Greenland, the world's largest island, is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the EU) with Denmark in 1973, but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Denmark continues to exercise control of Greenland's foreign affairs in consultation with Greenland's Home Rule Government.

Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
72 00 N, 40 00 W
Arctic Region
total: 2,166,086 sq km ; land: 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km ice-covered) (2000 est.)
slightly more than three times the size of Texas
0 km
44,087 km
territorial sea: 3 nm ; exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line ; continental shelf: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line
arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters
flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m ; highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m
coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds, gold, platinum, niobium, tantalite, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas
arable land: 0% ; permanent crops: 0% ; other: 100% (2005)
NA


continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island
protection of the arctic environment; preservation of the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling and seal hunting

dominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast, but close to one-quarter of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk; world's second largest ice cap
56,344 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 24% (male 6,926/female 6,597) ; 15-64 years: 69.1% (male 20,901/female 18,012) ; 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 1,873/female 2,035) (2007 est.)
total: 34.1 years ; male: 35.4 years ; female: 32.3 years (2007 est.)
-0.03% (2007 est.)
16.01 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
7.93 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-8.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female ; total population: 1.115 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 14.98 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 16.32 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 13.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 70.23 years ; male: 66.65 years ; female: 73.9 years (2007 est.)
2.4 children born/woman (2007 est.)
NA
100 (1999)
NA
noun: Greenlander(s) ; adjective: Greenlandic
Greenlander 88% (Inuit and Greenland-born whites), Danish and others 12% (2000)
Evangelical Lutheran
Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 100% ; male: 100% ; female: 100% (2001 est.)


conventional long form: none ; conventional short form: Greenland ; local long form: none ; local short form: Kalaallit Nunaat
parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy
name: Nuuk (Godthab) ; geographic coordinates: 64 11 N, 51 45 W ; time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ; daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October ; note: Greenland is divided into four time zones
3 districts (landsdele); Avannaa (Nordgronland), Tunu (Ostgronland), Kitaa (Vestgronland) ; note: there are 18 municipalities in Greenland

none (extensive self-rule as part of the Kingdom of Denmark; foreign affairs is the responsibility of Denmark, but Greenland actively participates in international agreements relating to Greenland)
June 21 (longest day)
5 June 1953 (Danish constitution)
the laws of Denmark, where applicable, apply
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II of Denmark (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner Soren MOLLER (since April 2005) ; head of government: Prime Minister Hans ENOKSEN (since 14 December 2002) ; cabinet: Home Rule Government is elected by the parliament (Landstinget) on the basis of the strength of parties ; elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner appointed by the monarch; prime minister is elected by parliament (usually the leader of the majority party); ; election results: Hans ENOKSEN reelected prime minister ; note: government coalition - Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit
unicameral Parliament or Landstinget (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) ; elections: last held on 15 November 2005 (next to be held by December 2009) ; election results: percent of vote by party - Siumut 30.7%, Demokratiit 22.8%, IA 22.6%, Atassut Party 19.1%; Katusseqatigiit 4.1%, other 0.7%; seats by party - Siumut 10, Demokratiit 7, IA 7, Atassut 6, Katusseqatigiit 1 ; note: two representatives were elected to the Danish Parliament or Folketing on 13 November 2007 (next to be held in November 2011); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Siumut 1, Inuit Ataqatigiit 1
High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen)
Atassut Party (Solidarity) [Finn KARLSEN] (a conservative party favoring continuing close relations with Denmark); Demokratiit [Per BERTHELSEN]; Inuit Ataqatigiit or IA (Eskimo Brotherhood) [Josef MOTZFELDT] (a leftist party favoring complete independence from Denmark rather than home rule); Kattusseqatigiit (Candidate List) (an independent right-of-center party with no official platform); Siumut (Forward Party) [Hans ENOKSEN] (a social democratic party advocating more distinct Greenlandic identity and greater autonomy from Denmark)
NA
Arctic Council, NC, NIB, UPU
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a large disk slightly to the hoist side of center - the top half of the disk is red, the bottom half is white
none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark)
none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark)
part of the Kingdom of Denmark; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark since 1979




The economy remains critically dependent on exports of fish and a substantial subsidy from the Danish Government, which supplies about half of government revenues. The public sector, including publicly-owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the dominant role in the economy. Several interesting hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities are ongoing. Press reports in early 2007 indicated that two international aluminum companies were considering building smelters in Greenland to take advantage of local hydropower potential. Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential, and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. Air Greenland began summer-season direct flights to the U.S. east coast in May 2007, potentially opening a major new tourism market.
$1.1 billion (2001 est.)
$1.7 billion (2005)
2% (2005 est.)
$20,000 (2001 est.)
agriculture: NA% ; industry: NA% ; services: NA%
32,120 (2004)

9.3% (2005 est.)
NA%
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

1% (2005 est.)

revenues: $1.36 billion ; expenditures: $1.27 billion (2005)

forage crops, garden and greenhouse vegetables; sheep, reindeer; fish
fish processing (mainly shrimp and Greenland halibut); gold, niobium, tantalite, uranium, iron and diamond mining; handicrafts, hides and skins, small shipyards
NA%
300 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 100% ; hydro: 0% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% ; note: Greenland is shifting its electricity production from fossil fuel to hydropower production (2001)
279 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
3,880 bbl/day (2005 est.)
149.1 bbl/day (2004)
4,013 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$480 million f.o.b. (2006)
fish and fish products 94% (prawns 63%)
Denmark 67.8%, Japan 11.9%, China 5.5% (2006)
$712 million c.i.f. (2006)
Denmark 69.9%, Sweden 16.3%, Norway 3.7% (2006)


$25 million (1999)



Danish krone (DKK)
DKK
Danish kroner per US dollar - 5.4797 (2007), 5.9468 (2006), 5.9969 (2005), 5.9911 (2004), 6.5877 (2003)
calendar year
$512 million; note - subsidy from Denmark (2005)
25,300 (2002)
32,200 (2004)
general assessment: adequate domestic and international service provided by satellite, cables and microwave radio relay; totally digitalized in 1995 ; domestic: microwave radio relay and satellite ; international: country code - 299; satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 2 Americom GE-2 (all Atlantic Ocean) (2000)
AM 5, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998)
30,000 (1998 est.)
1 (plus some local low-power stations, and 3 Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) stations (1997)
30,000 (1998 est.)
.gl
15,329 (2007)
1 (2000)
38,000 (2005)

14 (2007)
total: 9 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 ; under 914 m: 5 (2007)
total: 5 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 2 ; under 914 m: 2 (2007)



total: NA ; note: while there are short roads in towns, there are no roads between towns; inter-town transport takes place either by sea or air (2005)

total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 3,422 GRT/2,340 DWT ; by type: cargo 1, passenger 1 ; registered in other countries: 1 (Denmark 1) (2007)
Sisimiut



males age 18-49: 14,653 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 10,199 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 440 (2005 est.)

defense is the responsibility of Denmark
managed dispute between Canada and Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland



