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Greenland

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; North American
Geography

                              Kalaallit Nunaat
   Grønland
   Greenland

   Flag of Greenland Coat of arms of Greenland
   Flag              Coat of arms
   Anthem: Nunarput utoqqarsuanngoravit
   Nuna asiilasooq
   Location of Greenland
   Capital
   (and largest city)    Nuuk (Godthåb)
                         64°10′N 51°43′W
    Official languages   Greenlandic, Danish
   Government            Parliamentary democracy
                         (within constitutional monarchy)
    - Monarch            Margrethe II
    - Prime Minister     Hans Enoksen
    Autonomous province  ( Kingdom of Denmark)
    - Home rule          1979
                                    Area
    - Total              2,166,086 km² ( 13th)
                         836,109 sq mi
    - Water (%)          81.1^a
                                 Population
    - July 2006 estimate 56,361 ( 207th)
    - Density            0.026/km² ( 230th)
                         0.067/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2001 estimate
    - Total              $1.1 billion ( not ranked)
    - Per capita         $20,000^b ( not ranked)
        HDI  (n/a)       n/a (n/a) ( n/a)
         Currency        Danish krone ( DKK)
         Time zone       ( UTC0 to -4)
       Internet TLD      .gl
       Calling code      +299
   ^a As of 2000: 410,449 km² (158,433 sq. miles) ice-free; 1,755,637 km²
   (677,676 sq. miles) ice-covered.
   ^b 2001 estimate.

   Greenland ( Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the
   Kalaallit (Greenlanders)"; Danish: Grønland, meaning "Greenland") is a
   self-governed Danish territory. Though geographically and ethnically an
   Arctic island nation associated with the continent of North America,
   politically and historically Greenland is closely tied to Europe.

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 AD. Hereafter, the island seems to have been uninhabited for
   some eight centuries.

   Icelandic settlers found the land uninhabited when they arrived c. 982.
   They established three settlements near the very southwestern tip of
   the island, where they thrived for the next few centuries, and then
   disappeared after over 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
   Scandinavian monarchs converted their domains to Christianity, a bishop
   was installed in Greenland as well. 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. Norway in turn
   entered into the Kalmar Union in 1397 and later the personal union of
   Denmark-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 Basque 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 Sweden gained control over mainland Norway while Denmark
   retained all of their 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, and Greenland was
   on its own. 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 until 1940 been a protected and thereby isolated society.
   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, in 1946 a commission (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 as 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.

   In 1979 home rule was granted.

Etymology

   The name Greenland comes from Scandinavian settlers. In the Norse
   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 rumored 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") 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.

Sovereignty

   There is an on-going diplomatic sovereignty dispute between Canada and
   Greenland (represented internationally by Denmark) over the tiny Hans
   Island.

   Greenland was one of the Norwegian Crown colonies from the eleventh
   century until 1814. At that time, the Kingdom of Norway and Denmark
   (the Norwegian King having succeeded to the Danish throne a few
   centuries earlier; see 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 crown colonies of Greenland, Iceland and the Faeroe Islands,
   however, remained part of the reorganised "Kingdom of 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.

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.

   Greenland is not part of the European Union (having left the
   predecessor of the EU, the European Community, in 1985), despite
   Denmark itself being a member state.

Geography

   Map of Greenland
   Enlarge
   Map of Greenland
   Southeast coast of Greenland
   Enlarge
   Southeast coast of Greenland

   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 square
   miles), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km² (677,676
   square miles) (81%). The coastline of Greenland is 39,330 km (24,430
   miles) 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 [1,000 feet] 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.
   A typical scene from South Greenland, near Nanortalik, where fjords and
   mountains dominate the landscape. Note the small iceberg in the
   foreground.
   Enlarge
   A typical scene from South Greenland, near Nanortalik, where fjords and
   mountains dominate the landscape. Note the small iceberg in the
   foreground.

   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  feet) 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 2006,
   monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) found that the
   average winter temperature had risen almost 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

   The American Top of the World expedition found the northernmost island
   in the world off of Greenland: ATOW1996.

   Qaanaaq in North West Greenland, is the most northerly place whose name
   is a palindrome.

Topology

   About 81% of its surface is covered by ice, known as the Greenlandic
   ice cap, the weight of which has depressed the central land area to
   form a basin lying more than 300 m [1,000 ft] below the surrounding
   ocean.

Natural history

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
   per capita is equivalent to that of the weaker economies of Europe.

Demographics

   Greenland has a population of 56,361, of whom 87% are Greenlandic, a
   mixture of Inuit and European races. The majority of the population are
   Evangelical Lutherans. English, Danish and Greenlandic are all spoken
   by the population.

   Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the
   main island, which has a milder climate. Most Greenlanders have both
   Kalaallit ( Inuit) and Scandinavian ancestry, and speak Greenlandic
   (Kalaallisut) as their first language. Greenlandic is spoken by about
   50,000 people, which is more than all the other Eskimo-Aleut languages
   combined. A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak
   Danish as their first language. Both languages are official with the
   West Greenlandic dialect forming the basis of the official form of
   Greenlandic.

Culture

   The Greenland National Museum and Archives is located in Nuuk.

Sport

   Football is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a
   member of FIFA. FIFA rules stipulate that member nations have minimum
   standard pitches for international games, which mandates natural grass.
   Greenland's climate prevents natural grass pitches that come up to FIFA
   Standards. Recently FIFA have announced that they will let teams play
   on FieldTurf, which could offer a solution to Greenland's pitch
   problem.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
