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74-597: It is a broad channel that runs roughly from northwest to southeast between the mouth of the Inglefield Fjord and Baffin Bay . It is 51.8 km wide between Cape Robertson and Hakluyt Island and its minimum width is 14 km. The Murchison Sound separates Prudhoe Land and Piulip Nuna —part of the Greenland mainland— to the north from Kiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island) to

148-611: A maritime border , to the west and southwest across Nares Strait and Baffin Bay, as well as a shared land border on Hans Island ; and Iceland, southeast of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park , and it is the largest constituent country by area in the world, and is the fourth largest country subdivision in the world , after Sakha Republic in Russia, Australia's state of Western Australia , and Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai , and

222-476: A series of expeditions to Greenland and Arctic waterways to locate the lost eastern Norse settlement and assert Danish-Norwegian sovereignty over Greenland. The expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders who lacked experience with the difficult Arctic ice and weather conditions, and partly because the expedition leaders were given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on

296-486: A number lost their cultural ties to Greenland. While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of shifting Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the Greenlandic elite began to reassert a Greenlandic cultural identity. A movement developed in favour of independence, reaching its peak in the 1970s. As a consequence of political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into

370-662: A personal union with Denmark in 1380, and from 1397 was a part of the Kalmar Union . The Norse settlements, such as Brattahlíð , thrived for centuries, before disappearing in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age . Except some runic inscriptions, the only contemporary records or historiography that survives from the Norse settlements is of their contact with Iceland or Norway. Medieval Norwegian sagas and historical works mention Greenland's economy,

444-494: A result of the COVID-19 pandemic ; one source describes it as being the "biggest economic victim of the coronavirus" (the overall economy did not suffer too severely as of mid-2020, thanks to the fisheries "and a hefty subsidy from Copenhagen"). Greenland's goal for returning tourism is to develop it "right" and to "build a more sustainable tourism for the long run". Greenland is the world's largest non-continental island and

518-464: A sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Despite this change, in 1946 a commission including the highest Greenlandic council, the Landsrådene , recommended patience and no radical reform of the system. Two years later, the first step towards a change of government was initiated when a grand commission was established. A final report (G-50)

592-403: A separate people under international law . Denmark maintains control of foreign affairs and defence matters. Denmark upholds the annual block grant of 3.2 billion Danish kroner, but as Greenland begins to collect revenues of its natural resources, the grant will gradually be diminished. This is generally considered to be a step toward eventual full independence from Denmark. Greenlandic

666-560: Is 2,166,086 km (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km (680,000 cu mi). The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,100 ft) of the Watkins Range ( East Greenland mountain range ). The majority of Greenland, however,

740-580: Is a fjord in northwestern Greenland . To the west, the fjord opens into the Baffin Bay . Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. Inglefield Gulf was named after English explorer Edward Augustus Inglefield . Qaanaaq is located in the northern entrance of the fjord. The village of Qeqertat is located in the Harvard Islands , in the inner area of the fjord. Both are

814-432: Is concentrated mainly on the southwest coast, and the rest of the island is sparsely populated. Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica . With a population of 56,583 (2022), Greenland is the least densely populated region in the world. Sixty-seven percent of its electricity production comes from renewable energy, mostly from hydropower . The early Norse settlers named

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888-461: Is less than 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in elevation. Below the ice there is a series of canyons, the biggest called Greenland’s Grand Canyon which was formed by flowing rivers of water from the repeated cycle of ice melting and new ice forming. Near the coast elevations rise suddenly and steeply. The ice flows generally to the coast from the centre of the island. A survey led by French scientist Paul-Emile Victor in 1951 concluded that, under

962-725: Is low compared with other countries (over one million species have been described worldwide). The sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, especially in the milder West Greenland Current ; a large part of the Greenland fauna is associated with marine-based food chains, including large colonies of seabirds. The few native land mammals in Greenland include the polar bear , reindeer (introduced by Europeans), arctic fox , arctic hare , musk ox , collared lemming , ermine , and arctic wolf . The last four are found naturally only in East Greenland , having immigrated from Ellesmere Island . There are dozens of species of seals and whales along

1036-423: Is not part of any municipality, but it 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 on the ice sheet in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the adjacent map): Eismitte , North Ice , North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. There is a year-round station Summit Camp on

1110-454: The Skrælings (Norse word for Inuit, meaning "wretches" ). Recent archeological studies somewhat challenge the general assumption that the Norse colonization had a dramatic negative environmental effect on the vegetation. Data support traces of a possible Norse soil amendment strategy. More recent evidence suggests that the Norse, who never numbered more than about 2,500, gradually abandoned

1184-632: The 2008 Greenlandic self-government referendum , Greenlanders voted for the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Naalakkersuisut (Greenlandic government). Under this structure, Greenland gradually assumed responsibility for a number of governmental services and areas of competence. The Danish government retains control of citizenship, monetary policy, and foreign affairs, including defence. Most residents of Greenland are Inuit. The population

1258-662: The Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . It is the world's largest island , and is the location of the northernmost point of land in the world – Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land , and Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. Though a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark,

1332-522: The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation , or AMOC, by diluting key currents, slowing it down. Due to this meltwater input, the circulation may even collapse outright, with widespread detrimental effects, although research suggests this is only likely if highest possible warming is sustained for multiple centuries. Greenland ice sheet has a great volume of ~2,900,000 cubic kilometres (696,000 cu mi). This means that if it were all to melt,

1406-710: The European Economic Community (EEC) upon achieving self-rule, as it did not agree with the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products. Greenland voters approved a referendum on greater autonomy on 25 November 2008. According to one study, the 2008 vote created what "can be seen as a system between home rule and full independence". On 21 June 2009, Greenland gained self-rule with provisions for assuming responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs , policing, and natural resources . Also, Greenlanders were recognized as

1480-499: The Greenland Ice Sheet in the east, is the largest glacier that has its terminus in the fjord. The Tracy Glacier has its terminus further north near Josephine Peary Island in a bay at the northern side of the head of the fjord where the smaller Hart Glacier , Sharp Glacier , Melville Glacier , and Farquhar Glacier have their terminus. As they discharge into the fjord all these glaciers are separated by nunataks ,

1554-717: The Kingdom of Denmark . It is the larger of two autonomous territories within the Kingdom, the other being the Faroe Islands ; the citizens of both territories are full citizens of Denmark . As Greenland is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union , citizens of Greenland are European Union citizens . The capital and largest city of Greenland is Nuuk . Greenland lies between

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1628-494: The Skaergaard intrusion . Notable rock provinces ( metamorphic igneous rocks, ultramafics, and anorthosites) are found on the southwest coast at Qeqertarsuatsiaat. East of Nuuk, the banded iron ore region of Isukasia, over three billion years old, contains the world's oldest rocks, such as greenlandite (a rock composed predominantly of hornblende and hyperthene), formed 3.8 billion years ago, and nuummite. In southern Greenland,

1702-591: The Western Settlement , and the Middle Settlement —on fjords near the southwestern tip of the island. They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants, who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with those of the Thule culture, who entered from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in 1261 under the Kingdom of Norway . The Kingdom of Norway entered

1776-563: The 1920s suggest that the condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, possibly because of soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting. Malnutrition may also have resulted from widespread deaths from pandemic plague; the decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age; and armed conflicts with

1850-486: The 2021 event, rain fell at Greenland's highest point for the first time in recorded history: an event so unexpected that the research station at the summit had no rain gauges for the occasion. As with the ice losses elsewhere, the melting of Greenland contributes to sea level rise. Between 2012 and 2017, this melting had added an average of 0.68 mm per year, which was equivalent to 37% of sea level rise from land ice sources (excluding thermal expansion of water from

1924-692: The European Common Market in 1972, Denmark began to seek a different status for Greenland, resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979. This gave Greenland limited autonomy with its own legislature taking control of some internal policies, while the Parliament of Denmark maintained full control of external policies, security, and natural resources. The law came into effect on 1 May 1979. The King of Denmark , Frederik X , remains Greenland's head of state . In 1985, Greenland left

1998-447: The Greenland settlements over the 15th century as walrus ivory , the most valuable export from Greenland, decreased in price because of competition with other sources of higher-quality ivory, and that there was actually little evidence of starvation or difficulties. Other explanations of the disappearance of the Norse settlements have been proposed: The Thule people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. No genes from

2072-727: The Illimaussaq alkaline complex consists of pegmatites such as nepheline, syenites (especially kakortokite or naujaite) and sodalite (sodalite-foya). In Ivittuut, where cryolite was formerly mined, there are fluoride -bearing pegmatites. To the north of Igaliku, there are the Gardar alkaline pegmatitic intrusions 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 there are masses of heavy native iron up to 25 t (28 short tons) in

2146-675: The Inuit. It is republished in The Norse Atlantic Sagas , by Gwyn Jones. Jones reports that there is also an account of perhaps the same incident, of more doubtful provenance, told by the Norse side. In 1500, King Manuel I of Portugal sent Gaspar Corte-Real to Greenland in search of a Northwest Passage to Asia which, according to the Treaty of Tordesillas , was part of Portugal's sphere of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother, Miguel Corte-Real . Finding

2220-523: The Little Ice Age showed a significant decrease in maximum summer temperatures beginning about the turn of the 14th century—as much as 6 to 8 °C (11 to 14 °F) lower than modern summer temperatures. The study also found that the lowest winter temperatures of the last 2,000 years occurred in the late 14th century and early 15th century. The Eastern Settlement was probably abandoned in the early to mid-15th century, during this cold period . Theories drawn from archeological excavations at Herjolfsnes in

2294-603: The Norse. When it re-established contact with Greenland in the early 17th century, Denmark-Norway asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721 a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Dano-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. This expedition is part of the Dano-Norwegian colonization of the Americas . After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of

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2368-462: The Paleo-Inuit have been found in the present population of Greenland. The Thule culture migrated eastward from what is now known as Alaska around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300. The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as dog sleds and toggling harpoons . There is an account of contact and conflict with the Norse population, as told by

2442-542: The United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland and in 1946 offered to buy the island from Denmark for $ 100,000,000; the Danish rejected the offer. In the 21st century, the United States remains interested in investing in the resource base of Greenland and in tapping hydrocarbons off the Greenlandic coast. In August 2019, the US again proposed to buy the country, prompting premier Kim Kielsen to issue

2516-448: The atlas's editor, commented: In the last two or three decades, global warming has reduced the size of glaciers throughout the Arctic and earlier this year, news sources confirmed what climate scientists already knew: water, not rock, lay beneath this ice bridge on the east coast of Greenland. More islets are likely to appear as the sheet of frozen water covering the world's largest island continues to melt. Some controversy surrounds

2590-546: The basalts. The paleontology of East Greenland is specially rich, with some of the early tetrapods such as the Devonian Acanthostega and Ichthyostega , and unique triassic animals such as the phytosaur Mystriosuchus alleroq and the dinosaurs Issi saaneq and tracks. Greenland is home to two ecoregions: Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra and Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra . There are approximately 700 known species of insects in Greenland, which

2664-546: The bishops of Gardar , and the collection of tithes. A chapter in the Konungs skuggsjá ( The King's Mirror ) describes Norse Greenland 's exports, imports, and grain cultivation. Icelandic saga accounts of life in Greenland were composed in the 13th century and later, and are not primary sources for the history of early Norse Greenland. Those accounts are closer to primary for more contemporaneous accounts of late Norse Greenland. Modern understanding therefore mostly depends on

2738-414: The colonial powers) for more than a millennium, beginning in 986. Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by circumpolar peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada. Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century (having previously settled Iceland ), and the 13th century saw the arrival of Inuit . In

2812-552: The continual increase in the ocean heat content ). By the end of the century, the melting of Greenland alone would add between ~ 6 cm ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) if the temperatures are kept below 2 °C (3.6 °F), to around 13 cm (5 in) if the most intense climate change scenario with ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions is followed. Under this scenario, the worst case for Greenland melting could reach 33 cm (13 in) of sea level rise equivalent. The large quantities of fresh meltwater also affect

2886-645: The control of the Danish monarch. Norway occupied then-uninhabited eastern Greenland as Erik the Red's Land in July 1931, claiming that it constituted terra nullius . Norway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice , which decided against Norway. Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War ;II , after Denmark

2960-462: The early 17th century, Dano-Norwegian explorers reached Greenland again. When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland was transferred to the Danish crown, and was fully integrated in the Danish state in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark , which made the people in Greenland citizens of Denmark. In the 1979 Greenlandic home rule referendum , Denmark granted home rule to Greenland; in

3034-474: The east coast of Greenland just north of Cape Farewell , which is almost inaccessible due to southward drifting ice . The pilot on all three trips was English explorer James Hall . After the Norse settlements died off, Greenland came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Dano-Norwegian government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from

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3108-582: The existence of a new island was announced. Named " Uunartoq Qeqertaq " (English: Warming Island ), this island has always been present off the coast of Greenland, but was covered by a glacier. This glacier was discovered in 2002 to be shrinking rapidly, and by 2007 had completely melted away, leaving the exposed island. The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007. Ben Keene,

3182-623: The facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich, Albert Speer briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the United States Armed Forces . Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade , allowing no more than small scale barter trading with British whalers. In wartime Greenland developed

3256-447: The global sea levels would increase by ~7.4 m (24 ft) from that alone. However, it also means that it will take at least 1,000 years for the ice sheet to disappear even with very high warming, and in around 10,000 years under lower warming which still crosses the threshold for the ice sheet's disappearance. This threshold likely lies for the global warming between 1.7 °C (3.1 °F) and 2.3 °C (4.1 °F). Reducing

3330-405: The history of the island, specifically over whether the island might have been revealed during a brief warm period in Greenland during the mid-20th century. Greenland ice sheet always loses some mass from ice calving at its coasts, but it used to gain more ice on average due to the accumulation of snowfall. Yet, Greenland has been warming starting from around 1900, and starting from 1980s,

3404-614: The hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers. The Saga of Erik the Red states: "In the summer, Erik left to settle in the country he had found, which he called Greenland, as he said people would be attracted there if it had a favorable name." The name of the territory in the Greenlandic language is Kalaallit Nunaat ' land of the Kalaallit ' . The Kalaallit are the Greenlandic Inuit who inhabit

3478-422: The ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands. This is disputed, but if it is so, they would be separated by narrow straits, reaching the sea at Ilulissat Icefjord , at Greenland's Grand Canyon and south of Nordostrundingen . All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the west coast. The northeastern part of Greenland

3552-402: The ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund 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 melt away completely,

3626-545: The island Greenland . In the Icelandic sagas , the Norwegian Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland with his father, Thorvald, who had committed manslaughter. With his extended family and his thralls ( slaves or serfs ) , he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in

3700-538: The largest in North America. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the Northern Hemisphere was recorded in Greenland, near the topographic summit of the Greenland Ice Sheet , on 22 December 1991, when the temperature reached −69.6 °C (−93.3 °F). In Nuuk, the average daily temperature varies over the seasons from −5.1 to 9.9 °C (22.8 to 49.8 °F). The total area of Greenland

3774-654: The largest of which is the Smithson Range . In the central area of the fjord the Hubbard Glacier discharges on the northern shore and the Hurlbut Glacier on the southern shore. The islands of Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island) and Kiatak (Northumberland Island) lie off the fjord's mouth. They are aligned from east to west, dividing the outer gulf into two sounds, the Murchison Sound to

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3848-479: The losses became larger than the gains. After 1996, Greenland has not had a single year when it did not lose mass on average. In 2010s, Greenland ice sheet had been melting at its fastest rate over at least the past 12,000 years, and on track to exceed that later in the century. In 2012, 2019 and 2021, so-called "massive melting events" had occurred, when practically the entire surface of the ice sheet had been melting and no accumulation had been taking place. During

3922-417: The mission there and returned to Denmark, where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at Godthåb ("Good Hope") on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, but closed to those from other countries. When the union between the crowns of Denmark and Norway was dissolved in 1814, the Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's former colonies and left them under

3996-480: The north beyond Cape Ackland , and the Hvalsund to the south, west of Kangeq . This Greenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Greenland Greenland ( Greenlandic : Kalaallit Nunaat , pronounced [kalaːɬːit nʉnaːt] ; Danish : Grønland , pronounced [ˈkʁɶnˌlænˀ] ) is a North American island autonomous territory of

4070-725: The northernmost communities in the world. Together with Wolstenholme Fjord , Inglefield Gulf is one of the two main indentations in the stretch of coast between Cape York and Cape Alexander . On the northern shore of the fjord there is a branch, the Bowdoin Fjord , and on the southern there are two, the Academy Bay in the inner fjord with the Leidy Glacier at its head and the narrow Olrik Fjord running roughly from east to west. The Heilprin Glacier , flowing from

4144-551: The past 100,000 years. Similarly the Icelandic Book of Settlements records famines during the winters, in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs". These Norse settlements vanished during the 14th and early 15th centuries. The demise of the Western Settlement coincides with a decrease in summer and winter temperatures. A study of North Atlantic seasonal temperature variability during

4218-557: The physical data from archeological sites. Interpretation of ice-core and clam-shell data suggests that between AD 800 and 1300 the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland had a relatively mild climate, several degrees Celsius warmer than usual in the North Atlantic with trees and herbaceous plants growing and livestock being farmed. Barley was grown as a crop up to the 70th parallel. The ice cores show that Greenland has had dramatic temperature shifts many times in

4292-577: The sea frozen, they headed south and arrived in Labrador and Newfoundland . Upon the brothers' return to Portugal, the cartographic information supplied by Corte-Real was incorporated into a new map of the world which was presented to Ercole I d'Este , Duke of Ferrara , by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The Cantino planisphere , made in Lisbon, accurately depicts the southern coastline of Greenland. In 1605–1607, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway sent

4366-677: The site of Saqqaq, for which the culture is named. From 2400 BC to 1300 BC, the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the Arctic small-tool tradition . Towns, including Deltaterrasserne , appeared. About 800 BC, the Saqqaq culture disappeared and the Early Dorset culture emerged in western Greenland and the Independence II culture in northern Greenland. The Dorset culture

4440-743: The south with Cape Cleveland on the northern shore. On the south side of the islands the Whale Sound leads from the Baffin Bay to the Inglefield Fjord. The Robertson Fjord and the MacCormick Fjord have their mouths on the northern side of the sound. This Greenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Inglefield Fjord Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord ( Danish : Inglefield Bredning ; Greenlandic : Kangerlussuaq )

4514-442: The statement, "Greenland is not for sale and cannot be sold, but Greenland is open for trade and cooperation with other countries—including the United States." In 1950, Denmark agreed to allow the US to regain the use of Thule Air Base ; it was greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO Cold War defence strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 km (62 miles) away in

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4588-451: The system of government changed: Governor Eske Brun ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish Sirius Patrol guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dog sleds. They detected several German weather stations and alerted American troops, who destroyed

4662-507: The territory's western region. In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to several successive Paleo-Inuit cultures known primarily through archaeological finds. The earliest entry of the Paleo-Inuit into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From about 2500 BC to 800 BC, southern and western Greenland was inhabited by the Saqqaq culture . Most finds of remains from that period have been around Disko Bay , including

4736-787: The third largest area in North America after Canada and the United States. It is between latitudes 59° and 83°N , and longitudes 11° and 74°W . Greenland is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Greenland Sea to the east, the North Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, the Davis Strait to the southwest, Baffin Bay to the west, the Nares Strait and Lincoln Sea to the northwest. The nearest countries to Greenland are Canada, with which it shares

4810-411: The warming back to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels or lower (such as through large-scale carbon dioxide removal ) would arrest the losses, but still cause greater ultimate sea level rise than if the threshold had never been exceeded. Further, 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) itself appears to commit the ice sheet to 1.4 m ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  ft) of sea level rise. The island

4884-468: The winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap, named Project Iceworm . According to documents declassified in 1996, this project was managed from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before abandonment as unworkable. The missiles were never fielded, and necessary consent from the Danish Government to do so

4958-403: The world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft). In 2003, a small island, 35 m × 15 m (115 ft × 49 ft) in length and width, was discovered by arctic explorer Dennis Schmitt and his team at the coordinates of 83-42 . Whether this island is permanent is not yet confirmed. If it is, it is the northernmost permanent known land on Earth. In 2007,

5032-451: Was declared the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony. Tourism increased significantly between 2015 and 2019, with the number of visitors increasing from 77,000 per year to 105,000. One source estimated that in 2019 the revenue from this aspect of the economy was about 450 million kroner (US$ 67 million). Like many aspects of the economy, this slowed dramatically in 2020 and into 2021, due to restrictions required as

5106-410: Was extended to Greenlanders. Danish policies toward Greenland consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation — or de-Greenlandification. During this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of the Danish language in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education. Many Greenlandic children grew up in boarding schools in southern Denmark, and

5180-429: Was never sought. The Danish government did not become aware of the programme's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking, in the declassified documents, for records related to the crash of a nuclear equipped B-52  bomber at Thule in 1968. With the 1953 Danish constitution, Greenland's colonial status ended as the island was incorporated into the Danish realm as an amt (county). Danish citizenship

5254-705: Was occupied by Nazi Germany . On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany. The United States' occupation of Greenland continued until 1945. Greenland was able to buy goods from the United States and Canada by selling cryolite from the mine at Ivittuut . In World War II , the United States military used Bluie as a code name for Greenland, where they kept several bases named "Bluie (East or West) (sequential numeral)". The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Søndre Strømfjord (Kangerlussuaq), both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports. During this war,

5328-666: Was part of the very ancient Precambrian continent of Laurentia , the eastern core of which forms the Greenland Shield, while the less exposed coastal strips become a plateau. On these ice-free coastal strips are sediments formed in the Precambrian , overprinted by metamorphism and now formed by glaciers, which continue into the Cenozoic and Mesozoic in parts of the island. In the east and west of Greenland there are remnants of flood basalts and igneous intrusions, such as

5402-604: Was presented in 1950, which recommended the introduction of a modern welfare state with Denmark's development as sponsor and model. In 1953, Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979. In 1867, United States Secretary of State William H. Seward worked with former senator Robert J. Walker to explore the possibility of buying Greenland and, perhaps, Iceland . Opposition in Congress ended this project. Following World War II,

5476-668: Was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas, in the west and the east. It lasted until the total onset of the Thule culture , in AD ;1500. The people of the Dorset culture lived mainly by hunting whales and reindeer . From 986, the west coast was settled by Icelanders and Norwegians , through a contingent of 14 boats led by Erik the Red. They formed three settlements—the Eastern Settlement ,

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