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Greenland
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Status: Autonomous part of Denmark
Chief of State: Queen Margrethe II
(1972)
High Commissioner: Gunnar Martens
(1995)
Premier: Jonathan Motzfeldt
(1997)
Total area: 131,931 sq mi (341,701 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 56,326 (growth
rate: 0.0%); birth rate: 16.0/1000; infant mortality rate:
14.5/1000; life expectancy: 70.5; density per sq mi: 0.1
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Godthaab, 14,100
Monetary unit: Krone
Languages: Greenlandic (East Inuit),
Danish, English
Ethnicity/race: Greenlander 88% (Eskimos
and Greenland-born whites), Danish and other 12% (2000)
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran
National Holiday:
Longest Day, June 21
Literacy rate: n.a.
Economic summary: GDP/PPP: (2001
est.): $1.1 billion; $20,000 per capita. Real growth rate:
1.8%. Inflation: 1.6% (1999 est.). Unemployment: 10%
(2000 est.). Arable land: 0%. Agriculture: forage
crops, garden and greenhouse vegetables; sheep, reindeer; fish .
Labor force: 24,500 (1995 est.). Industries: fish
processing (mainly shrimp and Greenland halibut); gold, niobium,
tantalite, uranium, iron and diamond mining; handicrafts, hides and
skins, small shipyards. Natural resources: zinc, lead, iron
ore, coal, molybdenum, gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales,
hydropower, possible oil and gas. Exports: $480 million
f.o.b. (2004 est.): fish and fish products 94% (prawns 63%).
Imports: $601 million c.i.f. (2004): machinery and transport
equipment, manufactured goods, food, petroleum products. Major
trading partners: Denmark, Japan, China, Sweden, Norway
(2004).
Major sources and definitions
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The Inuit are believed to have crossed from
North America to northwest Greenland, the world's largest island, between
4000 B.C. and A.D.
1000. Greenland was colonized in 985–986 by Eric the Red. The Norse
settlements declined in the 14th century, however, mainly as a result of a
cooling in Greenland's climate, and in the 15th century they became
extinct. In 1721, Greenland was recolonized by the Royal Greenland Trading
Company of Denmark.
Greenland was under U.S. protection during World
War II, but it maintained Danish sovereignty. A definitive agreement for
the joint defense of Greenland within the framework of NATO was signed in
1951. A large U.S. air base at Thule in the far north was completed in
1953. Under 1953 amendments to the Danish constitution, Greenland became
part of Denmark, with two representatives in the Danish Folketing. On May
1, 1979, Greenland gained home rule, with its own local parliament
(Landsting).
See also Encyclopedia: Greenland.
Statistics
Greenland www.statgreen.gl/ .
Fact Monster/Information Please®
Database, © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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