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Kalaallit Nunaat
Form of government:
home rule in national alliance with Denmark
Area:
2,17 million square kilometres, 410.449 square kilometres ice-free
Population:
56.648 inhabitants (2007)
Capital:
Nuuk (Godthåb) 15.047 inhabitants (2007)
Currency:
Danish Kroner (DKK)
This gigantic, incredibly beautiful island has been connected to the Kingdom of Denmark since the 1300s. The people of Greenland are descendents of inuit, migrated from northern Canada thousands of years ago. There are only about 56.600 people all told, because only the coastal areas are habitable, and the northern regions are really rough.
The ice cap covers most of the island, but especially along the west coast of Greenland the climate is relatively mild, so 2/3 of the population lives there. But even there the temperature rarely rises above ten degrees in the summer. Most people live in small towns, but there are also isolated hunting communities scattered over the island. The capital is called Nuuk, and it also lies on the south-west coast. In the southernmost part of the country there are small sheep farms.
In the old days, Greenland was a pure hunting society, where people followed the migration of the hunting animals, especially seals, birds and fish. But now there are modern cities with industry, schools, hospitals and everything that belongs to a modern society. More and more people choose to live in the cities. The children learn English and Danish as well as their own language Greenlandic at school.. Greenlandic is very different from English or Danish, but very much like the languages spoken by other Inuit in the Arctic.
How Greenland got its name
Many people think it's strange that a country with so much ice has been named Greenland. In 985, the Viking Erik the Red was banished from Iceland for killing a man. He was made an outlaw - that meant that anybody was free to kill him if they wanted. Therefore, Erik the Red set sail for a land that he'd heard of, far to the west. He sailed and sailed and finally he reached the southernmost part of Greenland, where he spent the winter.
To get to Greenland he had to sail through a lot of ice, so he was very surprised to find a green and fertile country behind the ice. When he later returned to Iceland he told everybody about this wonderful country he'd visited and named Greenland.
What do the Greenlanders live on?
The most important trade is fishing, and there are so many different species of fish. Moreover, there are shrimp, clams and salmon, which are exported. So fishing is very important in Greenland and 10% of the population, about 5000 are employed in fisheries. Some people hunt for seals and a whales., Because many people in the Western world don't like the idea of hunting for seals it has become difficult for the hunters to sell the seal skins.
Climate change is affecting Greenland in many ways. One of the good sides is that it makes exploitation of the mineral resources in Greenland's underground possible. Greenland already has a gold mine and a zinc mine, and other minerals such as oil and diamonds are expected to be found.
The fauna is quite varied, considering the rough polar climate. There are both reindeer, polar bears, musk oxen, mountain hares and arctic foxes. There are also many species of birds, for instance sea gulls, ducks and guillemots.
Greenland and Denmark
Like the Faroe Islands, Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Since 1979, Greenland has had home rule with local responsibility for social, political, financial and cultural issues. This means that the government of Greenland decides over these matters. In other matters (like foreign policy), decision are made by the government of Denmark.
Greenland has two seats in the Danish Parliament.
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