From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greenland
Kalaallit Nunaat
|
|
Anthem
:
Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit
(
Greenlandic
)
"You Our Ancient Land!"
|
|
Capital
|
Nuuk (Godthab)
64°10′N
51°44′W
? / ?
64.167°N 51.733°W
? /
64.167; -51.733
|
Largest city
|
Nuuk
|
Official language(s)
|
Greenlandic
(Kalaallisut)
|
Ethnic groups
|
88%
Inuit
(including Inuit-
Danish
mixed)
12%
Europeans
,
mostly Danish
|
Demonym
|
Greenlander
, Greenlandic
|
Government
|
Parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy
|
-
|
Monarch
|
Margrethe II
(for
Denmark
)
|
-
|
High Commissioner
|
Søren Hald Møller
|
-
|
Prime Minister
|
Kuupik Kleist
|
Autonomous constituent country
within the
Kingdom of Denmark
|
-
|
Norwegian sovereignty
[a]
|
1261
|
-
|
Contact re-established
|
1721
|
-
|
Ceded to Denmark
[b]
|
14 January 1814
|
-
|
Status of
amt
|
5 June 1953
|
-
|
Home rule
|
1 May 1979
|
-
|
Self rule
|
21 June 2009
[
1
]
|
Area
|
-
|
Total
|
2,166,086 km
2
(
13th
)
836,109
sq mi
|
-
|
Water (%)
|
83.1
[c]
|
Population
|
-
|
January 2010 estimate
|
56,452
[
2
]
|
-
|
Density
|
0.027/km
2
(
241st
)
0.069/sq mi
|
GDP
(
PPP
)
|
2001 estimate
|
-
|
Total
|
$1.1 billion (
not ranked
)
|
-
|
Per capita
|
$20,000
[d]
(
not ranked
)
|
HDI
(1998)
|
0.927
[
3
]
(
high
) (
n/a
)
|
Currency
|
Danish krone
(
DKK
)
|
Time zone
|
GMT
(
UTC
+0 to -4)
|
Drives on the
|
right
|
Internet TLD
|
.gl
|
Calling code
|
+299
|
a.
^
Danish monarchy reached Greenland in 1380 with the reign of
Olav IV
in Norway.
b.
^
Greenland, the
Faeroes
and
Iceland
were formally Norwegian possessions until 1814 despite 400 years of Danish monarchy beforehand.
c.
^
= As of 2000: 410,449 km² (158,433 sq. miles) ice-free; 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq. miles) ice-covered. Density: 0.14 /km² (0.36 /sq. mi) for ice-free areas.
d.
^
= 2001 estimate.
|
Greenland
(
Kalaallisut
:
Kalaallit Nunaat
meaning "Land of the
Greenlanders
";
Danish
:
Grønland
)
[
4
]
is an
autonomous
country
within the
Kingdom of Denmark
, located between the
Arctic
and
Atlantic
Oceans, east of the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
. Though
physiographically
a part of the
continent
of
North America
, Greenland has been politically associated with
Europe
(specifically
Denmark-Norway
) for about a millennium. The largest island in Greenland is also named
Greenland
, and makes up most of the country's land area.
Greenland has been inhabited, though not continuously, by
indigenous peoples
since 2500 BC. There were
Norse
colonies in Greenland from AD 986 until sometime most likely in the 15th century. In the early 18th century contact between
Scandinavia
and Greenland was re-established and Denmark established rule over Greenland.
In 1979 Denmark granted
home rule
to Greenland, in a relationship known in Danish as
Rigsfællesskabet
(Commonwealth of the Realm), and in 2008 Greenland
voted
to transfer more powers to the local government. This became effective the following year, with the Danish royal government in charge only of foreign affairs, security and financial policy, and providing a subsidy of
DKK
3.4 billion (US$633m), or approximately $11,300 per Greenlander, annually.
Greenland is, by area, the
world's largest island
that is not a continent.
[
5
]
With a population of 56,452 (January, 2010 estimate) it is the
least densely populated dependency or country in the world
.
[
6
]
[
edit
]
Etymology
The name
Greenland
comes from the early
Scandinavian
settlers. In the
Icelandic sagas
, it is said that Norwegian-born
Erik the Red
was exiled from
Iceland
for murder. He, along with his extended family and
thralls
, set out in
ships
to find a land rumoured to lie to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land
Grœnland
("Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.
[
7
]
[
8
]
Greenland was also called
Gruntland
("Ground-land") and
Engronelant
(or
Engroneland
) on early maps. Whether
green
is an erroneous transcription of
grunt
("ground"), which refers to shallow bays, or vice versa, is not known. The southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glaciers) is green in the summer.
[
edit
]
History
[
edit
]
Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures
In
prehistoric times
Greenland was home to several successive
Paleo-Eskimo
cultures known primarily through archaeological findings. The earliest entry of the
Inuit
into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From around 2500 BC to 800 BC, southern and western Greenland was inhabited by the
Saqqaq culture
. Most findings of Saqqaq period archaeological remains have been around
Disko Bay
. From 2400 BC to 1300 BC the
Independence I culture
existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the
Arctic small tool tradition
.
Around 800 BC, the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early
Dorset culture
emerged in western Greenland and the
Independence II culture
in northern Greenland. The Dorset culture was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas, both on the west and east coasts, and it lasted until the arrival of the
Thule culture
in 1500 AD. The Dorset culture population lived primarily from
whale hunting
. The Thule culture people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. They started migrating from
Alaska
around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300 AD. The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as
dog sleds
and
toggling harpoons
.
The Kingdom of Norway, circa 1300
[
edit
]
Norse settlement
From 986 AD, Greenland's west coast was colonised by
Icelanders
and
Norwegians
in two settlements on
fjords
near the southwestern-most tip of the island.
[
9
]
They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants who occupied the northern and eastern parts, and later with the
Thule culture
arriving from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century, and the kingdom of Norway entered into a personal union with
Denmark
in 1380 and from 1397 as a part of the
Kalmar Union
.
[
10
]
The settlements, such as
Brattahlið
, thrived for centuries but disappeared some time in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the
Little Ice Age
.
[
11
]
Interpretation of
ice core
and
clam
shell data suggests that between 800 and 1300 AD the regions around the
fjords
of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate several degrees
Celsius
higher than usual in the
North Atlantic
,
[
12
]
with trees and
herbaceous plants
growing and livestock being farmed.
Barley
was grown as a crop up to the 70th degree.
[
13
]
What is verifiable is that the ice cores indicate Greenland has experienced dramatic temperature shifts many times over the past 100,000 years.
[
14
]
Similarly the
Norse Book of Settlements
records
famines
during the winters in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs". (Arnold 2010)
The last written records of the
Norse
Greenlanders are of a marriage in 1408 in the church of
Hvalsey
? today the best-preserved Norse ruins in Greenland.
These
Icelandic settlements
vanished during the 14th and 15th centuries, probably as a result of famine and increasing conflicts with the
Inuit
.
[
15
]
The condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was
malnourished
, probably due to
soil erosion
resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting,
pandemic
plague
, a decline in temperatures during the
Little Ice Age
, and/or armed conflicts with the Inuit.
[
11
]
Jared Diamond
suggests that cultural practices, such as rejecting fish as a source of food and relying solely on livestock ill-adapted to Greenland's (deteriorating) climate, resulted in recurring famine which led to abandonment of the colony.
[
11
]
However, isotope analysis of the bones of inhabitants shows that marine food sources supplied more and more of the diet of the
Norse
Greenlanders, making up between 50% and 80% of their diet by the 14th century.
[
16
]
[
edit
]
1500-1814
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 the Portuguese area 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 their return to Portugal the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new map of the world which was presented to the Duke of Ferrara by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The
Cantino
planisphere
, made in Lisbon, accurately dipicts the southern coastline of Greenland.
[
17
]
King
Christian IV's Expeditions to Greenland
was a series of expeditions in the years 1605-1607 to Greenland and Arctic waterways in order to locate the lost Eastern Norse Settlement and assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders lacking experience with the difficult arctic ice and weather conditions 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
.
However, after the Norse settlements died off, the area was
de facto
controlled by various
Inuit
groups; but the Danish government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from the Norwegians, and when contact with Greenland was re-established in the early 18th century, Denmark asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721 a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary
Hans Egede
was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a
Norse
civilisation remained there. The expedition can be seen as part of the
Danish colonisation of the Americas
. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son
Paul Egede
in charge of the mission in Greenland and returned to Denmark where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at
Godthab
("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, and closed to those from other countries.
[
edit
]
Treaty of Kiel to World War II
Eventually, when the union between Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814 (
Treaty of Kiel
), the originally officially Norwegian dependencies of Greenland,
Iceland
and the
Faroe Islands
became part of the reorganised "Kingdom of Denmark".
Norway occupied and claimed parts of the then-uninhabited eastern Greenland (also called
Erik the Red's Land
) in July 1931, claiming that it constituted
terra nullius
. Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the
Permanent Court of International Justice
, which decided against Norway.
[
18
]
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in
World War II
, when Denmark was occupied by
Germany
. On April 8, 1941, the United States occupied Greenland in order to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.
[
19
]
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
. During this war, the system of government changed: Governor
Eske Brun
ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the US to lead the commission to supply Greenland. A sledge patrol (in 1942, named the
Sirius Patrol
), guarding the northeastern shores of Greenland using
dog sleds
, detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops who then destroyed them. 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 turn himself in to the
United States armed forces
.
[
20
]
Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The
Danish government
, which governed Greenland as its colony, had been convinced that this society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country were opened up. Therefore, it maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing only small scale
troaking
with Scottish whalers. Nevertheless, 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 (with the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsradene, as a participant) 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: Greenland was to be a modern welfare state with Denmark as sponsor and example. In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom.
Home rule
was granted in 1979.
[
edit
]
Sovereignty
Following World War II, the
United States
developed a
geopolitical
interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100,000,000, but Denmark refused to sell.
[
21
]
[
22
]
However, in 1950 Denmark did agree to allow the United States to establish the
Thule Air Base
, construction of which was begun in 1951 and completed in 1953, as part of a unified
NATO
Cold War defense strategy.
Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted
home rule
by the
Parliament of Denmark
in 1979. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The
Queen of Denmark
,
Margrethe II
, remains Greenland's
Head of State
. In 1985, Greenland left the
European Economic Community
(EEC) upon achieving self-rule, in view of the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and a EEC ban on
seal
skin products.
[
23
]
A
referendum on greater autonomy
[
24
]
was approved on 25 November 2008.
[
25
]
On 21 June 2009, Greenland assumed self-determination with responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognised as a separate people under international law.
[
26
]
Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defence matters. Denmark upholds the annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner, but as Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources the grant will gradually be diminished. It is a step toward full independence from Danish rule.
Greenlandic
became the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.
[
27
]
[
28
]
[
29
]
[
30
]
[
31
]
[
edit
]
Politics
Greenland's Head of State is currently
Margrethe II
. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a
Rigsombudsmand
(
High commissioner
) representing the Danish government and monarchy.
Greenland has an elected
parliament
of thirty-one members. The
head of government
is the
Prime Minister
, who is usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The current Prime Minister is
Kuupik Kleist
.
As part of the realm of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenlanders elect two representatives who sit in the
Parliament of Denmark
.
In 1985,
Greenland left the European Economic Community
(EEC), unlike
Denmark
, which remains a member. The EC later became the
EU
(European Union) when it was renamed and expanded in scope in 1992. Greenland retains some ties with the EU via Denmark. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade.
[
edit
]
Economics and business
About half of public spending on Greenland is funded by block grants from Denmark which in 2007 totaled over 3.2 billion kr. Additional proceeds from the sale of fishing licences and the annual compensation from the EU represents 280 million
DKK
per year. Greenland's economy is based on a narrow professional basis with the fishing industry as the dominant sector with some 90% of its exports. In a few years, quarrying and tourism could complement the fisheries that depend on the changing prices of fish and fishing opportunities. The long-range divides the domestic market into many small units that have high operating costs. Most of the fish factories are owned by Royal Greenland.
[
edit
]
Geography and climate
Greenland lies between latitudes
59°
and
84°N
, and longitudes
11°
and
74°W
.
The
Atlantic Ocean
borders Greenland's southeast; the
Greenland Sea
is to the east; the
Arctic Ocean
is to the north; and
Baffin Bay
is to the west. The nearest countries are
Iceland
, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and
Canada
, to the west across Baffin Bay. Greenland also contains the
world's largest national park
, and is the
world's largest
island
and the
largest
dependent territory
by area in the world. However, since the 1950s, scientists have postulated that the ice sheet covering the country may actually conceal three separate island land masses that have been bridged by glaciers over the last geologic
cooling period
.
[
32
]
[
33
]
[
34
]
The average
[
clarification needed
]
annual temperatures of Nuuk, Greenland vary from -9 to 7 °C (15.8 to 44.6 °F)
Southeast coast of Greenland.
The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km
2
(836,330 sq mi), of which the
Greenland ice sheet
covers 1,755,637 km
2
(677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 cubic kilometres (680,000 cu mi).
[
35
]
The highest point on Greenland is
Gunnbjørn Fjeld
at 3,700 metres (12,139 ft). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) in elevation.
The weight of the massive Greenland ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level.
[
36
]
[
37
]
The ice
flows
generally to the coast from the centre of the island.
All
towns and settlements of Greenland
are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park,
Northeast Greenland National Park
.
View of mountains on Greenland from the air
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 map to the right):
Eismitte
,
North Ice
, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. Currently, there is a year-round station,
Summit Camp
, on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station
Jørgen Brøndlund Fjord
was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.
Southern Greenland scenery, near
Nanortalik
, where
fjords
and mountains dominate the landscape.
The extreme north of Greenland,
Peary Land
, is not covered by an ice sheet, because the air there is too dry to produce
snow
, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice sheet. If the
Greenland ice sheet
were to
melt
away completely, the world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft).
[
38
]
Between 1989 and 1993, U.S. and European
climate
researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (1.9 mi) long
ice cores
. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change in the
Northern Hemisphere
going back about 100,000 years, and illustrated that the world's
weather
and
temperature
have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide
consequences
.
[
39
]
The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level at a faster rate than was previously believed.
[
40
]
Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) showed that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6
°C
(11
°F
).
[
41
]
Other research has shown that higher snowfalls from the
North Atlantic oscillation
caused the interior of the ice cap to thicken by an average of 6 cm or 2.36 in/yr between 1994 and 2005.
[
42
]
However, a recent study suggests a much warmer planet in relatively recent geological times:
Scientists who probed 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said that the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. That view contrasts sharply with the prevailing one that a lush forest of this kind could not have existed in Greenland any later than 2.4 million years ago. These DNA samples suggest that the temperature probably reached 10 °C (50 °F) in the summer and ?17 °C (1.4 °F) in the winter. They also indicate that during the last interglacial period, 130,000?116,000 years ago, when temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away.
[
43
]
In 1996, the American Top of the World expedition found the world's northernmost island off Greenland:
ATOW1996
. An even more northerly candidate was spotted during the return from the expedition, but its status is yet to be confirmed.
In 2007, the existence of a new island was announced. Named "
Uunartoq Qeqertoq
" (English:
Warming Island
), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.
[
44
]
The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.
[
45
]
Ben Keene, the atlas's editor, commented: "In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the Arctic and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this ice bridge on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world’s largest island continues to melt."
Some controversy surrounds the history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th century.
[
46
]
[
edit
]
Topography
About 81% of Greenland's surface is covered by the
Greenland ice sheet
. The weight of the ice has depressed the central land area into a basin shape, whose base lies more than 300 metres (984 ft) below the surrounding ocean.
[
37
]
Elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.
[
47
]
[
edit
]
Economy
Greenland today is critically dependent on
fishing
and
fish
exports. The
shrimp
fishing industry is by far the largest income earner.
[
citation needed
]
Despite resumption of several interesting
hydrocarbon
and
mineral
exploration activities, it will take several years before hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company
NUNAOIL
was created in order to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. The state company Nunamineral has been launched on the
Copenhagen Stock Exchange
to raise more capital to increase the production of gold, started in 2007.
Mining of
ruby
deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing. These include
uranium
,
aluminium
,
nickel
,
platinum
,
tungsten
,
titanium
and
copper
.
The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. About half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the
gross domestic product
(GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the weaker economies of Europe.
Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s, but since 1993 the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining
lead
and
zinc
mine that year. More recently, new sources of
ruby
in Greenland have been discovered promising to bring new industry and a new export to the country. (See
Greenland Ruby
).
[
edit
]
Transportation
Air transportation exists both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are no roads between cities because the coast has many
fjords
that would require ferry service to connect a road network.
[
citation needed
]
Kangerlussuaq Airport
on the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to
Copenhagen
.
In May 2007,
Air Greenland
initiated a seasonal route to and from
Baltimore
in the
United States
,
[
48
]
but on March 10, 2008, the route was cancelled because of financial losses.
[
49
]
Air Iceland
began operating a twice-weekly
Keflavik
-
Ilulissat
route in July 2009.
[
50
]
In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between
Narsarsuaq
and
Copenhagen
.
Air Iceland
operates routes between
Reykjavik
and
Narsarsuaq
,
Ilulissat
,
Nuuk
on the west coast and
Kulusuk
,
Ittoqqortoormiit
on the east coast.
Sea
passenger
and
freight
transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by
Arctic Umiaq Line
. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.
[
edit
]
Demographics
Greenland has a population of 57,637 (July 2010 estimate),
[
51
]
of whom 88% are
Inuit
or mixed
Danish
and Inuit. The remaining 12% are of
European
descent, mainly Danish. The majority of the population is
Evangelical Lutheran
. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the
fjords
in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.
[
52
]
Approximately 15,000 Greenlanders reside in
Nuuk
, the capital city.
[
edit
]
Religion
Most Greenlandic villages have their own church, such as
Nanortalik
.
The major religion is
Lutheranism
and Greenlanders are more religious than other
Nordic people
. 96.6% of the population are
Christians
and 2.2% are non-religious, while ethnic religions and other religions constitute 0.7% and 0.5% of the population respectively.
The
New Testament
was translated to
Greenlandic
from 1766 to 1893 and the first translation of the whole
Bible
was completed in 1900. A new translation was completed in 2000.
[
54
]
Greenland was Christianized by
Norwegian
and
Danish
missionaries
between the 17th and 19th centuries, but there are still
Christian
missionaries there, mainly from
Charismatic
movements.
Hans Egede
,
Paul Egede
and
Samuel Kleinschmidt
are important figures in the
Christianisation
of Greenland.
Sofie Petersen
serves as the
Danish Lutheran
Bishop of Greenland.
[
55
]
[
edit
]
Languages
Both
Greenlandic (Kalaallisut)
and
Danish
have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979, and the majority of the population can speak both languages. Greenlandic became the sole official language in June 2009.
[
56
]
In practice, Danish is still widely used in the administration, as a language of higher education, but also as the first or only language for parts of the population in Nuuk and larger towns. A debate about the role of Greenlandic and Danish in future society is ongoing.
[
edit
]
Greenlandic
A majority of the population speaks Greenlandic, most of them bilingual, but some monolingual. The Greenlandic language is spoken by about 50,000 people. It is the most populous of the languages of the
Eskimo-Aleut
language family and has as many speakers as all the other languages of the family combined.
Within Greenland, three main
dialects
exist: Western Greenlandic or
Kalaallisut
, which serves as the official standard language, the northern dialect
Inuktun
or
Avanersuarmiutut,
spoken by around 1,000 people in the region of
Qaanaaq
, and the Eastern dialect
Tunumiisut
, spoken by about 3,000 people in eastern Greenland.
[
57
]
The dialects are hardly mutually intelligible and by some linguists considered to be separate languages. As the Western Greenlandic standard has become dominating, a
UNESCO
report has labelled the dialects as endangered, and measures are now considered to protect the Eastern Greenlandic dialect.
[
58
]
[
edit
]
Danish
Danish migrants, forming about 12% of the population, many of them filling positions as administrators, professionals, academics or skilled tradesmen, speak
Danish
as their first, or only, language. While Greenlandic is dominant in smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or mixed ancestry, especially in towns, speaks Danish as their first language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk and in the higher social strata, this is a large group. While one strategy aims at promoting Greenlandic in public life and education, developing its vocabulary and suitability for complex contexts, this approach is labelled 'Greenlandisation' by opponents who do not wish to aim at Greenlandic becoming the sole national language.
English
is taught in schools and widely mastered as a third language.
[
59
]
The country has a 100% literacy rate.
[
51
]
[
edit
]
Culture
An
Inuit
family in Greenland, 1917.
The culture of Greenland has much in common with
Inuit
tradition, as the majority of people are descended from Inuit. People continue the Inuit tradition of
ice-fishing
and there are annual dog-sled races. Fishing by traditional methods has been increasingly replaced by the use of firearms and modern technology.
[
edit
]
Sport
Association football
is the national sport of Greenland. The nation is not yet a member of
FIFA
because it cannot grow grass for regulation grass pitches. It is a member of the
NF Board
.
[
citation needed
]
In January 2007, Greenland took part in the
World Men's Handball Championship
in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams.
Greenland competes in the biennial
Island Games
, as well as the biennial
Arctic Winter Games
.
[
edit
]
Notable people
Following are the notable people from Greenland:
[
edit
]
See also
History:
Political:
Geography:
- ^
"Self-rule introduced in Greenland"
.
BBC News
. 2009-06-21
.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8111292.stm
. Retrieved 2010-05-04
.
- ^
Statistics Greenland,
Greenland in Figures, 2010
- ^
"United Nations Island Directory"
. Islands.unep.ch
.
http://islands.unep.ch/CTP.htm
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Stern, Pamela (July 2004). "The Dictionary".
Historical dictionary of the Inuit
. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.. p. 89.
ISBN
0810850583
.
OCLC
54768167
.
- ^
"Joshua Calder's World Island Info"
. Worldislandinfo.com
.
http://www.worldislandinfo.com
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"The 2008 Revision Population Database"
. Esa.un.org. 2009-03-11
.
http://esa.un.org/unpp/
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"Retrieved 12-Feb-2007"
. Gutenberg.org. 2006-03-08
.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17946/17946-h/17946-h.htm
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Þorgilsson, Ari. "Islendingabok." from
Islendinga Sogur.
Reykjavik: Sigurður Kristjansson, 1891. p. 10,
http://ia331434.us.archive.org/3/items/slendingasgu0104valduoft/slendingasgu0104valduoft.pdf
Retrieved 29-May-2009
- ^
The Fate of Greenland's Vikings
, by Dale Mackenzie Brown,
Archaeological Institute of America
, February 28, 2000
- ^
Boraas, Tracey (2002).
Sweden
. Capstone Press. p. 24.
ISBN
0-7368-0939-2
.
- ^
a
b
c
Diamond, Jared M. (2006).
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
. Harmondsworth [Eng.]: Penguin.
ISBN
0-14-303655-6
.
- ^
Arnold C. Cold did in the Norse. Earth Magazine June 2010, pg 9.
- ^
"Kulturgeschichte des Klimas: Von der Eiszeit zur globalen Erwarmung: Amazon.de: Wolfgang Behringer: Bucher"
. Amazon.de. 2009-09-09
.
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/340652866X?ie=UTF8&tag=scieskepblog-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1638&creative=19454&creativeASIN=340652866X%22
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Alley P, Mayewski P, Peel D, Stauffer B (1996).
"Twin Ice Cores From Greenland Reveal History of Climate Change, More"
.
Earth in Space
9
(2): 12?13
.
http://www.agu.org/journals/ABS/1996/96EO00142.shtml
.
- ^
Inuit and Norsemen in Arctic Canada 1000 to 1400 AD
[
dead link
]
- ^
Arneborg, J.; Heinmeier, J.; Lynnerup, N.; Nielsen, H. L.; Rud, N.; Sveinbjornsdottir, A. E. (2002).
C-14 dating and the disappearance of Norsemen from Greenland
. Europhysics news.
- ^
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.
- ^
Legal Status of Eastern Greenland
, PCIJ Series A/B No. 53 (1933)
- ^
In Danger Undaunted: The Anti-Interventionist Movement of 1940-1941 by Justus D. Doenecke:
. Books.google.com. 1941-07-08.
ISBN
9780817988418
.
http://books.google.com/?id=Bhnf0fxI260C&pg=PA331&lpg=PA331&dq=%22United+States+occupation+of+Greenland%22#v=onepage&q=%22United%20States%20occupation%20of%20Greenland%22&f=false
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Speer, Albert
Inside the Third Reich
1971
- ^
"Deepfreeze Defense"
. Time Magazine. 1947-01-27
.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778870,00.html
.
- ^
Miller, John J. (2001-05-07).
"Let's Buy Greenland! ? A complete missile-defense plan"
.
National Review's National Political Reporter
(National Review)
.
http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment050701b.shtml
.
- ^
Stern, 2004, pp. 55?56
- ^
Cowell, Alan (2008-11-26).
"Greenland Vote Favors Independence"
.
New York Times
.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/europe/27greenland.html
. Retrieved 2010-05-04
.
- ^
"Vejledende folkeafstemning om selvstyre ? 25-11-2008"
(in Greenlandic). SermitValg. 2008-11-26
.
http://www.valg.gl/
. Retrieved 2008-11-26
.
- ^
http://www.amblissabon.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/EDC5978E-71C2-467E-974A-598A01EEA562/0/DraftActonGreenlandSelfGovernment.pdf
- ^
"Self-rule introduced in Greenland"
. BBC News. 2009-06-21
.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8111292.stm
. Retrieved 2009-06-21
.
- ^
"Nearly independent day"
. The Economist. 2009-06-20
.
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13854765
. Retrieved 2009-06-20
.
- ^
"Greenland set for self-rule"
. The Australian. 2009-06-19
.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25659553-26040,00.html
. Retrieved 2009-06-20
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Boswell, Randy (2009-06-19).
"Greenland takes big step towards full independence"
.
Canwest News Services
. Canada.com
.
http://www.canada.com/news/Greenland+takes+step+towards+full+independence/1713910/story.html
. Retrieved 2009-06-20
.
- ^
Hansen, Jesper (2008-05-07).
"Greenland on the Self-Rule-Road"
. Arctic-council.org
.
http://arctic-council.org/article/2008/5/greenland_on_the_self-rule-road
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
San Francisco Chronicle
:
"Greenland's Huge Ice Sheet Is Melting Far Faster Than Scientists Expected"
- ^
Ellensburg Daily Record
(Google News):
Greenland Icecap Bridges Three Islands
- ^
U.S. Climate Emergency Council:
"Greenland's Ice Sheet Is Slip-Sliding Away"
- ^
"IPCC Climate Change 2001: Working Group I: The Scientific Basis"
. Grida.no
.
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/412.htm#tab113
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"map (map on p. 4)"
.
http://nia.ecsu.edu/ur/0708/07summerinterns/smith_cresis_greenland.ppt
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
a
b
DK Atlas, 2001.
- ^
"Greenland Melt May Swamp LA, Other Cities, Study Says"
. News.nationalgeographic.com
.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/0408_040408_greenlandicemelt.html
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Alley, 2000
- ^
Roach, John (February 16, 2006).
"Greenland Glaciers Losing Ice Much Faster, Study Says"
.
National Geographic
.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0216_060216_warming.html
. Retrieved 2006-09-13
.
- ^
http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/87295.pdf
- ^
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/07/ice_sheets_thickening/
- ^
Willerslev, E.;
et al.
(2007).
"Ancient biomolecules from deep ice cores reveal a forested southern Greenland"
.
Science
317
(5834): 111?4.
doi
:
10.1126/science.1141758
.
PMID
17615355
.
- ^
McCarthy, Michael (2007-04-24).
"An island made by global warming"
.
The Independent
(London)
.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2480994.ece
. Retrieved 2010-05-04
.
- ^
"Place of the Year"
. Blog.oup.com. 2007-12-03
.
http://blog.oup.com/2007/12/place_of_the_year
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Revkin, Andrew C. (2008-04-28).
"Arctic Explorer Rebuts ‘Warming Island’ Critique"
. Dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/arctic-explorer-rebuts-critique-of-warming-island/
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Schneider D (2003).
"American Scientist Online ? Greenland or Whiteland?"
. Sigma Xi
.
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2003/9/greenland-or-whiteland
. Retrieved 2008-03-03
.
- ^
"Historical Maiden Flight US-Greenland ? Official national guide by Greenland Tourism and Business Council"
. Greenland.com
.
http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/news/news_archive/historical_maiden_flight_us-greenland
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"News ? Air Greenland"
. Airgreenland.com
.
http://www.airgreenland.com/nyhed/?newsid=666
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"Air Iceland to open new route to Ilulissat in 2009, The Official Tourism and Business Site of Greenland"
. Greenland.com
.
http://www.greenland.com/content/english/tourist/news/news_archive/air_iceland_to_open_new_route_to_ilulissat_in_2009
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
a
b
"Greenland"
.
CIA World Factbook
. 2009-10-28
.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gl.html
. Retrieved 2009-11-05
.
- ^
"Greenland"
. Stalvik.com
.
http://www.stalvik.com/Engelska/laegreenland.htm
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Joshua Project.
"Joshua Project"
. Joshua Project
.
http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=GL
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Leif Kiil Sørensen.
"Grønlandsk bibel præsenteret | Kristeligt Dagblad"
. Kristeligt-dagblad.dk
.
http://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/artikel/225350:Kirke---tro--Groenlandsk-bibel-praesenteret
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
"Bells ring a wake-up call for climate justice."
World Council of Churches.
14 December 2010 (retrieved 30 August 2010)
- ^
"Effective on 21 June"
. BBC News. 2008-11-27
.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7752660.stm
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
- ^
Philippe Mennecier:
Le tunumiisut, dialecte inuit du Groenland oriental : description et analyse
, Collection linguistique, 78, Societe de linguistique de Paris, 1978.
- ^
"Sermersooq will secure Eastern Greenlandic"
(in Danish).
Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa
. 2010-01-06
.
http://www.knr.gl/index.php?id=6700&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=51930&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=6702&cHash=b321fb7a1d
. Retrieved 2010-05-19
.
- ^
"Greenland Representation to the EU, Greenland Home Rule Government"
. Eu.nanoq.gl
.
http://eu.nanoq.gl/Emner/About%20Greenland/Travelling%20in%20Greenland.aspx
. Retrieved 2010-09-06
.
[
edit
]
References
- Alley, Richard B. The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future.
Princeton University Press
, 2000,
ISBN 0-691-00493-5
.
- Bardarson, I. (ed. Jonsson, F.) "Det gamle Grønlands beskrivelse af Ivar Barðarson (Ivar Bardsson)", (Copenhagen, 1930).
- CIA World Factbook
, 2000.
- Lund, S. 1959. The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 1. Taxonomical Part.
Meddr Gronland.
156(1), pp. 1?245.
- Lund, S. 1959. The Marine Algae of East Greenland. 11. Geographic Distribution.
Meddr Gronland.
156, pp. 1?70.
- Steffen, Konrad, N. Cullen, and R. Huff (2005). "Climate variability and trends along the western slope of the Greenland Ice Sheet during 1991-2004,"
Proceedings of the 85th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
(San Diego).
- Stern, Pamela R. Historical dictionary of the Inuit. Scarecrow Press, 2004.
ISBN 978-0810850583
[
edit
]
External links
- Government
- General information
- Other
Coordinates
:
72°00′N
40°00′W
? / ?
72°N 40°W
? /
72; -40
International membership
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v
·
d
·
e
Non-sovereign
territories
of Europe
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Autonomous regions
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Russia
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Elsewhere
|
Adjara
,
Abkhazia
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Georgia
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Aland Islands
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Finland
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,
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Portugal
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,
1
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|
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1
Geographically part of
Asia
, but having socio-political connections with Europe.
|
|
|
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v
·
d
·
e
Former possessions of
Norway
|
|
Medieval empire
|
|
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Mainland provinces
|
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Modern era
|
|
|
1
Pawned as dowry security.
2
Not internationally recognised.
|
|