Greenland
Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, "land of the kalaallits"; Danish: Grønland, "green land" ») is a large island in the northeastern part of North America, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, politically constituted as a constituent nation of the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Northern Europe (specifically Scandinavia) for over a millennium. With its 2,166,086 km², is considered the largest island in the world, following the definition of Australia as a landmass. Its capital is Nuuk.
Greenland has been inhabited, though not continuously, since the mid-3rd millennium BC. C. by Amerindian peoples. In the year 986 its southern coast was colonized by populations of Nordic origin from Iceland, and in 1261 the Greenlanders accepted Norwegian sovereignty over the island. Norse occupation lasted until the early 15th century century, declining possibly due to the Little Ice Age. At the beginning of the 18th century, Hans Egede reestablished contact with Greenland, becoming dependent on Denmark in 1814, after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway. Since the Danish Constitution of 1953, Greenland has been part of the Kingdom of Denmark in a relationship known as Rigsfællesskabet (Crown Commonwealth).
In 1979, Denmark granted it autonomy and, in 2008, transferred most of the powers that the Danish government had to the Greenlandic local government. This transfer became effective the following year and left the powers of foreign affairs, security and financial policy to Denmark. It gave Greenland an annual subsidy of US$633 million, which was US$11,300 per capita.
Etymology
In the year 982, the Norwegian-born Viking sailor and explorer Erik Thorvaldsson (950-1003), called Erik the Red, because he had been banned from Iceland for the murder of several people, sailed to the west of Iceland discovered a huge island which he called in the Danish language Grønland (in Spanish Greenland ), whose meaning is "green land (or country)". Although southern Greenland, not covered by glaciers, is only green during the summer, this designation may have been a simple pretense to attract settlers since the island Erik came from, Iceland —Ísland means "land of ice" - had more vegetation than Greenland.
History
The first inhabitants of Greenland were the so-called Paleo-Eskimos.
Paleo-Eskimo peoples
The prehistory of Greenland is a history of repeated waves of paleo-Eskimo or Inuit immigration from the northern islands of North America. Being one of the most extreme geographical places in the cultural extension of these peoples, their lives were in constant danger and cultures were born and died over the centuries. Of the periods prior to the Scandinavian exploration of the Greenlandic territory, archeology can only provide approximate dates:
- Saqqaq culture: from 2500 BC to 800 BC in southern Greenland.
- Independence culture I: from 2400 BC to 1300 BC in the north of Greenland.
- Independence culture II: from 800 BC to 1 BC, at the northern end of Greenland.
- Primitive dorset culture or Dorset I: from 700 B.C. to 200, in southern Greenland.
Norse Settlement
Norwegian navigator Gunnbjörn Ulfsson was the first European to reach Greenland, after which in 978 Snaebjörn Galti visited the islands off the coast of Ammassalik and Erik the Red reached the main island around 982. The date of establishment the first colony, according to the sagas, was in 985. Starting in 986, the western coast of Greenland was colonized by Icelanders and Norwegians, through a contingent of 14 ships led by Erik the Red. They formed three settlements –known as the Eastern Settlement, the Western Settlement and the Middle Settlement – in the fjords near the southwestern tip of the island. They shared the island with the inhabitants of the late Dorset culture, who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with the Thule culture, who entered from the north. The Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in 1261 under the Kingdom of Norway. Later this kingdom entered into a personal union with Denmark in 1380 and from 1397 it was part of the Kalmar Union.
Norse settlements, such as the one at Brattahlíð, prospered for centuries, but disappeared sometime in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age. Apart from a few runic inscriptions, no surviving contemporary records or historiography of Norse settlements exist. Icelandic sagas and Norwegian medieval historical works mention Greenland's economy, as well as the bishops of Gardar and the collection of tithes. A chapter of the Konungs skuggsjá ("King's Mirror") describes the exports and imports of Nordic Greenland, as well as the cultivation of grain.
The Icelandic sagas' accounts of life in Greenland were composed from the 13th century and are not primary sources for the history of early Norse Greenland, so modern understanding depends on physical data from archaeological sites. Interpretation of ice core and clam shell data suggests that between AD 800 and 1300. C., the regions surrounding the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a mild climate, several degrees Celsius warmer than usual in the North Atlantic, in which trees and herbaceous plants grew and livestock were raised. Barley was grown up to the 70th parallel. Ice cores indicate that Greenland has experienced drastic temperature swings many times in the last 100,000 years. Similarly, the Landnámabók ("Book of Settlements") of Iceland records famines during winters, in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown off cliffs."
Due to changing climatic conditions and territorial pressure from the Inuit, the western settlement was abandoned around 1350, and by 1430 the eastern settlement also disappeared.
Icelandic settlements disappeared during the 14th century and early 15th century The disappearance of western settlement coincides with a decline in temperatures in summer and winter. A study of the seasonal temperature variability of the North Atlantic during the Little Ice Age showed a significant drop in summer maximum temperatures beginning around the turn of the century XIII to early XIV century, up to 6 to 8 °C (11 to 14 °C F) less than modern summer temperatures. The study also revealed that the lowest winter temperatures in the last 2,000 years occurred at the turn of the century XIV and early XV. The eastern settlement was likely abandoned in the early to mid-15th century century, during this cold period.
Theories drawn from archaeological excavations at Herjolfsnes in the 1920s suggest that the state of human bones from this period indicates that the Nordic population was undernourished, possibly due to soil erosion resulting from the destruction of natural vegetation by the Norse in the course of farming, mowing, and logging. Malnutrition may also have resulted from widespread deaths from the pandemic plague, falling temperatures during the Little Ice Age, and armed conflicts with the skrælings (Norse for Inuit, meaning wretches). Recent archaeological studies somewhat question the general assumption that Norse colonization had a drastic, negative environmental effect on vegetation. The data supports traces of a possible Nordic soil amendment strategy. More recent evidence suggests that the Norse, who never exceeded 2,500 inhabitants, gradually abandoned the Greenlandic settlements throughout the 15th century as walrus ivory, Greenland's most valuable export, fell in price due to competition from other, higher-quality sources of ivory, and there was actually little evidence of starvation or hardship.
Other theories have been put forward about the disappearance of the Norse settlement:
- Lack of support.
- Merodeers by boat (such as Basque, English or German pirates), instead of skrælings, could have plundered and displaced the Greenlanders.
- They were "the victims of a hidden thought and a hierarchical society dominated by the Church and the greatest owners of land. In their reluctance to look at themselves as something different from the Europeans, the Greenlanders did not adopt the kind of clothing that the Inuit used as protection against cold and humidity or borrowed any of the Inuit hunting gears."
- "The structure of Nordic society created a conflict between the short-term interests of those in the long-term power and interests of society as a whole."
Thule culture (1300-present)
The Thule are the ancestors of the present-day population of Greenland. No paleoinuit genes have been found in the present-day population of Greenland. The Thule culture migrated east from present-day Alaska around AD 1000. arriving in Greenland around 1300. The Thule culture was the first to introduce technological innovations such as dog sleds and lever harpoons to Greenland. After the European colonies were abandoned, the Inuit were the only inhabitants of the territory until the 18th century.
European colonization
In 1500, King Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar Corte-Real to Greenland in search of a pass to northwest Asia that, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas, was part of Portugal's sphere of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother Miguel. Finding the sea frozen over, they headed south and reached Labrador and Newfoundland. On the return of the brothers to Portugal, the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new world map that was presented to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The planisphere of Cantino, made in Lisbon, accurately represents the southern coast of Greenland.
In 1605-1607, King Christian IV of Denmark sent a series of expeditions to Greenland and the Arctic waterways to locate the lost East Norse settlement and assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly because the leaders lacked experience in the difficult ice and weather conditions of the Arctic, and partly because the expedition leaders were instructed to search for the eastern settlement on the eastern coast of Greenland, just north of Cape Farewell, which is nearly inaccessible due to southerly drifting ice. The pilot for all three voyages was the English explorer James Hall.
After the disappearance of the Norse settlements, Greenland came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Danish government never forgot or renounced the claims to Greenland it had inherited from the Norse. When it reestablished contact with Greenland in the early 17th century century, Denmark claimed sovereignty over the island. In 1721, a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by the Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Nordic civilization still existed there. This expedition is part of the Danish-Norwegian colonization of America. 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 seminary in Greenland. This new colony was centered at Godthåb ("Good Hope"), on the southwest coast. Little by little, Greenland was opened to Danish traders, but closed to those from other countries.
From the Treaty of Kiel to World War II
When the union between the Danish and Norwegian crowns dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel separated Norway's former colonies and placed them under the control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland in July 1931 as Erik the Red Land, claiming it constituted terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to refer the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which ruled against Norway.
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on April 9, 1940, at the beginning of World War II, following the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany. On April 8, 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it from a possible invasion by Germany. The American occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to purchase products from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the Ivittuut mine. The main airbases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), which are still used as Greenland's main international airports. Bluie was the military code name for Greenland.
During this war, the system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a 1925 law that allowed governors to take control in extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to head the Greenland supply commission. The Danish Sirius patrol patrolled the northeast coast of Greenland in 1942 using dogsleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted US troops, who destroyed the facility. After the fall of the Third Reich, Albert Speer considered a brief chance to escape in a small plane to hide in Greenland, but he changed his mind and decided to turn himself in to the United States Armed Forces.
Greenland had been a sheltered and highly isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly on Greenlandic trade, allowing only small-scale barter with British whalers. In times of war, Greenland developed a sense of self-sufficiency through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including Greenland's highest council, the Landsrådene, recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was taken when a grand commission was created. A final report (G-50) was presented in 1950 recommending the introduction of a modern welfare state with the development of Denmark as its patron and model. In 1953, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Denmark on equal terms. In 1979 autonomy was granted.
Autonomy and self-government
After World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 offered to buy the island from Denmark for $100 million. Denmark refused to sell it. Historically, this echoed an interest of Secretary of State William H. Seward. In 1867 he worked with former Senator Robert J. Walker to explore the possibility of buying Greenland and perhaps Iceland. Opposition in Congress put an end to this project. In the 21st century, the United States, according to WikiLeaks, remained interested in investing in Greenland's resource base and exploiting the hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast. In August 2019, then-US President Donald Trump even re-proposed buying the country, prompting Prime Minister Kim Kielsen to issue the following statement: "Greenland is not for sale and we are not it can be sold, but Greenland is open to trade and cooperation with other countries, including the United States."
In 1950, Denmark agreed to allow the United States to regain use of the Thule Air Base; this was expanded considerably between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO defense strategy during the Cold War. Local people from three nearby towns were relocated more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) in winter. The United States attempted to build an underground network of secret nuclear missile launch sites on the Greenland ice sheet, dubbed Project Iceworm. According to documents declassified in 1996, this project was managed from Camp Century between 1960 and 1966 before abandoning it as it was considered unfeasible. The missiles were never launched and the necessary consent of the Danish Government to do so was never sought. The Danish government was unaware of the program's mission until 1997, when it discovered it by searching through declassified documents for records related to the crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber at Thule in 1968.
With the Danish constitution of 1953, Greenland's colonial status ended as the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county). Danish citizenship was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policy towards Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation, or de-Greenlandization. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official business and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for higher education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and some lost their cultural ties to Greenland. Although the policies "succeeded" in that Greenlanders shifted from being primarily subsistence hunters to urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement for independence developed, reaching its peak in the 1970s. As a consequence of political complications related to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, which gave rise to the Autonomy Law of 1979.
This law gave Greenland limited autonomy, with its own legislature taking control of some domestic policies, while the Parliament of Denmark retained full control of foreign policy, security, and natural resources. The law entered into force on May 1, 1979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC) upon gaining autonomy, as it disagreed with EEC commercial fishing rules and the EEC ban on sealskin products. On November 25, 2008, Greenland approved the extension of its autonomy statute through a referendum on its self-government that grants it greater economic resources, control of its oil resources and the possibility of availing itself of the right to self-determination. According to a study, the The 2008 vote created what "can be considered a compromise between autonomy and full independence".
On June 21, 2009, Greenland gained self-government with provisions to assume self-government responsibility for judicial affairs, police, and natural resources. Furthermore, the Greenlanders were recognized as an independent people under international law. Denmark maintains control of foreign and defense affairs. Denmark maintains the annual block grant of DKK 3.2 billion, but as Greenland begins to collect revenue from its natural resources, the grant will gradually decrease. This is generally considered a step towards full Danish independence. Greenlandic was declared the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.
Politics
Government
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The head of state in Greenland is Marguerite II. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a Rigsombudsmand (High Commissioner) who represents the Danish government and monarchy. As an integral part of Denmark, it elects two representatives in the Danish parliament.
Legislative power is vested in a 31-member Parliament. The parliament elected in the 2005 elections consisted of five parties. The main one, with ten seats, was the Social Democrat Siumut. The head of government is the prime minister, who is generally the leader of the majority party in Parliament. Since 2002, this position has been held by Hans Enoksen, who was replaced in 2009 by Kuupik Kleist of the Inuit Ataqatigiit, which after the June 2009 elections became the party with the most votes.
Political system
The party system is dominated by the social democratic Forward Party and the social democratic Inuit Community Party, who advocate greater independence from Denmark. While the 2009 election saw the unionist Democratic Party (two MPs) suffer a major decline, the 2013 election saw the consolidation of the power of the two main parties at the expense of smaller groups, and the Inuit Party was elected for the first time Ecosocialist in Parliament. The dominance of the Adelante and Comunidad Inuit parties began to wane after the early elections of 2014 and 2018.
The 2008 non-binding referendum on home rule favored increasing home rule by 21,355 votes to 6,663.
In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC became the European Union (EU, renamed and enlarged in 1992). Greenland maintains 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 (OCTs) and is therefore not an official part of the European Union, although it can and does receive aid from the European Development Fund, the Multiannual Financial Framework, the European Bank for Investments and EU programmes.
Defense
The defense of Greenland (as well as foreign policy) is the responsibility of Denmark. However, since June 2009, the coast guard has been in the hands of the Greenlandic government. Several US and Danish military bases are located in Greenland, including Thule Air Base, which is home to the global sensor network of the US Space Force's 21st Space Wing which provides missile warning, space surveillance and space control to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
In 1995, a political scandal erupted in Denmark after a report revealed that the government had given tacit permission for nuclear weapons to be located in Greenland, in contravention of Denmark's 1957 nuclear-free zone policy. The United States built a secret nuclear power base, called Camp Century, on the Greenland ice sheet. On January 21, 1968, a B-52G, with four nuclear bombs on board as part of Operation Chrome Dome, crashed into the ice of North Star Bay while attempting an emergency landing at the base. Thule aerial. The resulting fire caused extensive radioactive contamination. One of the H-bombs was lost.
Political-administrative organization
Until January 1, 2009, Greenland was administered into three districts (landsdele): Avannaa (Danish for Nordgrønland), Danish for Østgrønland, Tunu, Danish for Kitaa (Vestgrønland). In 2009 the administrative division was changed, reorganizing the territory into four municipalities. In 2018, the municipality of Qaasuitsup disappeared, giving rise to the municipalities of Avannaata and Qeqertalik, bringing the total to five.
Municipalities
| Municipality | Surface | Population (2018) | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sermersooq | 635 600 km2 | 21 232. |  |
| Qeqqata | 115 500 km2 | 9 677. |  |
| Qeqertalik | 62 400 km2 | 6 504. |  |
| Kujalleq | 32 500 km2 | 7 589. |  |
| Avannaata | 522 700 km2 | 10 651 hab |  |
Unincorporated Areas
Northeast Greenland National Park is an unincorporated area and is not part of any municipality. Thule Air Base is an unincorporated area as an enclave within the Avannaata Municipality.
| Area | Surface | Population (2013) | Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast Greenland National Park | 972 000 km2 | 233 there. |  |
Geography
Greenland lies between parallel 59ºN and 84ºN, and in longitudes 11ºW to 74ºW. It is the third largest region in North America. The Atlantic Ocean borders Greenland to the south, the Greenland Sea borders the country to the east; the Arctic Ocean to the north and Baffin Bay to the west. The closest countries are Canada, west of Baffin Bay, and Iceland, separated from Greenland by the Atlantic Ocean.
At 2,522,000 km², Greenland is the largest island in the world after the island continent of Australia. About 80% of the territory (2,106,000 km²) is covered in ice, making it the second reserve of this on the planet, behind the existing one in Antarctica. On the other hand, the ice-free surface (416,000 km²) is greater than that of Japan, with a low population density. The volume of the inlandsis and the ice pack is approximately 2,860,000 km³, which in case of melting would be capable of raising sea level by 7 meters. The weight of this gigantic mass of ice has sunk the continental shelf up to 300 meters below sea level, forming the so-called Grand Canyon of Greenland. Ice generally moves from the interior of the island to the coast.
At the end of 2013, a huge aquifer (which seems to have an area similar to that of the island of Ireland, that is, about 85,000 km²) of liquid water due to to the pressure that the glacial cap exerts on the waters that, even below 0 °C, thus remain in a liquid state.
The Watkins Range (Danish: Watkins Bjerge) is the highest mountain range in Greenland. It is located in the Land of King Christian IX, in the municipality of Sermersooq. Here is the highest peak on the island and in the entire Arctic, Gunnbjörn, 3,649 meters high.
All of Greenland's cities and towns lie on the ice-free coast, with the population concentrated along the west coast. The northeast area is occupied by the Northeast National Park. There are at least four scientific expeditions and camps established in the center of the island: Eismitte, Hielo Norte, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. Currently there is also an annual rotary station, Summit Camp, on the ice, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord, was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent station in the world.
The northern tip of Greenland, Peary Land, is not covered by an ice sheet, because (as in the center of antipodal Antarctica) the air is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and Ice floe maintenance.
Between 1989 and 1993, European and American researchers drilled into Greenland's ice, obtaining 3-kilometer-long samples of the ice core. The chemical and physical analysis of the samples revolutionized the climate record that was kept to date, obtaining data from 10,000 years ago and demonstrating that the Earth had previously undergone climate changes, and that current climate change is rare. It has also been found that the loss of glaciers in Greenland is raising the level of the oceans faster than previously thought. Between 1991 and 2004, a station located in Swiss Camp observed that the average winter temperature had risen from - 6 °C to 0 °C. Other research has shown that heavy snowfall from the North Atlantic Oscillation has thickened the sea ice at a rate of 6 cm per year between 1994 and 2005.
Climate
The west coasts of Greenland are furrowed by a cold current, the West Greenland Current, with deep water rising off the west coast of Greenland keeping the sea and shorelines free of ice as temperatures are above 9 4°C Further north, between the island of Ellesmere and Greenland itself, the sea is already beginning to be covered with ice from the Arctic sea ice and large icebergs are beginning to be seen detached from the great continental glacier of Greenland (as can be seen in the satellite image of the Humboldt Glacier in northwestern Greenland) which breaks up as it reaches the strait that separates Greenland from Ellesmere Island and other Arctic islands.
The hydrological or oceanographic mechanism of this current is different from that of the other cold currents that are located at much lower latitudes, close to the tropics: as happens on the western coasts of the continents in the middle latitudes, the waters They are directed, on the surface, from east to west for two reasons: the prevailing easterly winds (due to Earth's rotation) and the lesser centripetal force of surface waters (less than that of deeper waters) because they are further away from the center of the Earth.
In the case of the Labrador Current, however, the surface water is channeled and flowing from the Arctic Ocean in a southeasterly direction to the island of Newfoundland where it is abruptly cut off by the warm Gulf Stream heading south. the northeast. It is said Labrador current, which explains the presence of icebergs at much lower latitudes than in other parts of the northern hemisphere: the Titanic shipwreck is a good example of this struggle between the two currents. The West Greenland Cold Current is the reason why the most populated and ice-free area is precisely the west coast, as can be seen in an image from the European Space Agency showing the thickness of ocean ice.
With a polar climate, it only has a few small coastal areas where the temperature during the summer exceeds 10 °C, so its vegetation is tundra and non-existent agriculture.
Between 1989 and 1993, North American and European researchers dug inside the top of the Greenland ice sheet, and obtained a pair of giant ice cores (3.9 km). The analysis of the chemical composition of the layers of these nuclei has produced a new and surprising record about the climate change in the northern hemisphere produced around 100,000 years ago, and has been able to demonstrate that the planet's climate and temperature, with They have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide consequences.
Nuuk's average temperature ranges from -9°C to 7°C. Since today and for thousands of years most of the surface of Greenland, with its indlandis, is on average much higher than the coastal areas of this great polar island, then it often happens that winds blow from the interior of the island that when reaching the coasts are relatively warm due to the Föhn effect by adiabasis, this phenomenon attracted much attention to climatologists and explorers until the beginning of the century XX, a time when it was still conjectured (wrongly, for the above reason and by legends) that central Greenland had a temperate climate or much warmer than its regions coastal.
On August 14, 2021, it was reported that it rained for the first time in history, on the top of the Greenland ice sheet. A phenomenon that occurred thanks to the fact that temperatures were above freezing point.[3][4]
Biodiversity
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Greenland is home to two ecoregions: the Kalaallit Nunaat High Arctic Tundra and the Kalaallit Nunaat Low Arctic Tundra. About 700 species of insects are known from Greenland, a low number compared to other countries (more than a million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current; much of the Greenlandic fauna is associated with marine food chains, including large colonies of seabirds. The few land mammals indigenous to Greenland are the polar bear, reindeer (introduced by Europeans), arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox, ruffed lemming, stoat, and arctic wolf. The last four are only found naturally in eastern Greenland, having immigrated from Ellesmere Island. There are dozens of species of seals and whales on the coast. The terrestrial fauna consists mainly of animals that 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.
From a phytogeographical point of view, Greenland belongs to the arctic province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. The island's vegetation is sparse; plant life consists mainly of grasslands and small shrubs, which are regularly grazed by cattle. The most common native tree to Greenland is the European white birch (Betula pubescens) along with greyleaf 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, i.e. flowering plants, ferns, horsetails and club mosses. Of the other groups, lichens are the most diverse, with about 950 species; there are between 600 and 700 species of fungi; there are also mosses and bryophytes. Most of the higher plants of Greenland have a circumpolar or circumboreal distribution; only a dozen species of saxifrage and crow's foot are endemic. Some plant species were introduced by the Nordics, such as the cow vetch.
The terrestrial vertebrates of Greenland include the Greenland dog, introduced by the Inuit, as well as species introduced by Europeans, such as sheep, goats, cattle, reindeer, horses, chickens, and Greenlandic sheepdogs, all of which are descendants of Greenland. of animals imported by Europeans. Marine mammals include the helmeted seal (Cystophora cristata) and the gray seal (Halichoerus grypus). Whales frequently pass very close to the Greenland coast in late summer and early fall. Whale species include the beluga, blue whale, bowhead whale, fin whale, minke whale, narwhal, pilot whale, and sperm whale.
As of 2009, 269 species of fish from more than 80 different families were known to exist in the waters around Greenland. Almost all are marine species and only a few are freshwater, especially Atlantic salmon and char. The fishing industry is the main industry of the Greenland economy, accounting for the majority of the country's total exports.
Birds, especially seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's animal life; Breeding populations of razorbills, puffins, skuas, and kittiwakes are found on the steep slopes of the mountains. Greenland ducks and geese are the common eider, long-tailed duck, royal 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 red wheatear, northern partridge, short-eared owl, snowy owl, gyrfalcon, and white-tailed eagle.
Geology
The island was part of the ancient Precambrian continent of Laurentia, whose eastern core forms the Greenland Shield, while on the less exposed coastal strips it becomes a plateau. In these ice-free coastal strips appear sediments formed in the Precambrian, superimposed by metamorphosis and now formed by glaciers, which continue into the Cenozoic and Mesozoic in some parts of the island.
In eastern and western Greenland there are remnants of flood basalts. On the southwest coast, in Qeqertarsuatsiaat, there are notable rocky provinces (igneous metamorphic rocks, ultramaphites and anorthosites). East of Nuuk, the Isukasia band iron ore region, over three billion years old, contains the world's oldest rocks, including greenlandite (a rock composed predominantly of hornblende and hypertene), formed 3,800 years ago. million years, and the nuummite. In addition to the Isukasia iron ore region, Greenland has two other major ribbon iron ore deposits on the west coast, at Qaanaaq, and in the Itilliarsuk valley depression to the east of Qeqertaq.
In southern Greenland, the Illimaussaq alkali complex is made up of pegmatites such as nepheline, syenites (mainly kakortokite or naujaite), and sodalite (sodalite-foya). In Ivittuut, where cryolite was formerly mined, there are pegmatites with fluoride. To the north of Igaliku, there are the alkaline pegmatitic intrusions of Gardar, 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 masses of heavy native iron of up to 25 tons are present in the basalts.
Economy
Greenland suffered from economic contraction, but since 1993 the economy has steadily improved. The government has followed a strong fiscal policy since the late 1980s, which has helped create public budget surpluses, as well as low inflation.[citation needed]
Since 1990, the autonomous region has registered a deficit in foreign economic exchange, followed by the closure of the last and main zinc mine in 1990.
The economy depends on fishing and the export of fish. Shrimp exports are the largest source of foreign exchange, along with the issuance and sale of postage stamps.
Exploitation of ruby deposits began in 2007. Plans for other mining projects are promising as international mineral prices rise. There are plans to mine iron, uranium, aluminum, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium and copper.
Recently, oil reserves have been identified in coastal waters, comparable to half the reserves in the North Sea.
The largest national park in the world is located in Greenland: Northeast Greenland National Park.
Tourism
Tourism increased significantly between 2010 and 2019, with the number of visitors rising from 460,000 a year to 2 million. Condé Nast Traveler describes that high level as "overtourism." One source estimated that in 2019 revenue from this aspect of the economy was about 450 million kroner ($67 million). Like many aspects of the economy, this slowed dramatically in 2020, and in 2021, due to the restrictions required as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; one source describes it as the "biggest economic casualty of the coronavirus" (the overall economy didn't suffer too much in mid-2020, thanks to fishing "and a hefty subsidy from Copenhagen"). Visitors will start arriving again in late 2020 or early 2021. Greenland's goal is to develop it "properly" and "build more sustainable tourism in the long term".
Demographics
Greenland has a small population of almost 61,100, of whom 87% are from the Greenlandic group, a mix of Inuit and Europeans. Most of the population are Lutheran Christians, due to Danish influence.
The population is concentrated on the coast, especially in the southwest, where the capital, Nuuk, sits. The interior of the island is uninhabited. According to 2012 estimates, five towns have more than 3,000 residents. These are: Nuuk (16,900 inhabitants), Sisimiut (6,500), Ilulissat (5,200), Aasiaat (3,900) and Qaqortoq (3,900).
The ten most populous cities in Greenland are as follows:
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Inuit used to live semi-nomadically, always settling where they could find food and then moving on to the next place of residence. Through colonization, trading and mission stations with infrastructure were established in some places. At first, colonies responsible for a specific area (the colony districts) were created, and from about 1800 onwards, Udsteder were also created, which were subordinate to a colony and served as a local center within the district. Many houses never received any infrastructure and were regularly settled and abandoned. In the early 20th century, mobility decreased and places of residence became more permanent. By the middle of the 20th century, almost all residential places were abandoned and the population moved to the former Udsteder and colonies, which they became towns and cities. Only a handful of dwellings survived this phase and were also classified as villages.
Today, Greenland has 17 cities, 55 towns, about 30 pastoral settlements in the south of the main island, and a few inhabited stations of various kinds. Cities serve as local centers for surrounding towns. Most of the cities are located on the west coast of the island. There are also seven cities on the east coast.
Meanwhile, a third of Greenland's population lives in the capital, Nuuk. Six cities have at least 2,000 inhabitants, another seven have between 1,000 and 2,000 inhabitants. Four cities have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. The smallest city is Ittoqqortoormiit, with about 360 inhabitants. With about 450 inhabitants each, the two towns of Kangerlussuaq and Kullorsuaq are larger than Ittoqqortoormiit. The other towns have a maximum of 300 inhabitants, and the smallest only about 20.
Languages
Greenlandic is the majority language, spoken by about 50,000 people; Danish is spoken by a minority of European origin and is used in administrative matters. Both are the main languages spoken by the population. Since June 21, 2009, only Greenlandic has been an official language, as a result of the entry into force of a new statute or fundamental law approved at the end of 2008 in a referendum.
About 12% of the population speak Danish as their mother tongue or only language. Most of these people hold administrative, professional, academic, or specialized trades jobs. Although Greenlandic is the dominant language in the smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or mixed descent, especially in the cities, speak Danish as their first language. Most of the Inuit population speaks Danish as a second language. In the big cities, especially in Nuuk and in the higher social strata, there is a large group of the latter. Although there is a strategy that aims to promote Greenlandic in public life, education and vocabulary development, this approach has been labeled "Greenlandicization" by opponents who do not want Greenlandic to become the sole national language.
Religion
The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with appeasing a vengeful, fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of sealing and whaling.
The early Norse settlers worshiped the Norse gods, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Christianity by King Olaf Tryggvason on a trip to Norway in 999 and sent missionaries to Greenland. These quickly established sixteen parishes, a few monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar. These first communities were linked to the Catholic Church.
Rediscovering these settlers and spreading ideas of the Protestant Reformation (in its Lutheran form) among them was one of the main reasons for Danish recolonization in the 18th century XVIII. 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 found no Norse, and instead began preaching to the Inuit. The main figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthäus Stach. The New Testament was translated bit by bit from the first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the complete Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern spelling was completed in 2000.
Today, the main religion is Christianity from mostly Protestant groups, the largest of which is the Church of Denmark, which has a Lutheran orientation. While there is no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population is a member of her congregation.The Church of Denmark is the church established through the Constitution of Denmark:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church will be the established Church of Denmark and, as such, will be supported by the State.Section IV of the Danish Constitution
This applies to the entire Kingdom of Denmark, with the exception of the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007.
There is a minority belonging to the Catholic Church that is linked to the Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen. There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements that proselytize other Christians.
Education
The education system is modeled after the Danish system. Public schools in Greenland are, as in Denmark, under the jurisdiction of the municipalities: they are, therefore, municipal schools. The legislature specifies the standards allowed for content in schools, but municipal governments decide how the schools under their responsibility are managed. Education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of seven and sixteen. The financial effort devoted to education is currently very high (11.3% of GDP). Article 1 of the Government Ordinance on Public Schools (as amended on June 6, 1997) requires Greenlandic as the language of instruction. Education is governed by Regulation No. 10, of October 25, 1990, on primary education and the first cycle of secondary education. This Regulation was amended by Regulation No. 8 of May 13, 1993 and Regulation No. 1 of March 1, 1994. Pursuant to Regulation No. 10 of October 25, 1990, linguistic integration in primary and lower secondary schools became compulsory for all students. The aim is to place Greenlandic and Danish-speaking students in the same classes, whereas before they were placed in separate classes based on their mother tongue. At the same time, the government guarantees that Danish speakers will be able to 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 carried out during a three-year trial period concluded that the policy had achieved positive results. This bilingualism policy has been in effect since 1994.
Some 100 schools have been created. Greenlandic and Danish are taught in these schools. Greenlandic is normally 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 another. Based on the teachers' evaluation of their students, a third level of courses has been added: «Greenlandic 3». In Greenland, secondary education is generally vocational and technical education. The system is governed by Regulation No. 16, of October 28, 1993, relating to professional and technical education, scholarships and professional 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 Greenlandic language exam.
Higher education is offered in Greenland: “university education” (Regulation No. 3 of 9 May 1989); training of journalists, training of primary and lower secondary school teachers, training of social workers, training of social educators (Regulation No. 1 of May 16, 1989); and training of nurses and nursing assistants (Regulation No. 9 of May 13, 1990). Greenlandic students can continue their studies in Denmark, if they wish and have the financial means to do so. For admission to Danish schools, Greenlandic applicants are on an equal footing with Danes. The scholarships are awarded 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 permanently resided in Greenland for at least five years. The total period of residence outside of Greenland cannot exceed three years.
Social problems
Suicide in Greenland is a serious social problem, and is a notable national concern. The suicide rate in Greenland is very high. According to a 2010 census, Greenland has the highest suicide rate in the world. Other major social problems facing Greenland are high rates of unemployment, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS. Alcohol consumption rates in Greenland have reached their peaked in the 1980s, when it was twice as high as in Denmark, and by 2010 they had fallen slightly below the average level of consumption in Denmark (which is the 12th highest in the world). But, at the same time, alcohol prices are much higher, which means that consumption has a high social impact.
Transportation
There is air transport both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also regular maritime traffic, but the long distances mean long journey times and low frequency. There are virtually no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require a ferry service to connect a road network. The only exception is a 5 km long gravel road between Kangilinnguit and the now abandoned former mining town of Ivittuut. In addition, the lack of agriculture, forestry, and similar rural activities has resulted in very few rural roads being built.
Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ) is the largest and the main aviation hub for international passenger transport. It provides service to international and national flights operated by airlines. SFJ is far from the big metropolitan capitals, 317 km from the capital, Nuuk, and has passenger air transport services. Greenland does not have passenger railways.
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Nuuk Airport (GOH) is the second largest and is located just 6.0 km (3.7 mi) from the center of the capital. The GOH services general aviation traffic and has daily or scheduled domestic flights within Greenland. The GOH also offers international flights to Iceland and business and private jets.
Ilulissat Airport (JAV) is a domestic airport that also serves international flights to Iceland. There are a total of 13 registered civil airports and 47 heliports in Greenland; most of them are not paved and are located in rural areas. The second longest runway is at Narsarsuaq, a domestic airport with limited international service in southern Greenland.
All matters relating to civil aviation are managed by the Danish Transport Authority. Most airports, including Nuuk's, have short runways and can only be served by fairly small special aircraft on fairly short flights. Kangerlussuaq Airport, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) inland from the west coast, is Greenland's main airport and hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly with Copenhagen. Travel between international destinations (except Iceland) and any city in Greenland requires a change of plane.
Icelandair operates flights from Reykjavik to various airports in Greenland, and the company promotes the service as a day trip option from Iceland for tourists.
There are no direct flights to the United States or Canada, although there have been Kangerlussuaq - Baltimore, and Nuuk - Iqaluit flights, which were canceled due to lack of passengers and economic losses. An alternative between Greenland and the United States/Canada is Icelandair, with a change of plane in Iceland.
Sea transport of passengers is carried out by several coastal ferries. The Arctic Umiaq line makes only one round trip per week, with a duration of 80 hours each way.
The Royal Arctic Line shipping company handles the transport of goods by sea to, from and through Greenland. It offers trade and transportation opportunities between Greenland, Europe, and North America.
Culture
The culture of Greenland begins with the settlement by the Inuit of the Dorset culture, from the second millennium BC. C. after the melting of the Arctic ice in the habitable zones.
In the X century, Vikings of Norwegian origin populated the southern part of the island, while a new wave of Inuit, the Thule culture, entered the island from the North and spread to the South. The cultural clash between the two peoples is attested by the discovery of a fragment of Viking chain mail at a high latitude on the island, while a walrus ivory carved figurine of clear Inuit affiliation was found in Bergen (Norway). Both objects must be understood as a clear testimony of the commercial transactions between both towns.
After a period of cooling off towards the end of the Middle Ages, the Vikings abandoned the island, possibly taking refuge in Iceland. In this way, the island is included in its entirety since then in the Inuit culture, until the arrival of the Danes at the beginning of the XVIIIth century. Today, 80% of the population is of Inuit origin, while the remaining 20% is of Danish origin.
Distances in Greenland are measured in sinik or "dreams", the number of overnight stays a trip takes. It cannot be said that it really is a distance because, depending on the weather and the season of the year, the number of sinik can vary. Nor is it a temporary concept.
Kitchen
Greenland's national dish is suaasat, a soup made from seal meat. The meat of marine mammals, game, poultry, and fish play an important role in the Greenlandic diet. Due to the glacial landscape, most of the ingredients come from the ocean. Spices are used little, apart from salt and pepper. Greenlandic coffee is a "flamed" dessert coffee (set on fire before serving) made with coffee, whiskey, Kahlúa, Grand Marnier, and whipped cream. It is stronger than the well-known Irish dessert coffee.
Fine Arts
The Inuit have their own craft tradition; for example, they carve the tupilak. This word kalaallisut means soul or spirit of a deceased, and today describes an artistic figure, usually no more than 20 centimeters in height, carved primarily from walrus ivory, with a variety of unusual shapes. This sculpture actually represents a mythical or spiritual being; however, it has usually become a mere collector's item due to its grotesque appearance to Western visual habits. However, modern artisans continue to use indigenous materials such as musk ox and sheep wool, sealskin, shells, soapstone, reindeer antlers or precious stones.
The history of Greenlandic painting began with Aron von Kangeq, who depicted ancient Greenlandic sagas and myths in his drawings and watercolors in the mid-century XIX. In the XX century, painting of landscapes and animals developed, as well as engraving and book illustrations with colorful a expressive times. Kiistat Lund and Buuti Pedersen became known abroad above all for their landscape paintings. Anne-Birthe Hove chose themes from Greenlandic social life. In Nuuk there is a museum of fine arts, the Nuuk Museum of Art.
Music
The drum is the traditional instrument of Greenland. It was used to perform traditional drum dances. For this, 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 below in the frame. For this, simple melodies were sung.
The drum dance used to fulfill two functions: On the one hand, the drum was used to drive away fear on long, dark winter nights. To do this, the drum dancer would make faces and try to make the others laugh until all fear was forgotten.
Disputes with the drum were also resolved. If someone had misbehaved, they were challenged with the drum. People would gather in certain powerful places and take turns beating the drum and singing to him. They tried to ridicule the other person as much as possible. The spectators expressed with their laughter who was the winner and who, therefore, was to blame.
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 today) was banned as pagan and shamanic and replaced by the polyphonic singing of secular and ecclesiastical songs. This choral song is known today for its special sound. The 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.
Greenland also has a remarkably modern musical culture. The first group that sang in Greenlandic was the group Sumé in the 1970s. The most important groups are Nanook, Chilly Friday, Disko Democratic Republic and Siissisoq (rock) and Nuuk Posse (hip-hop), who also dance with drums. The best known singer-songwriter is Angu Motzfeldt. The singer and actor Rasmus Lyberth is also internationally known.
In Greenland, between 10 and 15 CDs are released a year, with print runs of up to 5,000 copies.
Sports
Greenland isn't particularly famous for sports, but it does have a few teams, including soccer, the Greenland national soccer team, administered by the Greenland Football Union, with a 2,000-capacity stadium in the capital Nuuk. Also noteworthy is the handball team, which has already managed to participate on more than one occasion in the Handball World Cup (France 2001, Portugal 2003 and Germany 2007) getting the bronze medal twice in the Pan American Handball Championship. Additionally, Greenland competes every two years in the Island Games. However, athletes born in Greenland could get to play in the Olympic Games but representing Denmark.
On September 15, 2010, the then FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, visited the country, causing great expectation, also shortly before the first artificial grass stadium in Greenland was inaugurated in Qaqortoq, which was financed by FIFA. Greenland's main football league is GM Coca Cola, created in 1958.
Popular sports are soccer, athletics, handball, and skiing. Handball is even considered the national sport, and the Greenland men's national team was ranked in the top 20 in the world in 2001. Greenlandic women excel in soccer relative to the size of the country. Greenland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountaineering and trekking are preferred by the general public. Although the country's environment is generally unsuitable for golf, there are golf courses on the island. Greenland hosted an international biennale for the second time in 2016, which is the world's largest multi-sport and cultural event for Arctic youth.
Greenland's most renowned sportsman is footballer Jesper Grønkjær, a former member of the Denmark national team.
Greenland's oldest sports association is the Greenland Ski Federation (GIF), founded in 1969, when then GIF President Daniel Switching took the lead in founding federations and instituting reforms. The Greenland Ski Federation is divided into alpine and cross-country selection committees. The federation is not a member of the International Ski Federation (FIS), but Greenlandic skiers participated in the Olympic Games and World Championships under the Danish flag at the 1968, 1994, 1998 and 2014 Games.
Greenland participated in the 2007 men's world handball championship in Germany, finishing 22nd out of 24 national teams.
Greenland competes in the biennial Icelandic Games as well as the Arctic Winter Olympics (AWG). In 2002, Nuuk co-hosted the GTE with Iqaluit, Nunavut. In 1994 and again in 2002 they won the Hodgson Trophy for fair play.
Media
Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) is Greenland's public broadcasting company. It is an associate member of Eurovision and an associate member of the Nordvision network. The company directly employs almost 100 people and is one of the largest in the country. The city of Nuuk also has a local television, Nanoq Media, created on August 1, 2002. It is the largest local television channel in Greenland, since it reaches more than 4,000 households as receiving members, which corresponds to about 75% of all households in the capital.
There are currently only two newspapers published in Greenland, both with national distribution. The Greenlandic weekly Sermitsiaq is published every Friday, while the online version is updated several times a day. It was only distributed in Nuuk until the 1980s. It is named after the Sermitsiaq mountain, located about 15 kilometers northeast of Nuuk. The other Greenlandic newspaper is the fortnightly Atuagagdliutit/Grønlandsposten (AG), which is published every Tuesday and Thursday in Greenlandic as Atuagagdliutit and in Danish as Grønlandsposten. All articles are published in both languages.