2=Jocelyn E. |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-12760-6 |page=211}} the most valuable export from Greenland, decreased in price because of competition with other sources of higher-quality ivory, and that there was actually little evidence of starvation or difficulties.{{Cite web |last=Folger |first=Tim |title=Why Did Greenland's Vikings Vanish? |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-greenland-vikings-vanished-180962119/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317033211/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-greenland-vikings-vanished-180962119/ |archive-date=17 March 2017 |access-date=13 March 2017}}

Other explanations of the disappearance of the Norse settlements have been proposed:

1. Lack of support from the homeland.
2. Ship-borne marauders (such as Basque, English, or German pirates), rather than Skrælings, could have plundered and displaced the Greenlanders.{{Cite book |last1=Trigger |first1=Bruce G. |url={{GBurl |id=CBLPX2ARjdgC |p=331}} |title=The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas |last2=Washburn |first2=Wilcomb E. |last3=Adams |first3=Richard E. W. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-57393-9 |page=331}}
3. They were "the victims of hidebound thinking and of a hierarchical society dominated by the Church and the biggest land owners. In their reluctance to see themselves as anything but Europeans, the Greenlanders failed to adopt the kind of apparel that the Inuit employed as protection against the cold and damp or to borrow any of the Inuit hunting gear."
4. That portion of the Greenlander population willing to adopt Inuit ways and means intermarried with and assimilated into the Inuit community.{{Cite book |last=Stefansson |first=Vilhjalmur |title=Unsolved Mysteries of the Arctic |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1938 |isbn=9781878100955 |pages=1–36 |language=en}} Much of the Greenland population is mixed Inuit and European ancestry. It was impossible in 1938 when Stefansson wrote his book to distinguish between intermarriage before the European loss of contact and after the contact was restored.
5. "Norse society's structure created a conflict between the short-term interests of those in power, and the long-term interests of the society as a whole."

The Thule people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. No genes from the Palaeo-Inuit Dorset culture have been found in the present population of Greenland.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-were-not-the-first-people-to-settle-in-the-arctic-1.2749691 "Inuit were not the first people to settle in the Arctic"], CBC News (Canada), 28 August 2014 The Thule culture migrated eastward from what is now known as Alaska around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300. The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as dog sleds and toggling harpoons.

There is an account of contact and conflict with the Norse population, as told by the Inuit. It is republished in The Norse Atlantic Sagas, by Gwyn Jones. Jones reports that there is also an account of perhaps the same incident, of more doubtful provenance, told by the Norse side.

File:Cantino planisphere (1502).jpg, completed by an unknown Portuguese cartographer in 1502, depicts Greenland as a Portuguese territory claimed by King Manuel I .]]

File:Hans Egede - Johan Horner.jpg (1686–1758), Lutheran missionary, credited with revitalising Denmark's relationship with Greenland]]

In 1500, King Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar Corte-Real to Greenland in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia which, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, was part of Portugal's sphere of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother, Miguel Corte-Real. Finding the sea frozen, they headed south and arrived in Labrador and Newfoundland. Upon the brothers' return to Portugal, the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new map of the world which was presented to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The Cantino planisphere, made in Lisbon, accurately depicts the southern coastline of Greenland.Nebenzahl, Kenneth. Rand McNally Atlas of Columbus and The Great Discoveries (Rand McNally & Company; Genoa, Italy; 1990); The Cantino Planisphere, Lisbon, 1502, pp. 34–37.

In 1605–1607, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway sent a series of expeditions to Greenland and Arctic waterways to locate the lost eastern Norse settlement and assert Danish-Norwegian sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders who lacked experience with the difficult Arctic ice and weather conditions, and partly because the expedition leaders were given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on the east coast of Greenland just north of Cape Farewell, which is almost inaccessible due to southward drifting ice. The pilot on all three trips was English explorer James Hall.

After the Norse settlements died off, Greenland came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Dano-Norwegian government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from the Norse. When it re-established contact with Greenland in the early 17th century, Denmark-Norway asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721 a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Dano-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. This expedition is part of the Dano-Norwegian colonization of the Americas. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of the mission there and returned to Denmark, where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at Godthåb ("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, but closed to those from other countries.

{{See also|Denmark expedition|Greenland in World War II}}

{{Multiple image

| image1 = Legende børn, ca. 1878 (8473597948).jpg

| image2 = Billeder fra Grønland 11441.tif

| caption1 = Godthåb in Greenland, {{circa|1878}}

| caption2 = Pictures of Greenland, {{circa|1863}}

}}

When the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's former colonies and left them under the control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which decided against Norway.[http://www.icj-cij.org/pcij/serie_AB/AB_53/01_Groenland_Oriental_Arret.pdf Legal Status of Eastern Greenland] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511135249/http://www.icj-cij.org/pcij/serie_AB/AB_53/01_Groenland_Oriental_Arret.pdf |date=11 May 2011 }}, PCIJ Series A/B No. 53 (1933)

Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War II, after Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.{{Cite book |author=America First Committee |editor-last=Doenecke |editor-first=Justus D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bhnf0fxI260C |title=In Danger Undaunted: The Anti-Interventionist Movement of 1940–1941 |date=1990 |orig-date=8 July 1941 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=0-8179-8841-6 |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630095753/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bhnf0fxI260C |url-status=live}} The United States' occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine at Ivittuut. In World War II, the United States military used {{lang|en-US|Bluie|italics=yes}} as a code name for Greenland, where they kept several bases named "Bluie (East or West) (sequential numeral)".{{cite book |last=Morison |first=Samuel Eliot |year=1975 |title=History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 1: The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |location=Boston |page=62}} The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports.

During this war, the system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish Sirius Patrol guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dog sleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops, who destroyed the facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Albert Speer briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the United States Armed Forces.Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich, 1971.

Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing no more than small scale barter trading with British whalers. In wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene, recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was initiated when a grand commission was established. A final report (G-50) was presented in 1950, which recommended the introduction of a modern welfare state with Denmark's development as sponsor and model. In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979.

{{See also|Greenlandic independence}}

File:Margrethe II of Denmark 1966.jpg of Denmark, during whose reign (1972–2024) Greenland received home-rule in 1979 and self-rule in 2009. Queen Margrethe II Land is named after her.]]

Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940.{{cite web |url=http://sermitsiaq.ag/node/77393 |title=Eske Brun - det moderne Grønlands ophavsmand? |date=24 November 2010 |publisher=Sermitsiaq |access-date=19 April 2012}} Greenland was a colony, and it was believed that this society would be subjected to exploitation or even eradication if the country was opened up. Therefore, a strict monopoly on Greenlandic trade was maintained, until it was abolished in 1950.[https://danmarkshistorien.dk/vis/materiale/groenland Grønlands historie] danmarkshistorien.dk With the G-50 report from 1950, the first steps toward the modernization of Greenland were taken. Greenland was to become a modern welfare state modelled after Denmark proper.

With the 1953 Danish constitution, Greenland's colonial status ended, and the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county), and thus fully integrated into Denmark like all other Danish counties. Danish citizenship was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policies toward Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation — or de-Greenlandification. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and some lost their cultural ties to Greenland. While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of shifting Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement developed in favour of independence, reaching its peak in the 1970s.{{cite book |last=Loukacheva |first=Natalia |year=2007 |url={{GBurl |id=HzPzwrUYdgkC |p=29}} |title=The Arctic Promise: Legal and Political Autonomy of Greenland and Nunavut |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413025807/https://books.google.com/books?id=HzPzwrUYdgkC&pg=PA25 |archive-date=13 April 2016 |url-status=live |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=25 |isbn=978-0-8020-9486-5}}

As in metropolitan Denmark, Greenland has seen significant expansion of the welfare state in the postwar era. Education and healthcare are free, and LGBTQ rights in Greenland are some of the most extensive in the Americas and the world. In 1987, the University of Greenland was founded to provide Greenlanders with higher education in their own language and country.

Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland and in 1946 offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100,000,000; Denmark firmly rejected the offer, as Greenland was seen as an integral part of the Danish kingdom, important to its history and national identity.{{Cite magazine |date=27 January 1947 |title=Deepfreeze Defense |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778870,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=14 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221020734/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778870,00.html |archive-date=21 February 2009}}{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=John J. |date=7 May 2001 |title=Let's Buy Greenland! — A complete missile-defense plan |work=National Review |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment050701b.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107010850/http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment050701b.shtml |archive-date=7 January 2010}} In 1951 Denmark and the United States signed the Greenland Defense Agreement, which allowed the United States to keep its military bases in Greenland, and to establish new bases or "defence areas" if deemed necessary by NATO. The U.S. military could freely use and move between these defence areas, but was not to infringe upon Danish sovereignty in Greenland.{{cite book |chapter=The Greenland Issue |author1-first=Erik |author1-last=Beukel |title=Phasing Out the Colonial Status of Greenland, 1945–54: A Historical Study |volume=37 |series=Meddelelser om Grønland |issn=0106-1062 |editor1-first=Jens Elo |editor1-last=Rytter |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |year=2010 |pages=56–57 |isbn=978-87-635-2587-9}} The United States greatly expanded Thule Air Base between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO defence strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=in}} away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm.Weiss, Erik D. “Cold War Under the Ice: The Army’s Bid for a Long-Range Nuclear Role, 1959–1963.” Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 2001, pp. 31–58. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26925134 JSTOR website] Retrieved 12 Apr. 2025. According to documents declassified in 1996,{{Cite journal |last=Petersen |first=Nikolaj |date=17 December 2007 |title=The Iceman That Never Came |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03468750701449554 |journal=Scandinavian Journal of History |publisher=Scandinavian Journal of History Volume 33, 2008 – Issue 1 |volume=33 |pages=75–98 |doi=10.1080/03468750701449554 |access-date=15 August 2020 |s2cid=142526881 |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324002002/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03468750701449554 |url-status=live}} this project was managed from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandonment as unworkable.{{Cite news |date=5 August 2016 |title=A Radioactive Cold War Military Base Will Soon Emerge From Greenland's Melting Ice |work=Smithsonian |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/radioactive-cold-war-military-base-will-soon-emerge-greenlands-melting-ice-180960036/ |url-status=live |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820163632/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/radioactive-cold-war-military-base-will-soon-emerge-greenlands-melting-ice-180960036/ |archive-date=20 August 2019}} The missiles were never fielded, and necessary consent from the Danish Government to do so was never sought. The Danish government was not aware of the programme's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking in the declassified documents for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber near the Thule air base in 1968.

In 1973, an amicable border dispute between Denmark and Canada arose over the ownership of Hans Island, a small island in Nares Strait directly between Greenland and the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The island remained in dispute until 2022, when both countries agreed to split the disputed island roughly in half.{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Matt |title=Whisky Wars: Denmark and Canada strike deal to end 50-year row over Arctic island |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61801682 |website=BBC |access-date=10 January 2025 |date=14 June 2022}}

Due to political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979. A referendum was held on 17 January 1979. This gave Greenland limited autonomy, with its own legislature taking control of some internal policies, while the Parliament of Denmark maintained full control of external policies, security, and natural resources. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The Danish monarch remains Greenland's head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), as it did not agree with the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on sealskin products.Stern, pp. 55–56

Greenland voters approved a referendum on greater autonomy on 25 November 2008.{{Cite news |last=Cowell |first=Alan |date=26 November 2008 |title=Greenland Vote Favors Independence |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/europe/27greenland.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417043301/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/europe/27greenland.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}{{Cite web |date=26 November 2008 |title=Vejledende folkeafstemning om selvstyre ? 25-11-2008 |url=http://www.valg.gl/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208143857/http://www.valg.gl/ |archive-date=8 December 2008 |access-date=26 November 2008 |publisher=SermitValg |language=kl}} According to one study, the 2008 vote created what "can be seen as a system between home rule and full independence".{{Cite web |title=CIDOB – Secession and Counter-secession. An International Relations Perspective |url=https://www.cidob.org/en/publications/publication_series/monographs/monographs/secession_and_counter_secession_an_international_relations_perspective |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127014249/https://www.cidob.org/en/publications/publication_series/monographs/monographs/secession_and_counter_secession_an_international_relations_perspective |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=19 May 2018 |website=CIDOB |page=70}} On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of its judicial affairs, policing matters, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law.[http://www.stm.dk/_p_13090.html Description of the Greenlandic Self-Government Act on the webpage of the Danish Ministry of State] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922104912/http://www.stm.dk/_p_13090.html |date=22 September 2014 }} "The Self-Government Act provides for the Self-Government authorities to assume a number of new fields of responsibility, such as administration of justice, including the establishment of courts of law; the prison and probation service; the police; the field relating to company law, accounting and auditing; mineral resource activities; aviation; law of legal capacity, family law and succession law; aliens and border controls; the working environment; as well as financial regulation and supervision, cf. Schedule I and II in the Annex to the Self-Government Act." Denmark maintains control of the territory's foreign affairs and defence matters, and upholds an annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner. As Greenland begins to collect revenues from its natural resources, this grant will gradually be diminished; this is generally considered to be a step toward the territory's eventual full independence from Denmark.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/5594140/Greenland-takes-step-toward-independence-from-Denmark.html Greenland takes step toward independence from Denmark] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718214954/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/5594140/Greenland-takes-step-toward-independence-from-Denmark.html |date=18 July 2018 }}. The Daily Telegraph (21 June 2009). Retrieved 29 September 2012. In 2012, Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at a historic ceremony.{{Cite news |date=20 June 2009 |title=Nearly independent day |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13854765 |url-status=live |access-date=20 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625014014/http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13854765 |archive-date=25 June 2009}}{{Cite web |date=19 June 2009 |title=Greenland set for self-rule |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25659553-26040,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624151256/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0%2C25197%2C25659553-26040%2C00.html |archive-date=24 June 2009 |access-date=20 June 2009 |website=The Australian}}{{Cite web |last=Boswell |first=Randy |date=19 June 2009 |title=Greenland takes big step towards full independence |url=http://www.canada.com/news/Greenland+takes+step+towards+full+independence/1713910/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624150211/http://www.canada.com/news/Greenland%2Btakes%2Bstep%2Btowards%2Bfull%2Bindependence/1713910/story.html |archive-date=24 June 2009 |access-date=20 June 2009 |website=Canwest News Services |publisher=Canada.com}} In February 2024, Naalakkersuisut released a policy document outlining the territory's goal of asserting greater autonomy in international affairs. The strategy emphasizes Greenland's right to influence decisions that impact its future. Key objectives include strengthening relations with Arctic North America, promoting regional peace, enhancing security cooperation within the Kingdom of Denmark and NATO, and addressing the growing global interest in the Arctic from major powers such as the United States, Canada, Russia, and China.{{cite web |url=https://paartoq.gl/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Greenlands_Foreign_-Security_and_Defense_Policy_2024_2033.pdf |author=Naalakkersuisut/Government of Greenland, Ministry for Statehood and Foreign Affairs |title=Greenland's Foreign, Security and Defense Policy 2024-2033{{mdash}}an Arctic Strategy |date=February 2024 |translator-last=Cohen |translator-first=Paul}}

Since 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. should control Greenland, stating that its residents "want to be with us", despite 85% opposition by Greenlandic adults.{{cite news |title=Poll: 85% of Greenlanders don't want to join the U.S. |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/01/29/greenland-poll-join-us-trump-message |agency=Axios}} The Danish government called Trump's claims "absurd" and confirmed that Greenland is not for sale. Denmark plans to spend an extra $2 billion on Arctic defence, and Greenland's government is moving to ban foreign political funding. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has emphasized that Greenland, part of Denmark, is not for sale.{{cite news |title=European leaders ponder 'cruel paradox' of U.S. threatening tariffs and a possible land grab |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/european-leaders-ponder-cruel-paradox-of-u-s-threatening-tariffs-and-a-possible-land-grab |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=PBS}} Denmark's Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen has emphasized that Trump will not get Greenland, and that he cannot demand a part of Denmark's territory.{{cite news |title=Danmarks forsvarsminister om Grønland: – Trump kan ikke bare diktere |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/verden/i/aldxr7/danmarks-forsvarsminister-om-groenland-trump-kan-ikke-bare-diktere |access-date=5 March 2025 |work=Aftenposten}} The Greenland government has accused the United States of foreign interference in its affairs.{{cite news |title=Greenland accuses US of 'foreign interference' ahead of second lady's visit |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/03/24/greenland-accuses-us-of-foreign-interference_6739464_4.html |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=Le Monde}} Greenland's then-prime minister Múte Bourup Egede said "until recently, we could trust the Americans, who were our allies and friends, and with whom we enjoyed working very closely, but that time is over."{{cite news |title=Greenland Furious, Will Boycott US Second Lady's Visit Amid Buyout Threats |url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/greenland-furious-will-boycott-us-second-ladys-visit-amid-buyout-threats-7999773 |access-date=25 March 2025}} Greenland's new prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said Trump will not "get" Greenland.{{cite news |title=Greenland's Prime Minister Says the U.S. Will Not 'Get' the Island |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/us/politics/greenland-prime-minister-trump.html |access-date=31 March 2025 |work=NYT|date=31 March 2025 |last1=Zhuang |first1=Yan }} Under the Danish Penal Code, activities that unlawfully threaten Denmark’s sovereignty or constitutional order, including through foreign interference or attempts to alter territorial integrity by illegal means, are criminalized under provisions relating to national security and crimes against the state.{{cite web |title=Straffeloven (Danish Penal Code) |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2022/1260 |publisher=retsinformation.dk |access-date=11 April 2025}} In April 2025, a plan by the United States for undermining the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark through a campaign of foreign interference and disinformation on social media became known.{{cite news |title=USA har planen klar for å overta Grønland |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/verden/i/3MO7zv/new-york-times-usa-har-planen-klar-for-aa-overta-groenland |access-date=11 April 2025 |work=Aftenposten}} Pituffik Space Base commander Susannah Meyers said the Trump regime's threats against the Kingdom of Denmark "are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base."{{cite news |title=US fires Greenland military base chief for 'undermining' Vance |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/creq99l218do |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=BBC}}

{{Main|Geography of Greenland|Climate of Greenland}}

{{See also|Climate of the Arctic#Greenland|Administrative divisions of Greenland|Territorial claims in the Arctic}}File:Topographic map of Greenland bedrock.jpg

Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island{{Cite web |title=The Island of Greenland |url=http://www.hiddenjourneys.co.uk/London-Vancouver/Greenland.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714184902/https://www.hiddenjourneys.co.uk/London-Vancouver/Greenland.aspx |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=8 July 2014 |website=Hidden Journeys – explore the world from the air}} and the third largest area in North America after Canada and the United States.{{Cite journal |year=2008 |title=Demographic Yearbook – Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area, and density |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf |url-status=live |journal=United Nations Statistics Division |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224062814/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2008/Table03.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2010 |access-date=24 September 2010}} It is between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W. Over 80% of Greenland lies north of the Arctic Circle. Greenland is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Greenland Sea to the east, the North Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, the Davis Strait to the southwest, Baffin Bay to the west, the Nares Strait and Lincoln Sea to the northwest. The nearest countries to Greenland are Canada, with which it shares a maritime border, to the west and southwest across Nares Strait and Baffin Bay, as well as a shared land border on Hans Island;{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2022/06/boundary-dispute.html |title=Boundary dispute |publisher=Global Affairs Canada |access-date=17 July 2023 |date=14 June 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616002309/https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2022/06/boundary-dispute.html |url-status=live}} and Iceland, southeast of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park; it is the largest constituent country by area in the world and is the fourth largest country subdivision in the world, after Sakha Republic in Russia, Australia's state of Western Australia, and Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai, and the largest in North America.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded in Greenland, near the topographic summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet, on 22 December 1991, when the temperature reached {{convert|-69.6|C}}.{{Cite web |url=https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-696%C2%B0c-greenland-temperature-northern-hemisphere-record |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231218173115/https://public-old.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-696%C2%B0c-greenland-temperature-northern-hemisphere-record |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2023 |title=WMO verifies −69.6°C Greenland temperature as Northern hemisphere record |date=22 September 2020 |website=World Meteorological Organization}} In Nuuk, the average daily temperature varies over the seasons from {{convert|-5.1|to|9.9|C}}.{{Cite web |publisher=Yu Media Group |title=Nuuk, Greenland – Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/greenland/nuuk-climate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817152132/https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/greenland/nuuk-climate |archive-date=17 August 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |website=Weather Atlas |language=en}} The total area of Greenland is {{convert|2166086|km2|abbr=on}} (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers {{convert|1755637|km2|abbr=on}} (81%) and has a volume of approximately {{convert|2850000|km3|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |title=IPCC Climate Change 2001: Working Group I: The Scientific Basis |url=http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/412.htm#tab113 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216235037/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/412.htm |archive-date=16 December 2007 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Grida.no}} The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at {{convert|3700|m|abbr=on}} of the Watkins Range (East Greenland mountain range). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than {{convert|1500|m|abbr=on}} in elevation.

Below the ice there is a series of canyons, the biggest called Greenland's Grand Canyon which was formed by flowing rivers of water from the repeated cycle of ice melting and new ice forming.{{cite journal |last1=Keisling |first1=Benjamin |last2=Nielsen |first2=Lisbeth |last3=Hvidberg |first3=Christine |last4=Nuterman |first4=Roman |last5=DeConto |first5=Robert |title=Pliocene–Pleistocene megafloods as a mechanism for Greenlandic megacanyon formation |journal=GeoScienceWorld |date=2020 |volume=48 |issue=7 |pages=737–741 |doi=10.1130/G47253.1 |bibcode=2020Geo....48..737K |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/48/7/737/584570/Pliocene-Pleistocene-megafloods-as-a-mechanism-for |access-date=19 November 2024}}

Near the coast elevations rise suddenly and steeply.{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=D. |year=2003 |title=American Scientist Online – Greenland or Whiteland? |url=http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2003/9/greenland-or-whiteland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510013154/http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2003/9/greenland-or-whiteland |archive-date=10 May 2011 |access-date=3 March 2008 |publisher=Sigma Xi}}

The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.{{cite news |title=Find Greenland Icecap Bridges Three Islands |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19511024&id=pWwKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5335,4712968 |access-date=13 May 2012 |agency=The Associated Press |issue=97 |publisher=Ellensburg Daily Record |date=24 October 1951 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412192018/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19511024&id=pWwKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xEoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5335,4712968 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |page=6 |url-status=live}} This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord, at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen.

All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but it is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.{{Cite web |title=The National Park |url=http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/natur-klima/nationalparken.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627011801/http://www.greenland.com/en/about-greenland/natur-klima/nationalparken.aspx |archive-date=27 June 2013 |access-date=18 June 2013 |publisher=Greenland.com}}

{{Multiple image

| image1 = Knud Rasmussen 01.jpg

| image2 = Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen by Marius Christensen 02 cropped.jpg

| caption1 = Polar explorer and anthropologist Knud Rasmussen (1879–1933), called the "father of Eskimology", was the first to explore the Greenland ice sheet by dog sled.

| caption2 = Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen (1872–1907), who died while commander of the 1906–1908 Denmark expedition, documenting vast areas of unexplored coastlines and fjords

}}

At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station Summit Camp on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.

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.

In 2007, the existence of a new island was announced. Named "Uunartoq Qeqertaq" (English: Warming Island), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.{{Cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |date=24 April 2007 |title=An island made by global warming |work=The Independent |location=London |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2480994.ece |access-date=4 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830030612/http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2480994.ece |archive-date=30 August 2008}} The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.{{Cite web |date=3 December 2007 |title=Place of the Year |url=http://blog.oup.com/2007/12/place_of_the_year |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015151345/http://blog.oup.com/2007/12/place_of_the_year/ |archive-date=15 October 2009 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Blog.oup.com}} Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented:

{{Blockquote|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.Publications, Usa Int'L Business. Denmark Company Laws and Regulations Handbook: Strategic Information and Basic Laws. Place of Publication Not Identified: Intl Business Pubns Usa, 2015. 20–21. Print.}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Revkin |first=Andrew C. |date=28 April 2008 |title=Arctic Explorer Rebuts 'Warming Island' Critique |url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arctic-explorer-rebuts-critique-of-warming-island/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927055552/http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arctic-explorer-rebuts-critique-of-warming-island/ |archive-date=27 September 2010 |access-date=6 September 2010 |website=The New York Times}}

{{Main|Northernmost point of land}}

The northernmost point of land on Earth was long thought to be Cape Morris Jesup at the northern tip of mainland Greenland. However, in 1969 a Canadian team surveyed Kaffeklubben Island (latitude 83° 39′ 45″ N), which was first recorded in 1900 and first visited in 1921, and determined that its northernmost point is 750 m north of Cape Morris Jesup. It is thus the northernmost undisputed permanent land.{{Cite web |title=Kaffeklubben Island {{!}} Island in Arctic Circle, History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kaffeklubben-Island |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Britannica |language=en}}

Other points have been claimed to be the northernmost point, with dispute over the title arising from ice sheets, water movement and inundation, and storm activity that may build, shift, or destroy banks of gravelly moraine material. In 1978 Uffe Petersen, a member of the Danish Geodetic Institute, discovered Oodaaq Island at 83° 40' 32.5" N. Its last confirmed sighting was in 1979.{{Cite web |last=Jancik |first=John |date=2004 |title=Jensenland, historical timeline of the search for the northernmost point of land on Earth |url=https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200425000/Jensenland-Historical-Timeline-of-the-Search-for-the-Northernmost-Point-of-Land-on-Earth |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=American Alpine Club}} In 2003, a small protrusion of rocks and boulders, {{convert|35|x|15|m|abbr=on}} in length and width, was discovered by Arctic explorer Dennis Schmitt and his team at latitude 83° 42' N and unofficially named 83-42.{{Cite web |last=Burress |first=Charles |date=2004-06-17 |title=BERKELEY / Romancing the north / Berkeley explorer may have stepped on ancient Thule |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BERKELEY-Romancing-the-north-Berkeley-2748730.php |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=SFGATE |language=en}} Whether this land is permanent is uncertain; a 2022 bathymetric survey determined that it was likely not connected to the seafloor, but rather rocky material on top of sea ice, and thus not land.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-25 |title=The 'Northernmost Island in the World' is actually an iceberg |url=https://www.leister-group.com/en/Stories/2022-15-09-LAG-Greenland-Expedition-2022 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=LeisterGroup |language=en}}

{{See also|Climate change in the Arctic|Sea level rise}}{{Multiple image

| image1 = Greenland Meltdown 08072012 12072012.jpg

| image2 = Höning 2023 GIS thresholds.jpg

| caption1 = 2012 NASA graphics show the extent of a then-record melting event

| caption2 = Potential equilibrium states of the ice sheet in response to different equilibrium carbon dioxide concentrations in parts per million, 2023{{Cite journal |last1=Höning |first1=Dennis |last2=Willeit |first2=Matteo |last3=Calov |first3=Reinhard |last4=Klemann |first4=Volker |last5=Bagge |first5=Meike |last6=Ganopolski |first6=Andrey |date=27 March 2023 |title=Multistability and Transient Response of the Greenland Ice Sheet to Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=50 |issue=6 |page=e2022GL101827 |doi=10.1029/2022GL101827 |s2cid=257774870}}

}}

The Greenland ice sheet always loses some mass from ice calving at its coasts, but it used to balance this on average by the accumulation of snowfall.{{Cite journal |last1=Noël |first1=B. |last2=van Kampenhout |first2=L. |last3=Lenaerts |first3=J. T. M. |last4=van de Berg |first4=W. J. |last5=van den Broeke |first5=M. R. |date=19 January 2021 |title=A 21st Century Warming Threshold for Sustained Greenland Ice Sheet Mass Loss |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=48 |issue=5 |page=e2020GL090471 |doi=10.1029/2020GL090471 |bibcode=2021GeoRL..4890471N |hdl=2268/301943 |s2cid=233632072 |hdl-access=free}} However, Greenland has been warming since around 1900,{{Cite journal |last1=Kjeldsen |first1=Kristian K. |last2=Korsgaard |first2=Niels J. |last3=Bjørk |first3=Anders A. |last4=Khan |first4=Shfaqat A. |last5=Box |first5=Jason E. |last6=Funder |first6=Svend |last7=Larsen |first7=Nicolaj K. |last8=Bamber |first8=Jonathan L. |last9=Colgan |first9=William |last10=van den Broeke |first10=Michiel |last11=Siggaard-Andersen |first11=Marie-Louise |last12=Nuth |first12=Christopher |last13=Schomacker |first13=Anders |last14=Andresen |first14=Camilla S. |last15=Willerslev |first15=Eske |last16=Kjær |first16=Kurt H. |date=16 December 2015 |title=Spatial and temporal distribution of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet since AD 1900 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=528 |issue=7582 |pages=396–400 |doi=10.1038/nature16183 |pmid=26672555 |bibcode=2015Natur.528..396K |hdl=1874/329934 |s2cid=4468824 |hdl-access=free}} and starting in the 1980s, the losses became larger than the gains.{{cite journal |last1=Mouginot |first1=Jérémie |last2=Rignot |first2=Eric |last3=Bjørk |first3=Anders A. |last4=van den Broeke |first4=Michiel |last5=Millan |first5=Romain |last6=Morlighem |first6=Mathieu |last7=Noël |first7=Brice |last8=Scheuchl |first8=Bernd |last9=Wood |first9=Michael |title=Forty-six years of Greenland Ice Sheet mass balance from 1972 to 2018 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=20 March 2019 |volume=116 |issue=19 |pages=9239–9244 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1904242116 |pmid=31010924 |pmc=6511040 |bibcode=2019PNAS..116.9239M |doi-access=free}} After 1996, Greenland has not had a single year when it did not lose mass on average.{{cite web |last1=Stendel |first1=Martin |last2=Mottram |first2=Ruth |date=22 September 2022 |title=Guest post: How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2022 |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-greenland-ice-sheet-fared-in-2022/ |website=Carbon Brief |access-date=2022-10-22 |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022153851/https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-greenland-ice-sheet-fared-in-2022/ |url-status=live}} In the 2010s, the Greenland ice sheet melted at its fastest rate during at least the past 12,000 years, and is on track to exceed that later in the century.{{cite journal |last1=Briner |first1=Jason P. |last2=Cuzzone |first2=Joshua K. |last3=Badgeley |first3=Jessica A. |last4=Young |first4=Nicolás E. |last5=Steig |first5=Eric J. |last6=Morlighem |first6=Mathieu |last7=Schlegel |first7=Nicole-Jeanne |last8=Hakim |first8=Gregory J. |last9=Schaefer |first9=Joerg M. |last10=Johnson |first10=Jesse V. |last11=Lesnek |first11=Alia J. |last12=Thomas |first12=Elizabeth K. |last13=Allan |first13=Estelle |last14=Bennike |first14=Ole |last15=Cluett |first15=Allison A. |last16=Csatho |first16=Beata |last17=de Vernal |first17=Anne |last18=Downs |first18=Jacob |last19=Larour |first19=Eric |last20=Nowicki |first20=Sophie |date=30 September 2020 |title=Rate of mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet will exceed Holocene values this century |journal=Nature |volume=586 |issue=7827 |pages=70–74 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2742-6 |pmid=32999481 |bibcode=2020Natur.586...70B |s2cid=222147426}} In 2012, 2019 and 2021, so-called "massive melting events" occurred, when practically the entire surface of the ice sheet was melting and no accumulation took place.{{cite web |date=23 September 2013 |title=Greenland enters melt mode |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342767/title/Greenland_enters_melt_mode |work=Science News |access-date=14 August 2012 |archive-date=5 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805043523/http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342767/title/Greenland_enters_melt_mode |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Record melt: Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019 |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-08-greenland-lost-billion-tons-ice.html |access-date=6 September 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913083740/https://phys.org/news/2020-08-greenland-lost-billion-tons-ice.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Adam |date=9 August 2021 |title='Massive melting event' torpedoes billions of tons of ice the whole world depends on |url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/566950-massive-melting-event-torpedoes-billions-of |work=The Hill |quote=Ice cores show that these widespread melt events were really rare prior to the 21st century, but since then, we have had several melt seasons. |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=25 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825031801/https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/climate-change/566950-massive-melting-event-torpedoes-billions-of |url-status=live}} During the 2021 event, rain fell at Greenland's highest point for the first time in recorded history, an event so unexpected that the research station at the summit had no rain gauges for the occasion.{{Cite news |last=Patel |first=Kasha |date=19 August 2021 |title=Rain falls at the summit of Greenland Ice Sheet for first time on record |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/19/greenland-melt-august-summit-rain/ |newspaper=Washington Post |quote=Rain fell on and off for 13 hours at the station, but staff are not certain exactly how much rain fell...there are no rain gauges at the summit because no one expected it to rain at this altitude. |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819221317/https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/08/19/greenland-melt-august-summit-rain/ |url-status=live}}

As with the ice loss elsewhere, the melting of Greenland contributes to sea level rise. Between 2012 and 2017, this melting added an average of 0.68 mm per year,{{Cite journal |last1=Shepherd |first1=Andrew |last2=Ivins |first2=Erik |last3=Rignot |first3=Eric |last4=Smith |first4=Ben |last5=van den Broeke |first5=Michiel |last6=Velicogna |first6=Isabella |author-link6=Isabella Velicogna |last7=Whitehouse |first7=Pippa |last8=Briggs |first8=Kate |last9=Joughin |first9=Ian |last10=Krinner |first10=Gerhard |last11=Nowicki |first11=Sophie |date=12 March 2020 |title=Mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet from 1992 to 2018 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=579 |issue=7798 |pages=233–239 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1855-2 |pmid=31822019 |hdl=2268/242139 |s2cid=219146922 |issn=1476-4687 |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/242139 |access-date=23 October 2022 |archive-date=23 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023151210/https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/242139 |url-status=live |hdl-access=free}} equal to 37% of sea level rise from land ice sources (excluding thermal expansion of water from the continual increase in the ocean heat content).{{cite journal |last1=Bamber |first1=Jonathan L |last2=Westaway |first2=Richard M |last3=Marzeion |first3=Ben |last4=Wouters |first4=Bert |title=The land ice contribution to sea level during the satellite era |journal=Environmental Research Letters |date=1 June 2018 |volume=13 |issue=6 |page=063008 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/aac2f0 |bibcode=2018ERL....13f3008B |doi-access=free |hdl=1983/58218615-dedd-43a8-a8ea-79fb83130613 |hdl-access=free}} By the end of the century, the melting of Greenland alone will add between ~{{cvt|6|cm|in|frac=2}} if the temperature change is kept below {{convert|2|C-change|F-change}}, to around {{cvt|13|cm|in|frac=2}} if the most intense climate change scenario with ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions is followed.{{Cite book |last1=Fox-Kemper |first1=B. |last2=Hewitt |first2=H.T. |author2-link=Helene Hewitt |last3=Xiao |first3=C. |last4=Aðalgeirsdóttir |first4=G. |last5=Drijfhout |first5=S.S. |last6=Edwards |first6=T.L. |last7=Golledge |first7=N.R. |last8=Hemer |first8=M. |last9=Kopp |first9=R.E. |last10=Krinner |first10=G. |last11=Mix |first11=A. |date=2021 |editor-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=P. |editor3-last=Pirani |editor3-first=A. |editor4-last=Connors |editor4-first=S.L. |editor5-last=Péan |editor5-first=C. |editor6-last=Berger |editor6-first=S. |editor7-last=Caud |editor7-first=N. |editor8-last=Chen |editor8-first=Y. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor9-first=L. |chapter=Chapter 9: Ocean, Cryosphere and Sea Level Change |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf |publisher=Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, US |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024162651/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter09.pdf |url-status=live}}{{rp|1302}} Under this scenario, the worst case for Greenland melting could reach {{cvt|33|cm|in|frac=2}} of sea level rise equivalent.{{Cite journal |last1=Aschwanden |first1=Andy |last2=Fahnestock |first2=Mark A. |last3=Truffer |first3=Martin |last4=Brinkerhoff |first4=Douglas J. |last5=Hock |first5=Regine |last6=Khroulev |first6=Constantine |last7=Mottram |first7=Ruth |last8=Khan |first8=S. Abbas |date=19 June 2019 |title=Contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet to sea level over the next millennium |journal=Science Advances |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=218–222 |language=EN |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aav9396 |pmid=31223652 |pmc=6584365 |bibcode=2019SciA....5.9396A}} The large quantities of fresh meltwater also affect the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) by diluting key currents, slowing it down.{{cite web |date=22 January 2016 |title=Melting Greenland ice sheet may affect global ocean circulation, future climate |url=http://phys.org/news/2016-01-greenland-ice-sheet-affect-global.html |publisher=Phys.org |access-date=25 January 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819184753/https://phys.org/news/2016-01-greenland-ice-sheet-affect-global.html |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Qian |last2=Dixon |first2=Timothy H. |last3=Myers |first3=Paul G. |last4=Bonin |first4=Jennifer |last5=Chambers |first5=Don |last6=van den Broeke |first6=M. R. |last7=Ribergaard |first7=Mads H. |last8=Mortensen |first8=John |title=Recent increases in Arctic freshwater flux affects Labrador Sea convection and Atlantic overturning circulation |journal=Nature Communications |date=22 January 2016 |volume=7 |page=10525 |doi=10.1038/ncomms10525 |pmid=26796579 |pmc=4736158 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710525Y}} Due to this meltwater input, the circulation may even collapse outright with widespread detrimental effects, although research suggests this is likely only if the highest possible warming is sustained for multiple centuries.{{Cite journal |last1=Bakker |first1=P |last2=Schmittner |first2=A |last3=Lenaerts |first3=JT |last4=Abe-Ouchi |first4=A |last5=Bi |first5=D |last6=van den Broeke |first6=MR |last7=Chan |first7=WL |last8=Hu |first8=A |last9=Beadling |first9=RL |last10=Marsland |first10=SJ |last11=Mernild |first11=SH |last12=Saenko |first12=OA |last13=Swingedouw |first13=D |last14=Sullivan |first14=A |last15=Yin |first15=J |date=11 November 2016 |title=Fate of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: Strong decline under continued warming and Greenland melting |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=43 |issue=23 |pages=12,252–12,260 |doi=10.1002/2016GL070457 |bibcode=2016GeoRL..4312252B |hdl=10150/622754 |s2cid=133069692 |hdl-access=free}}{{Cite book |last1=Canadell |first1=J.G. |last2=Monteiro |first2=P.M.S. |last3=Costa |first3=M.H. |last4=Cotrim da Cunha |first4=L. |last5=Cox |first5=P.M. |last6=Eliseev |first6=A.V. |last7=Henson |first7=S. |last8=Ishii |first8=M. |last9=Jaccard |first9=S. |last10=Koven |first10=C. |last11=Lohila |first11=A. |editor-last=Masson-Delmotte |editor-first=V. |editor2-last=Zhai |editor2-first=P. |editor3-last=Piran |editor3-first=A. |editor4-last=Connors |editor4-first=S.L. |editor5-last=Péan |editor5-first=C. |editor6-last=Berger |editor6-first=S. |editor7-last=Caud |editor7-first=N. |editor8-last=Chen |editor8-first=Y. |editor9-last=Goldfarb |editor9-first=L. |chapter=Global Carbon and Other Biogeochemical Cycles and Feedbacks |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter05.pdf |title=Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |year=2021 |pages=673–816 |doi=10.1017/9781009157896.007 |bibcode=2021AGUFM.U13B..05K |access-date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406183849/https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Chapter05.pdf |url-status=live}}

Greenland's ice sheet has a volume of ~{{convert|2900000|km3|cumi|-3}}. This means that if it were all to melt, global sea level would increase by ~{{convert|7.4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} from that event alone.{{cite web |title=How Greenland would look without its ice sheet |date=14 December 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42260580 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=7 December 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207201039/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42260580 |url-status=live}} However, it also means that it will take at least 1,000 years for the ice sheet to disappear even with very high rates of global warming, and in around 10,000 years under lower rates of warming which still cross the threshold for the ice sheet's disappearance.{{Cite journal |last1=Armstrong McKay |first1=David |last2=Abrams |first2=Jesse |last3=Winkelmann |first3=Ricarda |last4=Sakschewski |first4=Boris |last5=Loriani |first5=Sina |last6=Fetzer |first6=Ingo |last7=Cornell |first7=Sarah |last8=Rockström |first8=Johan |last9=Staal |first9=Arie |last10=Lenton |first10=Timothy |date=9 September 2022 |title=Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=377 |issue=6611 |pages=eabn7950 |doi=10.1126/science.abn7950 |pmid=36074831 |hdl=10871/131584 |s2cid=252161375 |issn=0036-8075 |hdl-access=free |access-date=22 October 2022 |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114143835/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Armstrong McKay |first=David |date=9 September 2022 |title=Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points – paper explainer |url=https://climatetippingpoints.info/2022/09/09/climate-tipping-points-reassessment-explainer/ |access-date=2 October 2022 |website=climatetippingpoints.info |language=en |archive-date=18 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718085705/https://climatetippingpoints.info/2022/09/09/climate-tipping-points-reassessment-explainer/ |url-status=live}} This threshold likely lies for between {{convert|1.7|C-change|F-change}} and {{convert|2.3|C-change|F-change}}. Reducing the warming back to {{convert|1.5|C-change|F-change}} or lower above preindustrial levels (such as through large-scale carbon dioxide removal) would arrest the losses, but still cause greater ultimate sea level rise than if the threshold had never been exceeded.{{cite journal |last1=Bochow |first1=Nils |last2=Poltronieri |first2=Anna |last3=Robinson |first3=Alexander |last4=Montoya |first4=Marisa |last5=Rypdal |first5=Martin |last6=Boers |first6=Niklas |date=18 October 2023 |title=Overshooting the critical threshold for the Greenland ice sheet |journal=Nature |volume=622 |issue=7983 |pages=528–536 |bibcode=2023Natur.622..528B |doi=10.1038/s41586-023-06503-9 |pmc=10584691 |pmid=37853149}} Further, {{convert|1.5|C-change|F-change}} itself appears to commit the Greenland ice sheet to {{cvt|1.4|m|ft|frac=2}} of sea level rise.{{Cite journal |last1=Christ |first1=Andrew J. |last2=Rittenour |first2=Tammy M. |last3=Bierman |first3=Paul R. |last4=Keisling |first4=Benjamin A. |last5=Knutz |first5=Paul C. |last6=Thomsen |first6=Tonny B. |last7=Keulen |first7=Nynke |last8=Fosdick |first8=Julie C. |last9=Hemming |first9=Sidney R. |last10=Tison |first10=Jean-Louis |last11=Blard |first11=Pierre-Henri |last12=Steffensen |first12=Jørgen P. |last13=Caffee |first13=Marc W. |last14=Corbett |first14=Lee B. |last15=Dahl-Jensen |first15=Dorthe |last16=Dethier |first16=David P. |last17=Hidy |first17=Alan J. |last18=Perdrial |first18=Nicolas |last19=Peteet |first19=Dorothy M. |last20=Steig |first20=Eric J. |last21=Thomas |first21=Elizabeth K. |date=20 July 2023 |title=Deglaciation of northwestern Greenland during Marine Isotope Stage 11 |journal=Science |volume=381 |issue=6655 |pages=330–335 |doi=10.1126/science.ade4248 |pmid=37471537 |bibcode=2023Sci...381..330C |osti=1992577 |s2cid=259985096}}

A study published in January 2025 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported an "abrupt, coherent, climate-driven transformation" from "blue" (more transparent) to "brown" (less transparent) states of lakes in Greenland after a season of both record heat and rainfall drove a state change in these systems. This change was said to alter "numerous physical, chemical, and biological lake features", and the state changes were said to be unprecedented.{{cite journal |last1=Saros |first1=Jasmine E. |last2=Hazukova |first2=Vaclava |last3=Northington |first3=Robert M. |last4=McGowan |first4=Suzanne |title=Abrupt transformation of West Greenland lakes following compound climate extremes associated with atmospheric rivers |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |date=21 January 2025 |volume=122 |issue=4 |page=e2413855122 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2413855122 |pmid=39835905 |pmc=11789078 |bibcode=2025PNAS..12213855S}}

The island was part of the very ancient Precambrian continent of Laurentia, the eastern core of which forms the Greenland Shield, while the less exposed coastal strips became a plateau. On these ice-free coastal strips are sediments formed in the Precambrian, overprinted by metamorphism and now formed by glaciers, which continue into the Cenozoic and Mesozoic in parts of the island.

In the east and west of Greenland there are remnants of flood basalts and igneous intrusions, such as the Skaergaard intrusion. Notable rock provinces (metamorphic igneous rocks, ultramafics, and anorthosites) are found on the southwest coast at Qeqertarsuatsiaat. East of Nuuk, the banded iron ore region of Isukasia, over three billion years old, contains the world's oldest rocks, such as greenlandite (a rock composed predominantly of hornblende and hyperthene), formed 3.8 billion years ago,{{Cite web |date=9 March 2013 |title=Banded iron formation (BIF) deposits |url=http://www.geus.dk/minex/go_fs16.pdf |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309083735/http://www.geus.dk/minex/go_fs16.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2013}} and nuummite. In southern Greenland, the Illimaussaq alkaline complex consists of pegmatites such as nepheline, syenites (especially kakortokite or naujaite) and sodalite (sodalite-foya). In Ivittuut, where cryolite was formerly mined, there are fluoride-bearing pegmatites. To the north of Igaliku, there are the Gardar alkaline pegmatitic intrusions of augite syenite, gabbro, etc.

To the west and southwest are Palaeozoic carbonatite complexes at Kangerlussuaq (Gardiner complex) and Safartoq, and basic and ultrabasic igneous rocks at Uiffaq on Disko Island, where there are masses of heavy native iron up to {{convert|25|tonne|ST|abbr=on}} in the basalts.{{Cite web |title=Mineralienatlas – Fossilienatlas |url=https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/Gr%C3%B6nland?lang=de |access-date=20 April 2021 |website=www.mineralienatlas.de |language=de |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610113248/https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/Gr%C3%B6nland?lang=de |url-status=live}}

The palaeontology of East Greenland is specially rich, with some of the early tetrapods such as the Acanthostega and Ichthyostega from the Devonian{{Cite journal |last1=Marzola |first1=Marco |last2=Mateus |first2=Octávio |last3=Milàn |first3=Jesper |last4=Clemmensen |first4=Lars B. |date=2018-03-03 |title=A review of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic tetrapods from Greenland |journal=Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark |volume=66 |pages=21–46 |doi=10.37570/bgsd-2018-66-02 |issn=2245-7070 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018BuGSD..66...21M}} and unique Triassic animals such as the phytosaur Mystriosuchus alleroq{{Cite journal |last1=López-Rojas |first1=Víctor |last2=Clemmensen |first2=Lars B. |last3=Milàn |first3=Jesper |last4=Wings |first4=Oliver |last5=Klein |first5=Nicole |last6=Mateus |first6=Octávio |date=2022-09-30 |title=A new phytosaur species (Archosauriformes) from the Upper Triassic of Jameson Land, central East Greenland |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2181086 |s2cid=257756028 |issn=0272-4634 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022JVPal..42E1086L}} and the dinosaurs Issi saaneq{{Cite journal |last1=Beccari |first1=Victor |last2=Mateus |first2=Octávio |last3=Wings |first3=Oliver |last4=Milàn |first4=Jesper |last5=Clemmensen |first5=Lars B. |date=November 2021 |title=Issi saaneq gen. et sp. nov.—A New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian) of Jameson Land, Central East Greenland |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=561 |doi=10.3390/d13110561 |issn=1424-2818 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Diver..13..561B |hdl=10362/128951 |hdl-access=free}} and tracks.{{Cite journal |last1=Lallensack |first1=Jens |last2=Klein |first2=Hendrik |last3=Milán |first3=Jesper |last4=Wings |first4=Oliver |last5=Mateus |first5=Octávio |last6=Clemmensen |first6=Lars |date=2017 |title=Sauropodomorph dinosaur trackways from the Fleming Fjord Formation of East Greenland: evidence for Late Triassic sauropods |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=62 |doi=10.4202/app.00374.2017 |s2cid=91179289 |issn=0567-7920 |doi-access=free |hdl=10362/33146 |hdl-access=free}}

{{See also|Flora and fauna of Greenland|Reindeer hunting in Greenland|Fishing industry in Greenland|Whaling#Greenland}}{{Multiple image

| image1 = Greenland-musk-ox hg.jpg

| image2 = Greenland 377 (34999131992).jpg

| caption1 = Greenlandic muskoxen at King Oscar Fjord

| caption2 = The Greenland Dog was brought from Siberia around 1000 AD.

| perrow = 2/1

}}

Greenland is home to two ecoregions: Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra and Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra.{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |year=2017 |pages=534–545 |issn=0006-3568 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |pmid=28608869 |pmc=5451287 |doi-access=free}} There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current; a large part of the Greenland fauna is associated with marine-based food chains, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the polar bear, reindeer (introduced by Europeans), arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox, collared lemming, ermine, and arctic wolf. The last four are found naturally only in East Greenland, having immigrated from Ellesmere Island. There are dozens of species of seals and whales along the coast. Land fauna consists predominantly of animals which have spread from North America or, in the case of many birds and insects, from Europe. There are no native or free-living reptiles or amphibians on the island.{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=Greenland Wildlife |url=http://www.denstoredanske.dk/Natur_og_miljø/Zoologi/Dyreliv:_Danmark,_Færøerne,_Grønland/Grønland_(Dyreliv) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313204254/http://denstoredanske.dk/Natur_og_milj%C3%B8/Zoologi/Dyreliv:_Danmark,_F%C3%A6r%C3%B8erne,_Gr%C3%B8nland/Gr%C3%B8nland_(Dyreliv) |archive-date=13 March 2016 |access-date=8 October 2015 |website=Redaction |publisher=The Great Danish Encyclopedia}}

Phytogeographically, Greenland belongs to the Arctic province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island is sparsely populated in vegetation; plant life consists mainly of grassland and small shrubs, which are regularly grazed by livestock. The most common tree native to Greenland is the European white birch (Betula pubescens) along with grey-leaf willow (Salix glauca), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), common juniper (Juniperus communis) and other smaller trees, mainly willows.

Greenland's flora consists of about 500 species of "higher" plants, such as flowering plants, ferns, horsetails and lycopodiophyta. Of the other groups, the lichens are the most diverse, with about 950 species; there are 600–700 species of fungi; mosses and bryophytes are also found. Most of Greenland's higher plants have circumpolar or circumboreal distributions; only a dozen species of saxifrage and hawkweed are endemic. A few plant species were introduced by the Norsemen, such as cow vetch.

File:Tail_of_Humpback_Whale_Megaptera_novaeangliae_in_Disko_Bay_Greenland_-_Buiobuone_02.jpg in Disko Bay near Ilulissat (Jacobshavn)]]

The terrestrial vertebrates of Greenland include the Greenland dog, which was introduced by the Inuit, as well as European-introduced species such as Greenlandic sheep, goats, cattle, reindeer, horse, chicken and sheepdog, all descendants of animals imported by Europeans.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} Marine mammals include the hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) as well as the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus)."Greenland". Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition. Whales frequently pass very close to Greenland's shores in the late summer and early autumn. Whale species include the beluga whale, blue whale, Greenland whale, fin whale, humpback whale, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, sperm whale.{{Cite web |date=n.d. |title=Animal life in Greenland – an introduction by the tourist board |url=http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427231950/http://www.greenland-guide.gl/animal_life.htm |archive-date=27 April 2012 |access-date=1 May 2012 |website=Greenland Guide |publisher=Narsaq Tourist Office}}

As of 2009, 269 species of fish from over 80 different families are known from the waters surrounding Greenland. Almost all are marine species with only a few in freshwater, such as Atlantic salmon and charr.{{Cite journal |last1=Møller |first1=P. R. |last2=Nielsen |first2=J. |last3=Knudsen |first3=S. W. |last4=Poulsen |first4=J. Y. |last5=Sünksen |first5=K. |last6=Jørgensen |first6=O. A. |year=2010 |title=A checklist of the fish fauna of Greenland waters |url= https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.2378.1.1 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2378 |issue=1 |pages=1–84 |isbn=978-1-86977-468-4 |oclc=551668689}} The fishing industry is the primary industry of Greenland's economy, accounting for the majority of territory's total exports.{{Cite web |title=Economy and Industry in Greenland – Naalakkersuisut |url=https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Economy-and-Industry-in-Greenland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402143435/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/en/About-government-of-greenland/About-Greenland/Economy-and-Industry-in-Greenland |archive-date=2 April 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |website=naalakkersuisut.gl}}

Birds, particularly seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life; they consist of both Palearctic and Nearctic species, breeding populations of auks, puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes are found on steep mountainsides.{{cite journal |last1=Durinck |first1=Jan |last2=Falk |first2=Knud |date=1996 |title=The distribution and abundance of seabirds off southwestern Greenland in autumn and winter 1988-1989 |journal=Polar Research |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=23–42 |doi=10.3402/polar.v15i1.6634 |bibcode=1996PolRe..15...23D |doi-access=free}}{{cite book |last=Mehlum |first=Fridtjof |title=Summer distribution of seabirds in northern Greenland and Barents Seas |series=Skrifter |volume=191 |publisher=Norsk Polarinstitutt |isbn=82-90307-53-5 |date=April 1989}}{{cite web |url=https://peakvisor.com/adm/greenland-2184073.html#ecology |title=Greenland |publisher=PeakVisor |access-date=October 2, 2023 |archive-date=12 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012113809/https://peakvisor.com/adm/greenland-2184073.html#ecology |url-status=live}}{{cite report |url=https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/e2bbfd7c-6668-4b3e-aa1a-a7fc65497bfd |title=Seabird Harvest in the Arctic – Prepared by the Circumpolar Seabird Group (CBird) |date=September 2008 |publisher=Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929122742/https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/items/e2bbfd7c-6668-4b3e-aa1a-a7fc65497bfd |archive-date=29 September 2023 |url-status=live |access-date=October 2, 2023}} Greenland's ducks and geese include common eider, long-tailed duck, king eider, white-fronted goose, pink-footed goose and barnacle goose. Breeding migratory birds include the snow bunting, lapland bunting, ringed plover, red-throated loon and red-necked phalarope. Non-migratory land birds include the arctic redpoll, ptarmigan, short-eared owl, snowy owl, gyrfalcon and white-tailed eagle.

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Politics of Greenland}}

{{See also|2025 Greenlandic general election|Greenland and the European Union|Politics of Denmark}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark in 2021.jpg

| caption1 = Frederik X, King of Denmark

| image2 = Mette Frederiksen Kööpenhaminassa 4.5.2022 (52049397038) (cropped).jpg

| caption2 = Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen

| image3 = Múte Bourup Egede May 2021.jpg

| caption3 = Premier of Greenland
Múte Bourup Egede

| total_width = 300

}}

The Greenlandic government Naalakkersuisut holds executive power in local government affairs. The head of the Greenlandic government is called Naalakkersuisut Siulittaasuat ("Premier"). Any other member of the cabinet is called a Naalakkersuisoq ("Minister"). The Greenlandic parliament is called Inatsisartut ("Legislators"). The parliament currently has 31 members.{{Cite web |title=Inatsisartut |url=https://ina.gl/organisation/sammensaetning-af-inatsisartut/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817182125/http://ina.gl/organisation/sammensaetning-af-inatsisartut/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 August 2018 |access-date=29 December 2020 |publisher=Inatsisartut.gl |language=kl}}

In contemporary times, elections are held at municipal, national (Inatsisartut), and kingdom (Folketing) levels.

Greenland is a self-governing entity within the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Denmark, in which King Frederik X is the head of state. The monarch officially retains executive power and presides over the Council of State (privy council)."The executive power is vested in the King." [http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html The Constitution of Denmark – Section 3.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710092702/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html |date=10 July 2011 }}"The body of Ministers shall form the Council of State, in which the Successor to the Throne shall have a seat when he is of age. The Council of State shall be presided over by the King..." [http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html The Constitution of Denmark – Section 17.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710092702/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html |date=10 July 2011 }} However, following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government, the duties of the monarch have since become strictly representative and ceremonial,[http://kongehuset.dk/english/the-monarchy-in-denmark/the-monarchy-today The Monarchy today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215082552/http://kongehuset.dk/english/the-monarchy-in-denmark/the-monarchy-today |date=15 February 2015 }} – The Danish Monarchy (kongehuset.dk). Access date: 16 June 2012 such as the formal appointment and dismissal of the prime minister and other ministers in the executive government. The monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and the monarch's person is sacrosanct."The King shall not be answerable for his actions; his person shall be sacrosanct." [http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html The Constitution of Denmark – Section 13.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710092702/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/da00000_.html |date=10 July 2011 }}

Following World War II, the United Nations mandated that colonies should become independent, enter into free association with another country, or be fully integrated into the metropole (the former colonial power). Denmark opted in 1952 to integrate Greenland into the Danish Realm. In 1979, the Danish government and parliament introduced home rule for Greenland which meant that Naalakkersuisut could assume control over 17 different areas of government. Further devolution of power from Denmark to Greenland came with the "Greenland Self-Government Act" (GSGA) in 2009, that added 33 new areas of government to the pool, the Naalakkersuisut assume control over. The GSGA also resulted from a recognition in Denmark that the people of Greenland had a right to self-determination, and gave a legal section for Naalakkersuisut to trigger an independence process (Section 21, GSGA).{{Cite journal |last1=Jakobsen |first1=Uffe |last2=Larsen |first2=Henrik |date=2024-01-02 |title=The development of Greenland's self-government and independence in the shadow of the unitary state |journal=The Polar Journal |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/2154896X.2024.2342117 |issn=2154-896X |pages=9–10, 20–21 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024PolJ...14....9J}}{{Citation |last=Statsministeriet |title=Lov om Grønlands hjemmestyre |date=1978-11-29 |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1978/577 |access-date=2025-01-30}}{{Citation |last=Statsministeriet |title=Lov om Grønlands Selvstyre |date=2009-12-06 |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2009/473 |access-date=2025-01-30}}

Greenland membership in the Council of Europe through Denmark also shows activities at international level, with the last recorded activity in January 2025 concerning a visit from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

File:Christiansborg fra Nikolaj Kirken.jpg in Copenhagen, seat of the Danish Parliament, from where Greenland's foreign, defence and security policy is decided{{Cite news |last=Jonatan Robbert |first=Larsen |date=7 January 2025 |title=OVERBLIK: Hvad bestemmer Grønland selv? |url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/overblik-hvad-bestemmer-groenland-selv |access-date=7 January 2025 |work=DR}}]]

The party system was dominated by the social-democratic Forward Party, and the democratic socialist Inuit Community Party, both of which broadly have argued for greater independence from Denmark.{{when|date=January 2025}}

While the 2009 election saw the unionist Democrat Party (two MPs) decline greatly, the 2013 election consolidated the power of the two main parties at the expense of the smaller groups, and saw the eco-socialist Inuit Party elected to the Parliament for the first time. The dominance of the Forward and Inuit Community parties began to wane after the snap 2014 and 2018 elections.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The non-binding 2008 referendum on self-governance favouring increased self-governance and autonomy was passed winning 76.22% of the vote.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7749427.stm Greenland votes for more autonomy], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081127031930/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7749427.stm |date=27 November 2008 }} BBC News, 26 November 2008

In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC later became the European Union (EU, renamed and expanded in scope in 1992). Greenland retains some ties through its associated relationship with the EU. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade. Greenland is designated as a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) and is thus officially not a part of the European Union, though Greenland can and does receive support from the European Development Fund, Multiannual Financial Framework, European Investment Bank and EU programmes.{{Cite web |title=EU Relations with Greenland |url=http://www.eeas.europa.eu/greenland/index_en.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609050531/http://eeas.europa.eu/greenland/index_en.htm |archive-date=9 June 2011 |access-date=3 October 2020 |publisher=European Union}}{{Cite web |title=Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) |url=http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/development/overseas_countries_territories/index_en.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813192112/http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/development/overseas_countries_territories/index_en.htm |archive-date=13 August 2011 |access-date=3 October 2020 |publisher=European Union}}

{{Main|Politics of Greenland}}

File:Greenland-municipalities-2018.svg

Greenland's head of state is King Frederik X. The King's government in Denmark appoints a high commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The commissioner is Julie Præst Wilche.

The Greenland constituency elects two MP representatives to the Kingdom Parliament (Folketinget) in Denmark, out of a total of 179. The current representatives are Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam of the Naleraq Party and Aaja Chemnitz Larsen of the Inuit Community Party.[http://www.ft.dk/ Folketinget – Folketinget.dk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628025221/http://www.ft.dk/ |date=28 June 2015 }}. Ft.dk. Retrieved on 21 June 2016.

Greenland has national Parliament that consists of 31 representatives. The government is the Naalakkersuisut whose members are appointed by the premier. The premier is the head of government, and is usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The premier is Múte Bourup Egede of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party.{{Cite web |title=Múte Egede er ny formand for Naalakkersuisut |url=https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/m%C3%BAte-egede-er-ny-formand-naalakkersuisut |access-date=23 April 2021 |website=KNR |language=da |archive-date=25 April 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220425182002/https://knr.gl/da/nyheder/m%C3%BAte-egede-er-ny-formand-naalakkersuisut |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Greenland}}

Formerly consisting of three counties comprising a total of 18 municipalities, Greenland abolished these in 2009 and has since been divided into large territories known as "municipalities" ({{langx|kl|kommuneqarfiit}}, {{langx|da|kommuner}}): Sermersooq ("Much Ice") around the capital Nuuk and also including all East Coast communities; Kujalleq ("South") around Cape Farewell; Qeqqata ("Centre") north of the capital along the Davis Strait; Qeqertalik ("The one with islands") surrounding Disko Bay; and Avannaata ("Northern") in the northwest; the latter two having come into being as a result of the Qaasuitsup municipality, one of the original four, being partitioned in 2018. The northeast of the island composes the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Pituffik Space Base is also unincorporated, an enclave within Avannaata municipality. As a territorial concession granted to the United States in perpetuity, it is administered by the United States Space Force. During its construction, there were as many as 12,000 American residents but in recent{{clarify|date=January 2025}} years the number has been below 1,000.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

{{Main|Military of Greenland}}

File:Thule air base above.jpeg, originally Thule Air Base, since the 1950s.]]

Greenland does not have its own military. As a territory of Denmark, the Danish military is responsible for Greenland's defence and the island is within the area overseen by the NATO military alliance. The Joint Arctic Command is the Danish military branch responsible for Greenland. It includes several patrol ships, maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, and the elite Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. The Danish military has personnel based at Nuuk, Kangerlussuaq, Daneborg, Station Nord, Mestersvig, Grønnedal, and a liaison detachment at Thule Air Base.{{cite web |title=Arctic |url=https://www.fmn.dk/en/topics/national-tasks/arctic/ |website=Danish Ministry of Defence |date=19 February 2021}}

There is also one United States military base in Greenland: Pituffik Space Base (previously Thule Air Base), which is home to the United States Space Force's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). Elements of the sensor systems are commanded and controlled variously by Space Deltas 2, 4, and 6.{{Cite news |date=16 August 2019 |title=Trump reportedly wants to 'buy' Greenland. This is what it's like at the US's Arctic base there |work=Business Insider |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/serve-at-thule-air-base-in-greenland-2019-8 |url-status=live |access-date=19 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819203046/https://www.businessinsider.com/serve-at-thule-air-base-in-greenland-2019-8 |archive-date=19 August 2019}} Formerly there had been several U.S. bases in Greenland. The 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement allowed the United States to keep its military bases there, and to establish new bases with the consent of Greenland and Denmark, if deemed necessary by NATO.{{cite book |editor1-last=Weber |editor1-first=Joachim |title=Handbook on Geopolitics and Security in the Arctic |date=2020 |publisher=Springer |page=79}}

In 1995, a political scandal in Denmark occurred after a report revealed the government had given tacit permission for nuclear weapons to be located in Greenland, in contravention of Denmark's 1957 nuclear-free zone policy.{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=H. C. |author-link=H. C. Hansen |date=16 November 1957 |title=Danish Prime Minister Gives Tacit Go-Ahead For U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Greenland |url=http://www.nautilus.org/archives/library/security/foia/DKhansen57.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106145717/http://www.nautilus.org/archives/library/security/foia/DKhansen57.html |archive-date=6 November 2007 |access-date=20 March 2009 |publisher=The Nautilus Institute}}{{Cite news |date=21 January 2018 |title=Cataclysmic cargo: The hunt for four missing nuclear bombs after a B-52 crash |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/21/cataclysmic-cargo-the-hunt-for-four-missing-nuclear-bombs-after-a-b-52-crash/?noredirect=on |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607060100/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/21/cataclysmic-cargo-the-hunt-for-four-missing-nuclear-bombs-after-a-b-52-crash/?noredirect=on |url-status=live}} The United States built a secret nuclear powered base, called Camp Century, in the Greenland ice sheet.{{Cite news |date=9 March 2019 |title=A Top-Secret US Military Base Will Melt Out of the Greenland Ice Sheet |work=VICE Magazine |url=https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/d3wdb7/cold-war-era-nuclear-base-camp-century-melting-climate-change-greenland |url-status=live |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820161848/https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/d3wdb7/cold-war-era-nuclear-base-camp-century-melting-climate-change-greenland |archive-date=20 August 2019}} On 21 January 1968, a B-52G, with four nuclear bombs aboard as part of Operation Chrome Dome, crashed on the ice of the North Star Bay while attempting an emergency landing at Thule Air Base.{{Cite news |date=14 November 2008 |title=The Cold War's Missing Atom Bombs |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |url-status=live |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627105727/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-nuclear-needle-in-a-haystack-the-cold-war-s-missing-atom-bombs-a-590513.html |archive-date=27 June 2019}} The resulting fire caused extensive radioactive contamination.{{Cite news |date=3 June 2019 |title=US B-52 nuclear bomber crash in Greenland 51 years ago has ill Danes seeking compensation |work=Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-b-52-nuclear-bomber-crash-in-greenland-51-years-ago-has-ill-danes-seeking-compensation |url-status=live |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608024754/https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-b-52-nuclear-bomber-crash-in-greenland-51-years-ago-has-ill-danes-seeking-compensation |archive-date=8 June 2019}} One of the H-bombs remains lost.{{Cite news |last=Corera |first=Gordon |date=10 November 2008 |title=Mystery of lost US nuclear bomb |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7720049.stm |access-date=22 August 2019 |archive-date=23 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023165716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7720049.stm |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=11 November 2008 |title=US left nuclear weapon under ice in Greenland |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/3439318/US-left-nuclear-weapon-under-ice-in-Greenland.html |url-status=live |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820163632/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greenland/3439318/US-left-nuclear-weapon-under-ice-in-Greenland.html |archive-date=20 August 2019}}

{{Main|Economy of Greenland}}The single most important factor in the Greenlandic economy is financial aid from Denmark, mainly in the form of the {{lang|da|{{ill|Danish subsidization of Greenland|lt=bloktilskud|da|Bloktilskud til Grønland}}}} (block grant). In 2024, the {{lang|da|bloktilskud}} to Greenland was 4.3 billion kr, in of itself amounting to a third of the island's total public revenue.{{Cite news |last=Winther |first=Bent |date=6 January 2025 |title=Selvstændighed? Mette Frederiksen har det stærkeste kort på hånden |url=https://www.berlingske.dk/analyse-og-perspektiv/selvstaendighed-mette-frederiksen-har-det-staerkeste-kort?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AVINqTyqqMvS7mPPC_Jy6jPHVLtP1N9Y5v4dHWfEGyNmEvmG_JWCuCPEbEGYqbev440%3D&gaa_ts=67801e50&gaa_sig=6DAG2sOi7-lGVauSmbz74qYbBkxUD_zGawG_pRCi23jZqEBMo3BZv4r5870rVRHuZxhyOs6QkvYRxQYPeFyHEA%3D%3D |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 January 2025 |work=Berlingske}} On top of this, the Danish state covered the expenses for i.a. judiciary and defence, which together were estimated to amount to over 1 billion kr.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ft.dk/ripdf/samling/20231/redegoerelse/R10/20231_R10.pdf |title=Redegørelse om rigsfællesskabet 2024. Afgivet af statsministeren (Mette Frederiksen) den 28 February 2024. ft.dk.}}{{as of|2019}} it subsidizes Greenland with 4.3 billion kr. annually,{{r|jrc20190828}} up from 3,6 billion kr. in 2009.{{r|hannestad20140324}}File:20190626 Harbor 0308 (48480740237).jpg, one of more than 60 settlements (Danish: {{lang|da|bygder}})]]

The Greenlandic economy is highly dependent on fishing. Fishing accounts for more than 90% of Greenland's exports.{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Maurice |date=28 January 2017 |title='You can't live in a museum': the battle for Greenland's uranium |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/28/greenland-narsaq-uranium-mine-dividing-town |url-status=live |access-date=28 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129005150/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/28/greenland-narsaq-uranium-mine-dividing-town |archive-date=29 January 2017 |issn=0261-3077}} The shrimp and fish industry is by far the largest income earner.{{Cite web |title=Greenland |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/ |access-date=15 May 2007 |website=CIA World Factbook |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109162939/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/ |url-status=live}} Greenland is abundant in minerals, but extraction has been limited. A state company, Nunaoil, was created to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. However, in July 2021, Greenland banned all new oil and gas exploration in its territory, after government officials said that the environmental "price of oil extraction is too high".{{cite news |last1=COHEN |first1=LI |title=Greenland halts new oil exploration to combat climate change and focus on sustainable development |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenland-ends-oil-exploration-to-combat-climate-change-and-focus-on-sustainable-development/ |access-date=20 July 2021 |agency=CBC |date=16 July 2021 |archive-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719173440/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenland-ends-oil-exploration-to-combat-climate-change-and-focus-on-sustainable-development/ |url-status=live}}

Greenland is a very difficult place to extract natural resources, for a number of reasons, including extreme weather conditions and a strong environmentalist community.{{cite web |last1=Gettleman |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Tekeli |first2=Maya |last3=Buckley |first3=Chris |author1-link=Jeffrey Gettleman |title=For Greenland's Minerals, the Harsh Reality Behind the Glittering Promise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/world/europe/greenland-minerals-trump.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=5 March 2025 |date=3 March 2025}} The New York Times reported in March 2025 that, despite dozens of exploratory projects, there are only two active mines in Greenland.

Electricity has traditionally been generated by oil or diesel power plants, even if there is a large surplus of potential hydropower. There is a programme to build hydropower plants. The first, and still the largest, is Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant.

There are also plans to build a large aluminium smelter, using hydropower to create an exportable product. It is expected that much of the labour needed will be imported.{{Cite journal |date=12 October 2011 |title=Greenland's red hot labour market |url=http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/i-fokus/in-focus-2011/boom-for-nordic-mining-industry/article.2011-10-12.8124853746 |url-status=live |journal=Nordic Labour Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201145836/http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/i-fokus/in-focus-2011/boom-for-nordic-mining-industry/article.2011-10-12.8124853746 |archive-date=1 February 2013 |access-date=10 February 2013}}

The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict development by the People's Republic of China of rare-earth mineral projects, as China accounts for 95% of the world's current supply. However, in early 2013 the government of Greenland said that it had no plans to impose such restrictions.[http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-10/chinese-workers-in-greenland Chinese Workers—in Greenland?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213141927/http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-10/chinese-workers-in-greenland |date=13 February 2013 }} 10 February 2013 BusinessWeek.

The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. About half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the average economies of Europe.

Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s. Since 1993, the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s, which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign-trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mine that year. In 2017, new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered, promising to enhance the gemstone industry in Greenland and add a new export.{{Cite web |title=Greenland Rubies: What We Know At This Point {{!}} National Jeweler |url=https://www.nationaljeweler.com/blog/5818-greenland-rubies-what-we-know-at-this-point |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817153630/https://www.nationaljeweler.com/blog/5818-greenland-rubies-what-we-know-at-this-point |archive-date=17 August 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |website=www.nationaljeweler.com}}

{{Main|Transport in Greenland|List of airports in Greenland}}

Air transport connects Greenland internally and with other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are virtually no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network. The only exception is a gravel road of {{convert|3|mi|order=flip|abbr=on}} length between Kangilinnguit and the now abandoned former cryolite mining town of Ivittuut.{{Cite web |title=Greenland – Transportation |url=https://www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/north-america/greenland/transportation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010134859/https://www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/north-america/greenland/transportation |archive-date=10 October 2018 |access-date=10 October 2018 |website=www.iexplore.com}} In addition, the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few country roads have been built. Greenland has no passenger railways.

A one-lane dirt road designed primarily for all-terrain vehicles (secondarily for bicycles and hiking), is under construction between Kangerlussuaq and the town of Sisimiut (Holstensborg). As of June 2023, the road was scheduled for completion in 2024.{{Cite web |url=https://www.qeqqata.gl/nyheder/2023/05/atv-aqqut?sc_lang=da |language=da |title=ATV-sporet mellem Sisimiut og Kangerlussuaq bliver færdig næste år |access-date=30 December 2023 |date=25 May 2023 |publisher=Qeqqata Kommunia |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230100929/https://www.qeqqata.gl/nyheder/2023/05/atv-aqqut?sc_lang=da |url-status=live}} A news report in Sermitsiaq declared the road itself to be completed already in September 2021,{{Cite web |url=https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/232296 |title=ATV-sporet mellem Kangerlussuaq og Sisimiut er færdig |language=da |date=25 September 2011 |access-date=30 December 2023 |publisher=Sermitsiaq |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622065641/https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/232296 |url-status=live}} but maintenance work and mud problems{{Cite web |url=https://www.verkis.is/frettir/honnun-vegar-a-milli-sisimiut-og-kangerlussuaq-verkfraedilegar-askoranir-i-obyggdum-graenlands/ |title=Hönnun vegar á milli Sisimiut og Kangerlussuaq – verkfræðilegar áskoranir í óbyggðum Grænlands |language=is |date=3 July 2023 |access-date=30 December 2023 |publisher=Verkís |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230100932/https://www.verkis.is/frettir/honnun-vegar-a-milli-sisimiut-og-kangerlussuaq-verkfraedilegar-askoranir-i-obyggdum-graenlands/ |url-status=live}} have caused delays. There are plans to extend the road to a two-lane gravel road, but a date for its construction to start has not been announced.{{Cite web |url=https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/243327 |title=Forslag: Naalakkersuisut bør punge ud til grusvej til omkring 500 mio. kr. |date=27 March 2023 |access-date=30 December 2023 |language=da |publisher=Sermitsiaq |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230100930/https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/243327 |url-status=live}}

There are a total of 13 registered civil airports and 47 helipads in Greenland; most of them are unpaved and located in rural areas. All civil aviation matters are handled by the Danish Transport Authority. Most airports have short runways and can only be served by special fairly small aircraft on fairly short flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen or Reykjavík-Keflavík. Travel between international destinations (except Iceland) and most cities, requires a plane change in Nuuk.

Nuuk Airport (GOH) is the hub and international gateway for international and domestic airline passenger transport, after having undergone a major expansion in 2024. Air Greenland is the flag carrier of Greenland. Additionally, Icelandair provides year-round services to Greenlandic airports. Seasonal and charter flights are also offered by other airlines.{{Cite web |title=Nuuk Airport |url=http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/nuuk-airport/ |website=www.mit.gl |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-date=3 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903225808/http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/nuuk-airport/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=tripsta |url=http://www.tripsta.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921081552/https://www.tripsta.co.uk/ |archive-date=21 September 2019 |access-date=3 January 2020}} Until 2024, Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) was the main international gateway to Greenland, but is far from the vicinity of the larger metropolitan capital areas.{{Cite web |title=Mittarfeqarfiit, Grønlands Lufthavne, Greenland Airports Today's Flights Airports Kangerlussuaq airport – mit.gl |url=http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/kangerlussuaq-airport/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922000640/http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/kangerlussuaq-airport/ |archive-date=22 September 2019 |access-date=21 September 2019 |website=www.mit.gl}}{{Cite web |title=City, high-rise apartments, cosy atmosphere, culture, rock, gourmet restaurants, cafés, fashion outlets, art, the national museum and the university – all the ingredients of a capital – Nuuk |url=https://www.airgreenland.com/destinations/greenland/nuuk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921081545/https://www.airgreenland.com/destinations/greenland/nuuk |archive-date=21 September 2019 |access-date=21 September 2019 |website=www.airgreenland.gl}} Ilulissat Airport (JAV) and Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK) are domestic airports that also serve limited international flights to Iceland and are both being reconstructed and expanded to enable larger aircraft to serve the airport by 2026, the latter in a new location closer to Qaqortoq.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-28 |title="Delays in Ilulissat Airport Construction Project Push Opening to 2026" {{!}} en.365Nyt |url=https://en.365nyt.dk/2024/05/28/delays-in-ilulissat-airport-construction-project-push-opening-to-2026/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Ilulissat Airport |url=http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/ilulissat-airport/ |website=www.mit.gl |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-date=17 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917071800/http://www.mit.gl/en/todays-flights/airports/ilulissat-airport/ |url-status=live}}

Sea passenger transport is served by several coastal ferries. Arctic Umiaq Line makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.{{Cite book |first=Georg |last=Woodman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UK48DwAAQBAJ&q=Sea%2Bpassenger%2Btransport%2Bis%2Bserved%2Bby%2Bseveral%2Bcoastal%2Bferries.%2BArctic%2BUmiaq%2BLine%2Bmakes%2Ba%2Bsingle%2Bround%2Btrip%2Bper%2Bweek,%2Btaking%2B80%2Bhours%2Beach%2Bdirection&pg=PA394 |title=2033-The Century After: How the World Would Look/Be If Nazi Germany & Empire Japan Had Won World War II |date=18 October 2017 |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency |isbn=978-1-68181-946-4 |language=en |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920174342/https://books.google.com/books?id=UK48DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA394&q=Sea%2Bpassenger%2Btransport%2Bis%2Bserved%2Bby%2Bseveral%2Bcoastal%2Bferries.%2BArctic%2BUmiaq%2BLine%2Bmakes%2Ba%2Bsingle%2Bround%2Btrip%2Bper%2Bweek,%2Btaking%2B80%2Bhours%2Beach%2Bdirection |url-status=live}}

Cargo freight by sea is handled by the shipping company Royal Arctic Line from, to and across Greenland. It provides trade and transport opportunities between Greenland, Europe, and North America.

{{Main|Tourism in Greenland}}

Tourism increased significantly between 2015 and 2019, with the number of visitors increasing from 77,000 per year to 105,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.tourismstat.gl/resources/reports/en/r31/Tourism%20Statistics%20Report%20Greenland%202019.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204015604/http://www.tourismstat.gl/resources/reports/en/r31/Tourism%20Statistics%20Report%20Greenland%202019.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-04 |url-status=live |title=Tourism Statistics Report 2019, Greenland |access-date=12 January 2022}} One source estimated that in 2019 the revenue from this aspect of the economy was about 450 million kroner (US$67 million). Like many aspects of the economy, this slowed dramatically in 2020 and into 2021, due to restrictions required as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;{{cite web |url=https://naalakkersuisut.gl/~/media/Nanoq/Files/Attached%20Files/Finans/ENG/GOR_ny/G%C3%98R%20rapport%202020%20en.pdf |title=Greenland's Economy Autumn 2020, Summary |access-date=27 March 2021 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417155028/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/~/media/Nanoq/Files/Attached%20Files/Finans/ENG/GOR_ny/G%C3%98R%20rapport%202020%20en.pdf |url-status=live}} one source describes it as being the "biggest economic victim of the coronavirus" (the overall economy did not suffer too severely as of mid-2020, thanks to the fisheries "and a hefty subsidy from Copenhagen").{{cite web |url=https://www.arctictoday.com/greenlands-economy-is-poised-to-rebound-in-2021/ |title=Greenland's economy is poised to rebound in 2021, 2 June 2020 |date=2 June 2020 |access-date=27 March 2021 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522223557/https://www.arctictoday.com/greenlands-economy-is-poised-to-rebound-in-2021/ |url-status=live}} Greenland's goal for returning tourism is to develop it "right" and to "build a more sustainable tourism for the long run".{{cite web |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/greenland-is-approaching-tourism-slowly-and-taking-lessons-from-iceland |author=Stephanie Vermillion |title=Greenland Is Approaching Tourism Slowly—And Taking Lessons from Iceland, 24 March 2021 |date=24 March 2021 |access-date=20 January 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116105011/https://www.cntraveler.com/story/greenland-is-approaching-tourism-slowly-and-taking-lessons-from-iceland |url-status=live}}

Greenland is often portrayed as rich in rare-earth minerals, but experts argue this promise is largely illusory, as mining remains limited due to high costs, lack of infrastructure, and minimal local refining capacity. Although the island does contain resources, similar minerals are more abundant and accessible in other countries like the U.S., Brazil, Vietnam, and China, making Greenland an uncompetitive option. Despite a legal framework for mining, some ventures and over 30 years of Greenlandic efforts to attract American investment, success has been limited, and the belief in a quick mineral bonanza is increasingly seen as a geopolitical mirage.{{cite news |title=Geologist warns prospect of a mineral bonanza in Greenland is a mirage |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geologist-warns-prospect-mineral-bonanza-greenland-mirage-60-minutes/ |access-date=19 April 2025 |work=Cbs News}}

Mining of ruby deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects include iron, uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. 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.

{{For|statistics on demographics|Demographics of Greenland}}

{{See also|List of Greenlanders|Greenlandic Inuit|Danish people in Greenland}}

File:Kulusuk, Inuit couple (6822265499).jpg Inuit couple from Kulusuk]]

In 2021, Greenland had a population of 56,421.{{Cite web |title=Greenland in Figures 2021 |url=https://stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2021/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202021.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212409/https://stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2021/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202021.pdf |archive-date=2021-06-02 |url-status=live |access-date=8 December 2021 |website=Greenland in Figures 2021}} That year, 18,800 people resided in the capital city Nuuk. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate, especially considering the high latitude upon which it lies.{{Cite web |title=Greenland |url=http://www.stalvik.com/Engelska/laegreenland.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923001626/http://www.stalvik.com/Engelska/laegreenland.htm |archive-date=23 September 2010 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Stalvik.com}} Whereas the majority of the population lives north of 64°N in colder coastal climates, Greenland's warmest climates such as the vegetated area around Narsarsuaq are sparsely populated.

The majority of the population is Lutheran. The historically important Moravian Brothers (Herrnhuters) were a congregation of faith, in a Danish context based in Christiansfeld in South Jutland, and partially of German origin, but their name does not signify they were ethnic Moravians (Czechs).

In terms of ethnicity, the population is estimated to be of 89.5% Greenlandic, 7.5% Danish, 1.1% other Nordic and 1.9% other origins.{{Cite web |title=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/ |access-date=3 October 2020 |website=cia.gov |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109162939/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/ |url-status=live}} The multi-ethnic population of European-Inuit represent people of Danish, Norwegian and to a lesser degree of Faroese, Icelandic, Dutch (whalers), German and American descent.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

A 2015 wide genetic study of Greenlanders found modern-day Inuit in Greenland are direct descendants of the first Inuit pioneers of the Thule culture who arrived in the 13th century, with approximately 25% admixture of the European colonizers from the 16th century. Despite previous speculations, no evidence of Viking settlers predecessors has been found.{{Cite journal |last1=Moltke |first1=Ida |last2=Fumagalli |first2=Matteo |last3=Korneliussen |first3=Thorfinn |date=2015 |title=Uncovering the Genetic History of the Present-Day Greenlandic Population |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=54–69 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.11.012 |pmc=4289681 |pmid=25557782}}

{{Largest cities

| country = Greenland

| stat_ref = 2020 estimate{{cite web |url=http://citypopulation.de/Greenland.html |title=Greenland |website=citypopulation.de |access-date=22 August 2021 |archive-date=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830011206/http://citypopulation.de/Greenland.html |url-status=live}}

| list_by_pop =

| div_name =

| div_link = Administrative divisions of Greenland{{!}}Municipality

| city_1 = Nuuk| div_1 = Sermersooq | pop_1 = 18,326 | img_1 = Nuuk city below Sermitsiaq.JPG

| city_2 = Sisimiut | div_2 = Qeqqata | pop_2 = 5,582 | img_2 = Sisimiut-centrum.jpg

| city_3 = Ilulissat | div_3 = Avannaata | pop_3 = 4,670 | img_3 = Ilulissat-port.jpg

| city_4 = Aasiaat | div_4 = Qeqertalik | pop_4 = 3,069 | img_4 = Aasiaat 2016 06.jpg

| city_5 = Qaqortoq | div_5 = Kujalleq | pop_5 = 3,050

| city_6 = Maniitsoq | div_6 = Qeqqata | pop_6 = 2,534

| city_7 = Tasiilaq | div_7 = Sermersooq | pop_7 = 2,063

| city_8 = Uummannaq | div_8 = Avannaata | pop_8 = 1,407

| city_9 = Narsaq | div_9 = Kujalleq | pop_9 = 1,346

| city_10 = Paamiut | div_10 = Sermersooq | pop_10 = 1,308

| city_11 = Nanortalik | div_11 = Kujalleq | pop_11 = 1,185

| city_12 = Upernavik | div_12 = Avannaata | pop_12 = 1,092

| city_13 = Qasigiannguit | div_13 = Qeqertalik | pop_13 = 1,081

| city_14 = Qeqertarsuaq| div_14 = Qeqertalik | pop_14 = 839

| city_15 = Qaanaaq| div_15 = Avannaata | pop_15 = 646

| city_16 = Kangaatsiaq | div_16 = Qeqertalik | pop_16 = 520

| city_17 = Kangerlussuaq | div_17 = Qeqqata | pop_17 = 508

| city_18 = Kullorsuaq | div_18 = Avannaata | pop_18 = 453

| city_19 = Ittoqqortoormiit | div_19 = Sermersooq | pop_19 = 345

| city_20 = Kangaamiut | div_20 = Qeqqata | pop_20 = 293

}}

File:Parkverbot Grönland.jpg

Greenlandic (effectively West Greenlandic), spoken by nearly 50,000 people, became the sole official language in 2009.{{Cite news |date=27 November 2008 |title=Danish doubts over Greenland vote |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7752660.stm |url-status=live |access-date=10 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207121546/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7752660.stm |archive-date=7 December 2012}} The majority of the population speak both Danish and West Greenlandic Kalaallisut (the most populous Eskaleut language). They have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979. In practice, Danish is still widely used in administration, academia, and skilled trades and other professions. The orthography of Greenlandic, established in 1851,Kleinschmidt, Samuel 1968 (1851): Grammatik der grønlændischen Sprache : mit teilweisem Einschluss des Labradordialekts. Hildesheim : Olms, 1968. was revised in 1973. The literacy rate was 100% in 2007.

About 12% of the population speak Danish as their primary language. These are primarily Danish immigrants, many of whom speak Danish as their first and sometimes only language. Monolingual Danish speakers are concentrated in Nuuk and other larger towns. A debate about the roles of Greenlandic and Danish in the country's future is ongoing. While Greenlandic was dominant in all smaller settlements, most of the multi-ethnic Inuit ancestors spoke Danish as a second language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk, Danish was more important for social matters. English is growing in importance, and is now taught from the first school year.{{Cite web |title=Travelling in Greenland |url=http://eu.nanoq.gl/Emner/About%20Greenland/Travelling%20in%20Greenland.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516025948/http://eu.nanoq.gl/Emner/About%20Greenland/Travelling%20in%20Greenland.aspx |archive-date=16 May 2014 |publisher=Greenland Representation to the EU, Greenland Home Rule Government}}{{Failed verification|date=February 2025}}

West Greenland has long been the most populous area of the island, and this has contributed to its variety of Greenlandic, Kalaallisut, becoming the de facto official language of Greenland. Around 3,000 people speak East Greenlandic (Tunumiisut) and nearly 1,000 around northern Qaanaaq speak Inuktun. North Greenlandic is closer to the Inuit languages of Canada than it is to other Greenlandic.Mennecier, Philippe (1978). Le tunumiisut, dialecte inuit du Groenland oriental: description et analyse, Collection linguistique, 78, Societé de linguistique de Paris. Each of these varieties is nearly unintelligible to the speakers of the others and some linguists consider Tunumiisut to be a separate language altogether.{{Cite web |title=Atlas of the world's languages in danger |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026 |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111222724/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026 |url-status=live}} A UNESCO report labelled the other varieties as endangered, and measures are now considered to protect the East Greenlandic dialect.{{Cite web |date=6 January 2010 |title=Sermersooq will secure Eastern Greenlandic |url=http://www.knr.gl/index.php?id=6700&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=51930&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6702&cHash=b321fb7a1d |url-status=live |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516235314/http://www.knr.gl/index.php?id=6700&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=51930&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6702&cHash=b321fb7a1d |archive-date=16 May 2016 |access-date=19 May 2010 |publisher=Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa |language=da}}

{{Main|Religion in Greenland}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Religion in Greenland (2010):{{Cite web |date=21 June 2009 |title=Greenland, Religion and Social Profile | National Profiles | International Data |url=http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_94_1.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924211510/http://www.thearda.com/internationalData/countries/Country_94_1.asp |archive-date=24 September 2017 |access-date=18 June 2016 |website=Thearda.com}}{{Cite web |date=19 December 2011 |title=Table: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country | Pew Research Center |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-as-percentages-of-total-population-by-country/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511124911/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-as-percentages-of-total-population-by-country/ |archive-date=11 May 2017 |access-date=27 September 2017}}

|label1 = Protestantism

|value1 = 95.5

|color1 = DodgerBlue

|label2 = Roman Catholicism

|value2 = 0.2

|color2 = DarkOrchid

|label3 = Other Christian

|value3 = 0.4

|color3 = Turquoise

|label4 = Inuit spiritual beliefs

|value4 = 0.8

|color4 = Red

|label5 = Agnostic

|value5 = 2.3

|color5 = Honeydew

|label6 = Atheist

|value6 = 0.2

|color6 = Grey

|label7 = Other religion

|value7 = 0.6

|color7 = Yellow

}}

File:Brattachurch.jpg in the background, thought to be the first church and chapel in North America]]

The nomadic Inuit were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed religion primarily concerned with appeasing a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess called Sedna who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gpCKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT169 |title=Taboo, Personal and Collective Representations: Origin and Positioning Within Cultural Complexes |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-351-03988-8 |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920174357/https://books.google.com/books?id=gpCKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT169 |url-status=live}}

The first Norse colonists worshipped the Norse gods, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 999 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.

Rediscovering these colonists and spreading ideas of the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements, but no Norse were found, and instead they began preaching to the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.{{Cite web |last=Sørensen |first=Leif Kiil |date=29 November 2000 |title=Grønlandsk bibel præsenteret | Kristeligt Dagblad |url=http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/artikel/225350:Kirke---tro--Groenlandsk-bibel-praesenteret |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511084103/http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/artikel/225350:Kirke---tro--Groenlandsk-bibel-praesenteret |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=6 September 2010 |publisher=Kristeligt-dagblad.dk}}{{better source needed|date=January 2022}}

The major religion is Protestant Christianity, represented mainly by the Church of Denmark, which is Lutheran in orientation. There are no official census data on religion in Greenland, but the Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen{{cite news |title=Bells ring a wake-up call for climate justice |url=https://www.oikoumene.org/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/bells-ring-a-wake-up-call.html |access-date=30 August 2010 |work=World Council of Churches |date=14 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325215706/http://www.oikoumene.org/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1634/bells-ring-a-wake-up-call.html |archive-date=25 March 2012}} estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.{{Cite web |title=Grønland, Grundloven og Gejstligheden |url=http://www.groenlandsstift.dk/fileadmin/filer/Biskoppen/Groenland_GRUNDLOVEN_og_GEJSTLIGHEDEN_1005_2009_laast_til_ado.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425231654/https://www.groenlandsstift.dk/fileadmin/filer/Biskoppen/Groenland_GRUNDLOVEN_og_GEJSTLIGHEDEN_1005_2009_laast_til_ado.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2012 |access-date=30 April 2012}} The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark.{{Cite web |title=Constitution of Denmark – Section IV |url=http://www.parliament.am/library/sahmanadrutyunner/dania.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301205429/http://www.parliament.am/library/sahmanadrutyunner/dania.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2016 |access-date=22 September 2016 |quote=The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and, as such, it shall be supported by the State.}}

A small Roman Catholic minority is pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen. There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements proselytising fellow Christians.{{Cite news |date=8 August 2011 |title=The only Muslim in Greenland who fasts for 21 hours |work=The Jazba Blog |url=http://jazbablog.com/2011/08/08/the-only-muslim-in-greenland-who-fasts-for-21-hours/ |access-date=26 January 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801063031/http://jazbablog.com/2011/08/08/the-only-muslim-in-greenland-who-fasts-for-21-hours/ |url-status=dead}}

Education is organized in a similar way to Denmark. Students have ten years of mandatory primary school. This is followed by secondary education, focused on either work training or preparation for university education. There is one institution of higher learning, the University of Greenland ({{langx|kl|Ilisimatusarfik}}) in Nuuk. Many Greenlanders attend universities in Denmark or elsewhere.

The public school system in Greenland is, as in Denmark, under the jurisdiction of the municipalities. The legislature specifies the standards allowed for the content in schools, but the municipal governments decide how the schools under their responsibility are run. Education is free and compulsory for children aged seven to 16. The financial outlay devoted to education is 11.3% of GDP. Section 1 of the Government Ordinance on Public Schools (amended in 1997) requires Greenlandic as the language of instruction.

Education is governed by a regulation adopted in 1990 and amended in 1993 and 1994. Under this legislation, linguistic integration in primary and lower secondary schools became compulsory for all students. The aim is to place Greenlandic-speaking and Danish-speaking pupils in the same classes, whereas previously they were placed in separate classes according to their mother tongue. At the same time, the government guarantees that Danish speakers can learn Greenlandic. In this way, the Greenlandic government wants to give the same linguistic, cultural and social education to all students, both those of Greenlandic and Danish origin. A study, which was carried out during a three-year trial period, concluded that this bilingual had achieved positive results.

File:Ilimmarfik.jpg) campus is in Nuuk.]]

About 100 schools exist, in which both Greenlandic and Danish are used. Generally, Greenlandic is taught from kindergarten to the end of secondary school, but Danish is compulsory from the first cycle of primary school as a second language. As in Denmark with Danish, the school system provides for "Greenlandic 1" and "Greenlandic 2" courses. Language tests allow students to move from one level to the other. Based on the teachers' evaluation of their students, a third level of courses has been added: "Greenlandic 3". Secondary education in Greenland is generally vocational and technical. The system is governed by Regulation No. 16 of 28 October 1993 on Vocational and Technical Education, Scholarships and Career Guidance. Danish remains the main language of instruction. The capital, Nuuk, has a (bilingual) teacher training college and a (bilingual) university. At the end of their studies, all students must pass a test in the Greenlandic language.

Higher education is offered in Greenland: university education, training of journalists, training of primary and lower secondary school teachers, training of social workers, training of social educators and training of nurses and nursing assistants. Greenlandic students can continue their education in Denmark, if they wish and have the financial means to do so. For admission to Danish educational institutions, Greenlandic applicants are placed on an equal footing with Danish applicants. Scholarships are granted to Greenlandic students who are admitted to Danish educational institutions. To be eligible for these scholarships, the applicant must be a Danish citizen and have had permanent residence in Greenland for at least five years. The total period of residence outside Greenland may not exceed three years.

The rate of suicide in Greenland is very high. According to a 2010 census, Greenland holds the highest suicide rate in the world.{{Cite journal |date=9 October 2009 |title=The Suicide Capital of the World |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/dispatches/2009/10/the_suicide_capital_of_the_world.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2 |url-status=live |journal=Slate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304003350/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/dispatches/2009/10/the_suicide_capital_of_the_world.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2 |archive-date=4 March 2013 |access-date=13 March 2013}}{{Cite web |title=Rising suicide rate baffles Greenland |url=http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/europe/rising-suicide-rate-baffles-greenland |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323061827/http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/europe/rising-suicide-rate-baffles-greenland |archive-date=23 March 2013 |access-date=13 March 2013}}

Another significant social issue faced by Greenland is a high rate of alcoholism.[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18249474 "Greenland profile – Overview"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918032735/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18249474 |date=18 September 2018 }}. BBC News. The rate of alcohol consumption in Greenland peaked in the 1980s, when it was twice as high as in Denmark; by 2010 it had fallen slightly below that of Denmark. Alcohol prices are far higher in Greenland than in Denmark, meaning that consumption has a large social impact.{{Cite journal |last=Aage |first=H. |year=2012 |title=Alcohol in Greenland 1951–2010: consumption, mortality, prices |journal=International Journal of Circumpolar Health |volume=71 |page=18444 |doi=10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18444 |pmc=3525923 |pmid=23256091}}{{Cite journal |last1=Madsen |first1=M. H. |last2=Grønbæk |first2=M. |last3=Bjerregaard |first3=P. |last4=Becker |first4=U. |year=2005 |title=Urbanization, migration and alcohol use in a population of Greenland Inuit |journal=International Journal of Circumpolar Health |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=234–45 |doi=10.3402/ijch.v64i3.17987 |pmid=16050317 |doi-access=free}}

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has been high in Greenland, reaching a peak in the 1990s when the number of AIDS-related deaths was also relatively high. Through a number of initiatives, the prevalence (along with the death rate, through efficient treatment) has fallen and is now low, about 0.13% in the 2010s,{{Cite journal |last1=Bjorn-Mortensen |first1=K. |last2=Ladefoged |first2=K |last3=Obel |first3=N. |last4=Helleberg |first4=M. |year=2013 |title=The HIV epidemic in Greenland – a slow spreading infection among adult heterosexual Greenlanders |journal=Int J Circumpolar Health |volume=7232 |page=19558 |doi=10.3402/ijch.v72i0.19558 |pmc=3577920 |pmid=23431117}}{{Cite web |date=13 October 2019 |title=Nye tilfælde af HIV blandt unge |url=https://naalakkersuisut.gl/da/Naalakkersuisut/Nyheder/2018/11/1311_nye_tilfaelde_hiv |access-date=22 November 2019 |publisher=Naalakkersuisut |archive-date=23 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123004132/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/da/Naalakkersuisut/Nyheder/2018/11/1311_nye_tilfaelde_hiv |url-status=dead}} below that of most other countries.

In recent decades, Greenland’s rate of unemployment has generally been somewhat above that of Denmark;{{Cite web |title=Arbejde |url=https://europas-lande.dk/dan/Lande/Gr%C3%B8nland/Erhverv%20og%20%C3%B8konomi/Arbejde/Sv%C3%A6r/ |access-date=22 November 2019 |publisher=europas-lande.dk |archive-date=23 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123004450/https://europas-lande.dk/dan/Lande/Gr%25C3%25B8nland/Erhverv%2520og%2520%25C3%25B8konomi/Arbejde/Sv%25C3%25A6r/ |url-status=dead}} in 2017, the rate was 6.8% in Greenland,{{Cite web |year=2017 |title=Unemployment rate |url=http://bank.stat.gl/pxweb/en/Greenland/Greenland__AR__AR40/ARXLED7.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=ARXLED222-11-2019%2020:30:33 |access-date=22 November 2019 |publisher=Statistics Greenland}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} compared to 5.6% in Denmark.{{Cite web |title=Euro area unemployment at 8.7%, December 2017 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/8631691/3-31012018-BP-EN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212201506/http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/8631691/3-31012018-BP-EN.pdf |archive-date=2018-02-12 |url-status=live |access-date=22 November 2019 |publisher=Eurostat}}

{{main|Spiral case}}

In the 1960s and 1970s, at a time when the population was increasing, 4,500 Greenland Inuit women and girls (roughly half of all fertile females) were fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) by Danish doctors. Sometimes girls (as young as 12) were taken directly from school to have these devices inserted, without their parents' permission. The procedure was also carried out on some Inuit girls at boarding schools in Denmark. On 30 September 2022, the Danish Health Minister, Magnus Heunicke, announced a two-year investigation into the decisions leading to the practice and its implementation.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63049387 |title=Inuit Greenlanders demand answers over Danish birth control scandal |work=BBC News |date=30 September 2022 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001140536/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63049387 |url-status=live}} Greenlandic doctors also carried out the same illegal procedures on several Inuit women after Greenland took control of its health care system in 1991.{{cite news |title=Grønland har ansvar for 15 spiralsager |url=https://www.sermitsiaq.ag/samfund/gronland-har-ansvar-for-15-spiralsager/1292890 |access-date=20 October 2024 |publisher=Sermitsiaq}}

{{main|LGBTQ rights in Greenland}}

LGBTQ rights in Greenland are some of the most extensive in the Americas and the world, relatively similar to those in Denmark proper in Europe. Transgender people in Greenland may change the gender designation on their official identity documents. A law passed in 2016 by decree allows legal gender changes based on self-determination.{{cite web |url=https://www.stm.dk/multimedia/A_449_23.5._for_Gr_nland_af_lov_om__ndring_af_lov_om_Det_Centrale_Personregister.pdf |title=§2, Imm. 3, Qitiusumik Inunnik Nalunaarsuiffik pillugu inatsisip (CPR pillugu inatsit) allanngortinneqarneranik inatsisit Kalaallit Nunaannut atuutilersinneqarnerannik peqqussut (Greenlandic) |access-date=2020-09-01}}{{cite web |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2016/449/Pdf |title=§2, Stk 3., Anordning om ikrafttræden for Grønland af love om ændring af lov om Det Centrale Personregister (Danish) |access-date=2020-09-01}} Since 2010, Greenland has had laws prohibiting hate speech against LGBTQ+ persons. Greenland’s parliament passed a Law on Equal Treatment and Anti-Discrimination in May 2024, taking effect on 1 July 2024. The law prohibits all discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, [and] gender characteristics”, among other characteristics. The law also creates an Equal Treatment Board to manage discrimination complaints and an Equality Council to promote non-discrimination.{{Cite web |title=Greenland (Denmark) |url=https://database.ilga.org/greenland-denmark-lgbti#:~:text=The%20law%20prohibits%20all%20forms,and%20services%20to%20the%20public. |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=database.ilga.org}}

{{Main|Culture of Greenland}}

{{See also|Human rights in Denmark#Indigenous rights}}

Greenlandic culture is a blending of traditional Inuit (Kalaallit, Tunumiit, Inughuit) and Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition, dating back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for an art form of figures called tupilak or a "spirit object". Traditional art-making practices thrive in the Ammassalik.Hessel, p. 20 Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.Hessel, p. 21

The Inuit have their own arts and crafts tradition; for example, they carve tupilaks, sculptures of figures of avenging monsters practised within shaman traditions.{{Cite web |title=The making of a tupilak and its consequences |url=https://www.museon.nl/en/globeitem/the-making-of-a-tupilak-and-its-consequenses |website=Museon |access-date=5 January 2022 |archive-date=5 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105170919/https://www.museon.nl/en/globeitem/the-making-of-a-tupilak-and-its-consequenses |url-status=live}} This Kalaallisut word means soul or spirit of a deceased person and describes an artistic figure, usually no more than {{convert|20|cm|round=0.5}} tall, carved mainly from walrus ivory, with a variety of unusual shapes. This sculpture actually represents a mythical or spiritual being; usually, however, it has become a mere collector's item because of its grotesque appearance for Western visual habits. Modern artisans still use indigenous materials such as musk ox and sheep wool, seal fur, shells, soapstone, reindeer antlers or gemstones.

The history of Greenlandic painting began with Aron von Kangeq, who depicted the old Greenlandic sagas and myths in his drawings and watercolours in the mid-19th century. In the 20th century, landscape and animal painting developed, as well as printmaking and book illustrations with sometimes expressive colouring. It was mainly through their landscape paintings that Kiistat Lund and Buuti Pedersen became known abroad. Anne-Birthe Hove chose themes from Greenlandic social life. There is a museum of fine arts in Nuuk, the Nuuk Art Museum.

Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) is the public broadcasting company of Greenland. It is an associate member of Eurovision and of the Nordvision network. Nearly one hundred people are directly employed by the company, which is one of the largest in the territory.{{Cite web |title=Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa {{!}} KNR |url=https://knr.gl/da/om-knr/kalaallit-nunaata-radioa |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=knr.gl |archive-date=28 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128064050/https://knr.gl/da/om-knr/kalaallit-nunaata-radioa |url-status=live}} The city of Nuuk has its own radio and television station. The television channel, Nanoq Media, was created on 1 August 2002. It is the largest local television station in Greenland, reaching more than 4,000 households as receiving members, which corresponds to about 75% of all households in the capital.{{Cite web |title=Nanoq Media |url=https://nanoqmedia.gl/?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=6&lang=ka_gl |access-date=19 April 2021 |website=nanoqmedia.gl |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419151126/https://nanoqmedia.gl/?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=6&lang=ka_gl |url-status=live}}

Only two newspapers are published in Greenland, both of which are distributed nationally. The Greenlandic weekly Sermitsiaq is published every Friday, while the online version is updated several times a day. It is named after the mountain Sermitsiaq, located about {{convert|15|km|round=0.5|abbr=on}} northeast of Nuuk, and was distributed only in Nuuk until the 1980s. The bi-weekly Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten (AG) is published every Tuesday and Thursday, in Greenlandic as Atuagagdliutit and in Danish as Grønlandsposten, with all articles published in both languages.

{{Main|Music of Greenland}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}

File:Nive Nielsen Rudolstadt 01.jpg in 2016, Greenlandic singer and songwriter ]]

File:Inuk Silis Høegh, Tommi Kainulainen - WOMEX 15, Budapest, 2015.10.22 (1).JPG with members of the Greenlandic band Sumé, 2015]]

Greenland has a local music culture. Popular Greenlandic bands and artists include Sumé (classic rock), Chilly Friday (rock), Nanook (rock), Siissisoq (rock), Nuuk Posse (hip hop) and Rasmus Lyberth (folk), who performed in the Danish national final for the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, performing in Greenlandic. The singer-songwriter Simon Lynge is the first musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and to perform at the UK's Glastonbury Festival. The music culture of Greenland also includes traditional Inuit music, largely revolving around singing and drums.

Drums are a traditional element of Greenlandic music. They were used to perform traditional dances. For this purpose, a round drum (qilaat) in the form of a frame made of driftwood or walrus ribs covered with a polar bear bladder, polar bear stomach or walrus stomach was used. The drumming was not done on the membrane, but with a stick from underneath the frame. Simple melodies were sung for this purpose.

The drum dance used to serve two functions. One was to drive away fear on long, dark winter nights by making faces and trying to make others laugh. Disputes were also settled with the drum. If someone had misbehaved, he was challenged with the drum. People would gather at certain powerful places and take turns beating the drum and singing to it. They tried to ridicule the other person as much as possible. The spectators expressed with their laughter who was the winner and who was therefore the guilty one.

The drum could also be used by shamans for ritual conjurations of spirits.

After the arrival of missionaries in the 18th century, the drum dance (still popular among Canadian Inuit) was banned as pagan and shamanistic and replaced by polyphonic singing of secular and church songs. This choral singing is known for its special sound. Church hymns are partly of German origin due to the influence of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde. Scandinavian, German and Scottish whalers brought the fiddle, accordion and polka (kalattuut) to Greenland, where they are now played in intricate dance steps.

{{Main|Greenlandic cuisine}}

The national dish of Greenland is suaasat, a soup made from seal meat. Meat from marine mammals, game, birds, and fish have a large role in the Greenlandic diet. Due to the glacial landscape, most ingredients come from the ocean.{{Cite web |date=14 April 2010 |title=Greenland – Greenlandic cuisine – Official Greenland Travel Guide |url=http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414020510/http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine |archive-date=14 April 2010 |access-date=16 July 2019}} Spices are seldom used besides salt and pepper.{{Cite web |date=27 March 2010 |title=Greenland – Traditional Greenlandic food – Official Greenland Travel Guide |url=http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine/traditional_greenlandic_food |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327215022/http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine/traditional_greenlandic_food |archive-date=27 March 2010 |access-date=16 July 2019}} Greenlandic coffee is a "flaming" dessert coffee (set alight before serving) made with coffee, whiskey, Kahlúa, Grand Marnier, and whipped cream. It is stronger than the familiar Irish dessert coffee.{{Cite web |date=30 March 2010 |title=Greenland – Greenlandic coffee – Official Greenland Travel Guide |url=http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine/greenlandic_coffee |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330004520/http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/culture/greenlandic_cuisine/greenlandic_coffee |archive-date=30 March 2010 |access-date=28 July 2019}}

{{Main|Sport in Greenland}}

Sport is an important part of Greenlandic culture, as the population is generally quite active.Wilcox and Latif, p. 109 Popular sports include association football, track and field, handball and skiing. Handball is often referred to as the national sport,Wilcox and Latif, p. 110 and the men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001.

Greenland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking are preferred by the general public. Although the environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there is a golf course in Nuuk.

The majority of Greenlanders are members of the Lutheran Church.{{Cite news |last=Henao |first=Luis Andres |date=6 March 2025 |title=Most Greenlanders are Lutheran, 300 years after a missionary brought the faith to the remote island |url=https://apnews.com/article/greenland-lutheran-church-inuit-identity-trump-c01748cc8484834d694d6fc6d9e2e502 |work=Associated Press}} The Church of Greenland is a diocese of the Lutheran World Federation through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark.{{Cite report |url=https://lutheranworld.org/resources/document-lwf-membership-statistics-2023 |title=Lutheran World Federation 2023 Membership Figures |last= |date=June 2024 |access-date=10 March 2025}} There are 17 parishes in the Church of Greenland.

• Index of Greenland-related articles
• Outline of Greenland
• Åland (Finland)
• Svalbard (Norway)

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{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Bardarson, I. (ed. Jónsson, F.) "Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse af Ívar Bárðarson (Ivar Bårdssön)", (Copenhagen, 1930) {{inlang|da}}.
• CIA World Factbook, 2000.
• Conkling, P. W. et al. (2011). The Fate of Greenland: Lessons from Abrupt Climate Change, co-authored with Richard Alley, Wallace Broecker and George Denton, with photographs by Gary Comer, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• {{Cite book |last=Hessel |first=Ingo |title=Arctic Spirit |publisher=Douglas and McIntyre |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-55365-189-5 |location=Vancouver, BC |ref=Hessel}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Lund |first=S. |year=1959 |title=The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 1. Taxonomical Part |journal=Meddr Gronland |volume=156 |issue=1 |pages=1–245}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Lund |first=S. |year=1959 |title=The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 11. Geographic Distribution |journal=Meddr Gronland |volume=156 |pages=1–70}}
• Oldendow, Knud.(1958). "Printing in Greenland". Libri: International Journal of Libraries & Information Services 8 (3/4): 223–62.
• {{Cite journal |last=Sowa |first=F. |year=2013 |title=Indigenous Peoples and the Institutionalization of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Greenland |journal=Arctic Anthropology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=72–88 |doi=10.3368/aa.50.1.72 |s2cid=143294645}}
• Sowa, F. (2013). Relations of Power & Domination in a World Polity: The Politics of Indigeneity & National Identity in Greenland. In: Heininen, L. Arctic Yearbook 2013. The Arctic of regions vs. the globalized Arctic. Akureyri: Northern Research Forum, pp. 184–198. [http://www.arcticyearbook.com/ay2013 www.arcticyearbook.com/ay2013].{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219043852/http://www.arcticyearbook.com/ay2013 |date=19 February 2015 }}
• Sowa, F. (2014). Greenland. in: Hund, A. Antarctica and the Arctic Circle: A Geographic Encyclopedia of the Earth's Polar Regions. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, pp. 312–316.
• 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, California).
• {{Cite book |last=Stern |first=Pamela |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000ster |title=Historical Dictionary of the Inuit |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-8108-5058-3 |location=Lanham, Maryland |oclc=54768167 |ref=Stern |url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Wilcox |first1=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58ZHaTMk0j4C |title=Cultures of the World: Iceland |last2=Latif |first2=Zawiah Abdul |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7614-2074-3 |ref=Wilcox |access-date=18 September 2022 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610113222/https://books.google.com/books?id=58ZHaTMk0j4C |url-status=live}}

{{refend}}

• [https://naalakkersuisut.gl/ Government of Greenland] official website (in Danish and Kalaallisut only)
• [https://denmark.dk/people-and-culture/greenland Greenland] at Denmark.dk, the official website of Denmark.
• [https://visitgreenland.com/ Visit Greenland] – the official Greenlandic Tourist Board
• [https://www.inuit.org/ Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland]
• {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Greenland |volume= XI |last= Brown |first=Robert|author-link=Robert Brown (botanist, born 1842)| pages=166-171 |short=1 }}
• {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Greenland |volume= 12 |last= Nansen |first= Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg |author-link=

Fridtjof Nansen |pages=542-548 |short=1}}

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