Greenland

Greenland is an <a href="/facts/Autonomous_territory/JnUkBUJc">autonomous territory</a> in the <a href="/facts/Danish_Realm/SErkFD5m">Kingdom of Denmark</a>. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan <a href="/facts/Denmark/KVtykzsw">Denmark</a> and the <a href="/facts/Faroe_Islands/HMJ3bfmN">Faroe Islands</a>. Citizens of Greenland are full <a href="/facts/Danish_nationality_law/gh88PI1H">citizens of Denmark</a> and <a href="/facts/European_Union_citizenship/7TggdEhq">of the European Union</a>. Greenland is one of the <a href="/facts/Special_territories_of_members_of_the_European_Economic_Area/IBtLk2a9">Overseas Countries and Territories</a> of the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a> and is part of the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Europe/51I3TyDg">Council of Europe</a>. It is the <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_by_area/UxgRkKGB">world's largest island</a>, and lies between the <a href="/facts/Arctic_Ocean/l6HS3QyV">Arctic</a> and Atlantic oceans, east of the <a href="/facts/Arctic_Archipelago/M9FjXPrc">Canadian Arctic Archipelago</a>. It is the location of the northernmost point of land in the world; <a href="/facts/Kaffeklubben_Island/2pvFkggk">Kaffeklubben Island</a> off the northern coast is the world's <a href="/facts/Northernmost_point_of_land/18lkhsJl">northernmost undisputed point of land</a>—<a href="/facts/Cape_Morris_Jesup/zJbFeHm5">Cape Morris Jesup</a> on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. The capital and largest city is <a href="/facts/Nuuk/jpcGkh9x">Nuuk</a>. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on <a href="/facts/Block_grant/7McB4Jqp">aid from Denmark</a>, amounting to nearly half of the territory's total public revenue.
Though a part of the continent of <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with the <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">European</a> kingdoms of <a href="/facts/Norway/wlDRKRTR">Norway</a> and Denmark for more than a millennium, beginning in 986. Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by <a href="/facts/Circumpolar_peoples/2jflU5R6">circumpolar peoples</a> whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada. <a href="/facts/Vikings/d0WFeQ6f">Norsemen</a> from Norway settled the uninhabited <a href="/facts/Norse_settlements_in_Greenland/DL2xBgnQ">southern part of Greenland</a> beginning in the 10th century (having previously <a href="/facts/Settlement_of_Iceland/q86dQNtx">settled Iceland</a>), and their descendants lived in Greenland for 400 years until disappearing in the late 15th century. The 13th century saw the arrival of <a href="/facts/Inuit/wJaIGexN">Inuit</a>.
From the late 15th century, the Portuguese attempted to find the northern route to Asia, which ultimately led to the earliest cartographic depiction of its coastline. In the 17th century, <a href="/facts/Denmark%25E2%2580%2593Norway/1BByzm5P">Dano-Norwegian</a> explorers reached Greenland again, finding their earlier settlement extinct and reestablishing a permanent Scandinavian presence on the island. When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland was transferred from the Norwegian to the Danish crown. The 1953 <a href="/facts/Constitution_of_Denmark/dsooMXWv">Constitution of Denmark</a> ended Greenland's status as a colony, integrating it fully into the Danish state. In the <a href="/facts/1979_Greenlandic_home_rule_referendum/gxIpfshL">1979 Greenlandic home rule referendum</a>, Denmark granted <a href="/facts/Home_rule/8oSS0uA9">home rule</a> to Greenland. In the <a href="/facts/2008_Greenlandic_self-government_referendum/kXIQBsXJ">2008 Greenlandic self-government referendum</a>, Greenlanders voted for the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local <a href="/facts/Naalakkersuisut/VYKN65XF">Naalakkersuisut</a> (Greenlandic government). Under this structure, Greenland gradually assumed responsibility for a number of governmental services and areas of competence. The Danish government retains control of citizenship, monetary policy, security policies, and foreign affairs. With the melting of the ice due to <a href="/facts/Global_warming/rEN4BDE7">global warming</a>, its abundance of mineral wealth, and its strategic position between <a href="/facts/Eurasia/KlLI9GDM">Eurasia</a>, North America and the Arctic zone, Greenland holds strategic importance for the Kingdom of Denmark, NATO, and the EU.
Most residents of Greenland are Inuit. The population is concentrated mainly on the southwest coast, strongly influenced by climatic and geographical factors, and the rest of the island is sparsely populated. With a population of 56,583 (2022), Greenland is the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density/WmvuNLfW">least densely populated country</a> in the world. Greenland is socially progressive, like metropolitan Denmark; education and healthcare are free, and <a href="/facts/LGBTQ_rights_in_Greenland/S1kHRf3t">LGBTQ rights in Greenland</a> are some of the most extensive in the world. Sixty-seven percent of its electricity production comes from renewable energy, mostly from <a href="/facts/Hydropower/Adx1E5ha">hydropower</a>.

Greenland open-in-new

Greenland