Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat; Danish: Grønland) is the world's largest non-continental island, in the far northeast of North America, largely within the Arctic Circle. Although it's still part of the Kingdom of Denmark, it was granted self-government effective in 1979, with Copenhagen remaining responsible for its foreign affairs.
The closest neighbouring contries are Iceland to the South-East, Canada to the West and Svalbard in Norway to the North-East.
Regions
Greenland is usually devided into the following regions:
Cities
Don't be too concerned about the cities' formidable names. Most have more accessible (albeit now unofficial) Danish names as well, which will also be recognized.
Other destinations
Major Airports
Flights to Greenland will almost always go to one of the two following airports. From there local flights or boats will take you to your final destination.
Understand
Although maps with flat projections of the globe tend to make Greenland look the size of Africa, it is actually "only" about the size of Mexico. Despite being a little bigger than Mexico Greenland has the world's smallest population density.
It represents some 97% of the area of the Kingdom of Denmark, a territorial claim with roots in the 10th-century explorations of the Vikings, changing hands several times over the centuries due to developments in Europe. The local Inuit (also known as Kalaallit, but don't call them Eskimo; it's considered an insult) have closer cultural ties to the inhabitants of northern Canada (also Inuit) than to any of their European associates.
According to legend, the name was chosen to entice people to settle here rather than Iceland. Ironically, Greenland contains phenomenally more ice (about 84% of its immense surface area), and Iceland's climate – punctuated by geothermal hotspots – is generally more mild and hospitable to green plants. In fact, it is more likely that Greenland was named simply because its southern coasts (the first part of land sighted by the Vikings) appeared green and fertile during the Medieval Warm Period.
Be careful with maps of Greenland, as many Greenlandic names simply reference a particular geographical feature. Thus, a name like "Kangerlussuaq" is more common than you might otherwise expect, as it simply means "Big Fjord".
When visiting a city/village don't be afraid to ask for directions of shops, places to eat or somewhere to sleep, even though you think, there might not be any. Most places (even Nuuk) are small enough for everyone to know where everything is, and therefore noone bothered to put up a sign. Don't be surprised to find a fully equipped supermarket inside a grey factorylike building somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Get in
Visas
Danish and other Scandinavian citizens do not need a visa for Greenland, but your passport needs to be valid for at least three months after your visit.
Generally, if you need a visa for entering Denmark, you also need to apply for a special visa for entering Greenland. Visas for entering the Schengen-area (including Denmark) do not automatically apply for Greenland.
Visas are available from the Danish embassy or where you usually would apply for a Danish visa.
If you stay for more than three months you need to apply for a residence permit at the police station.
If you stay on the typical tourist paths you do not need any permissions, but any expeditions (including any trips to the national park, which by definition are expeditions) need a special permit from the Danish polar center. If travelling with an agency they will usually take care of the paperwork for you.
If you are entering or travelling through Thule Air Base, you need a permission from the Danish department of foreign affairs, since it is a US military area (doesn't apply for children u. 15, Danish police and military, US military or US diplomats). See Qaanaaq for details.
By plane
Air Greenland has several flights per week from Copenhagen, Denmark to Kangerlussuaq or Narsarsuaq.
Air Iceland operates a regular flight from Reykjavik to Kulusuk, Kangerlussuaq, and Nuuk; one to Ittoqqortoormiit, and another to Narsarsuaq. (Note that they use the Danish place names for some of these.) One popular day excursion is to fly from Reykjavik to Nanortalik, where traditional handicrafts are on sale, before returning to the comparative comforts of Iceland.
SAS opens a new route to Kangerlussuaq in may 2007
Scientific and technical personnel traveling from North America for research purposes typically fly into Kangerlussuaq aboard New York Air National Guard C-130s. Air Greenland also offers flights to Greenland from Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
If you are looking for the airport, the name of Greenland's airport service is Mittarfeqarfiit.
By boat
There is no ferry service from Europe or the rest of North America, however there are cruise ships from both continents that visit Greenland.
Get around
There is no road or rail system. The easiest way to get around Greenland is by plane, particularly Air Greenland. In the summer, Arctic Umiaq Line passenger ships provide service to destinations between Narsarsuaq and Uummannaq along the west coast.
See
Do
Talk
The official Inuit language (Greenlandic, also known as Kalaallisut) is actually that of the more populated western coast. The eastern dialect is slightly different. Both are highly challenging languages to learn, as words are very long and often feature "swallowed" consonants. Try uteqqipugut or Ittoqqortoormiit on for size.
The good news is that almost all Greenlanders are bilingual Danish speakers, and many will even have a functional command of English. Greenlandic words may come in handy for travellers wanting to experience the "real Greenland", though.
Greenlandic is different enough from Inuktitut, the language of the Canadian Inuit who share similar historical roots to the Greenlanders, that the two peoples have difficulty understanding each other. However, attempts are being made to unify the Inuit language, and Greenlandic -- with its existing libraries of translated Shakespeare and Pushkin -- seems like the most natural option.
Buy
Supermarkets
These are the names to look for, if you need to buy groceries:
Eat
Food in Greenland is generally not that different from American or continental European tastes. Restaurants carry typical European fare. Local food can be purchased at local markets in each town. Many Greenlandic restaurants combine traditional foods (locally-caught fish, shrimp and whales; also muskox and reindeer) with more familiar dishes. Expect to find whale meat at a Thai restaurant and caribou in a Chinese joint. Nuuk also has several burger joints and a couple of very high-end restaurants, most notably Nipisa, which specializes in (very expensive) local delicacies. Prices are high everywhere, but servings are generally large, especially with fries.
Drink
A local specialty is Greenlandic coffee. Its creation in some places is pure performance and it hits hard: it's coffee laced with liberal amounts of kahlua, whisky and Grand Marnier. One of the best places to buy is at the Sukhumvit Thai Restaurant, for about $22CAD.
Sleep
Greenland is expensive. Nice hotels exist in all of the more visited areas (Hotel Hans Egede in Nuuk, Hotel Arctic -- with its igloo rooms -- and Hotel Hvide Falke in Ilulissat), but cheaper options exist. Try for the Seaman's Home hotel in Maniitsoq, Nuuk, Qaqortoq, Sisimiut and Aasiaat. Also check with the Nuuk Tourism office for its hostel program, where locals have rooms they will rent out for a third the price of the town's hotels. They usually speak Danish and Greelandic, along with very rudimentary English.
Stay safe
Crime, and ill will toward foreigners in general, is virtually unknown in Greenland. Even in the towns, there are no "rough areas." So long as the visitor uses basic common sense and etiquette, he or she should be fine.
Stay healthy
During the northern summer, the days in Greenland are very long. Always make sure that you get as much sleep as you're used to, as sleep deprivation can lead to all manner of health problems.
During the summer, also watch out for the Nordic mosquitoes.
Respect
As mentioned above, the word "Eskimo" is not one the Inuit use to refer to themselves and is in fact considered insulting, as it refers to the local equivalent of "cavemen".
Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the Kalaallit (Greenlanders)"; Grønland , meaning "Greenland") is a self-governed Danish territory lying between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Though geographically and ethnically an Arctic island nation associated with the continent of North America, politically and historically Greenland is closely tied to Europe. It is the largest non-continental island in the world.
History
Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures in prehistory, the latest of which (the Early Dorset culture) disappeared around the year 200 C.E. Hereafter, the island seems to have been uninhabited for some eight centuries.
Icelandic settlers led by Erik the Red (Norwegian exile who settled in Iceland) found the land uninhabited when they arrived c. 982. Around 984 they established the Eastern and Western settlements in deep fjords near the very southwestern tip of the island, where they thrived for the next few centuries, and then disappeared after more than 450 years of habitation.
The fjords of the southern part of the island were lush and had a warmer climate at that time, possibly due to what was called the Medieval Warm Period. These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading with the motherland, and when the Norwegian kings converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop was installed in Greenland as well, subordinate to the archdiocese of Nidaros. The settlements seem to have coexisted relatively peacefully with the Inuit, who had migrated southwards from the Arctic islands of North America around 1200. In 1261, Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Norway.
After almost five hundred years, the Scandinavian settlements simply vanished, possibly due to famine during the fifteenth century in the Little Ice Age, when climatic conditions deteriorated, and contact with Europe was lost. Bones from this late period were found to be in a condition consistent with malnutrition. Some believe the settlers were wiped out by bubonic plague or exterminated by the Inuit. Other historians have speculated that Spanish or English pirates or slave traders from the Barbary Coast contributed to the extinction of the Greenlandic communities.
Denmark-Norway reasserted its latent claim to the colony in 1721. The island's ties with Norway were severed by the Treaty of Kiel of 1814, through which Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden, while Denmark retained all of her common overseas possessions, which, at that time, included small territories in India, West Africa and the West Indies, as well as the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.
Norway occupied and claimed parts of (then uninhabited) East Greenland aka Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted Terra nullius. Norway and Denmark agreed to settle the matter at the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1933, where Norway lost.
During World War II, Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on April 9, 1940 when Denmark was occupied by Germany. Through the cryolite from the mine in Ivigtut, Greenland was able to pay for goods bought in the United States and Canada. During the war the system of government changed. Eske Brun was governor and ruled the Island via a 1925 law concerning the governing of the Island where, under extreme circumstances, the governors could take control. The other governor, Aksel Svane, was transferred to the United States as leader of the commission to supply Greenland. The Sirius Patrol, guarding the northeastern shores of Greenland using dog sleds, detected and destroyed several German weather stations, giving Denmark a better position in the postwar turmoil.
Greenland had been a protected and thereby very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government, which governed the colonies of Greenland, had been convinced that the society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country was opened up. During World War II, though, Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance during its period of self-government and independent communication with the outside world.
However, a commission in 1946 (with the highest Greenlandic council Landsrådet as participant) recommended patience and no radical reformation of the system. Two years later the first step towards an alteration of the governing of Greenland was initiated when a grand commission was founded. In 1950 the report (G-50) was presented. Greenland was to be a modern welfare society with Denmark as the sponsor and example.
In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom; home rule was granted in 1979.
Etymology
The name "Greenland" comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his extended family and thralls, set out in ships to find the land that was rumoured to be to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grønland ("Greenland"), possibly in order to attract more people to settle there. 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. It should also be noted, however, that the southern portion of Greenland (not covered by glacier) is indeed very green in the summer, and was likely even greener in Erik's time because of the Medieval Warm Period.
Sovereignty
History
Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century and in 1536 became a Danish dependency, along with Norway under the Kalmar Union which existed until 1814. At that time, the kingdom of Denmark-Norway found itself on the losing side of the Napoleonic Wars. In gratitude to Sweden for her assistance in defeating Napoleon (and as a consolation for the recent loss of Finland to Russia), mainland Norway and certain Norwegian territories were transferred to Sweden — thus, the personal union of Norway and Denmark ended. The dependencies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, however, remained part of the reorganised "Kingdom of Denmark."
In the early 20th Century, the United States was believed to have claims made good by discovery and exploration of the Peary expeditions.
In 1933, Norway attempted to claim eastern Greenland. The Permanent Court of Arbitration decided that the entire island belonged to Denmark.
Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule by the Folketing (Danish parliament) in 1978. The law went into effect on May 1 1979. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of State. Greenlandic voters subsequently chose to leave the European Economic Community upon achieving self-rule.
Hans Island
There is an on-going diplomatic sovereignty dispute between Canada and Greenland (represented internationally by Denmark) over the tiny Hans Island. This dispute concerns the governments of Canada and Denmark because the island is located in what will likely become a major shipping lane as polar ice recedes. Both nations have sent vessels to the region to emphasize their claim to sovereignty over the island.
Politics
Greenland's Head of State is the Danish Monarch, 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 Hans Enoksen.
Unlike Denmark, Greenland is not part of the European Union, having left its predecessor, the European Community, in 1985.
Geography
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 and across Baffin Bay. Greenland is the world's largest island, and is the largest dependent territory by area in the world. It also contains the world's largest national park.
The total area of Greenland measures 2,166,086 km² (836,109 sq mi), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km² (677,676 sq mi) (81%). The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430 mi) long, about the same length as the Earth's circumference at the Equator.
The weight of the massive Greenlandic ice cap has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m below sea level.
All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. The northeastern part of Greenland, which includes sections of North Greenland and East Greenland, is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.
At least four scientific expedition stations and camps had been established in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the map to the right), on the ice sheet: 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.
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 completely melt away, sea levels would rise more than 7 m (23 ft) and Greenland would most likely become an archipelago.
Between 1989 and 1993, U.S. and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of two-mile (3.2 km) 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. The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to global sea level rise at a faster rate than was previously believed.
In February 2006, researchers reported that Greenland's glaciers are melting twice as fast as they were five years ago. According to satellite gravity measurements, the annual loss was estimated at 216 km³/yr (52 cubic miles per year) by 2005. Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) found that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6°C (approx. 10°F).
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/yr between 1994 and 2005.
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.
Qaanaaq, in North West Greenland, is the most northerly place whose name is a palindrome.
In 2007, the existence of a 'new' island was announced. Named Warming Island (Inuit:Uunartoq Qeqertoq), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by an ice sheet. This ice sheet was discovered to be shrinking rapidly in 2002, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island.
Topography
About 81% of its surface is covered by ice, known as the Greenland ice sheet, the weight of which has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m below the surrounding ocean. Approximately one-twentieth of the world's ice and one-quarter of the earth's surface ice is found in Greenland.
Economy
Greenland suffered 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 in 1990. Greenland today is critically dependent on fishing and fish exports; the shrimp fishing industry is by far the largest income earner. Despite resumption of several interesting hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before production can materialize. Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the 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.
Transportation
The major airport is on the West coast at Kangerlussuaq. International flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. As of May 2007, Greenland Air has also initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore, USA. Also new for summer 2007, Air Iceland plans to fly between Keflavík and Nuuk three times a week . In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen and between Kusuluk on the East coast to Reykjavík . Kangerlussuaq is the hub for domestic flights within Greenland.
Demographics
Greenland has a population of 56,361, of whom 87% are Greenlandic, a mixture of Kalaallit Inuit and Scandinavian Europeans. 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.
Languages
The official languages of Greenland are Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Danish, and most of the population speak both of the languages. Greenlandic is spoken by about 50,000 people, some of whom are monolingual. A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language. English is widely spoken as a third language.
The Greenlandic language is the most populous of the languages of the Eskimo-Aleut language family and it has as many speakers as all the other languages of the family combined. Within Greenland three main dialects are recognized: the northern dialect Inuktun or Avanersuarmiutut spoken by around 1000 people in the region of Qaanaaq, Western Greenlandic or Kalaallisut which serves as the official standard language, and the Eastern dialect Tunumiit Orasiaat or Tunumiutut spoken in eastern Greenland.
Culture
The Greenland National Museum and Archives is located in Nuuk.
Sport
Football (soccer) is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a member of FIFA. FIFA rules require natural grass pitches for international games, but Greenland's climate prevents growth of grass that fulfils FIFA standards. A solution, however, may lie in FIFA's recent announcement that it plans to admit FieldTurf as a surface. Currently, it is a member of the Non-FIFA Board.
In January 2007, Greenland took part in the World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams.
References
External links
News
