The Thule people came from Alaska and made their way to Greenland through the northern fringes of Canada.
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Map showing Greenland.
Greenland is a big island covered in ice and snow that looks amazing. It has huge glaciers and giant icebergs everywhere. Not many people live there, and they mostly stay in small towns along the rough coast. In this article, we will learn about whether Greenland is a part of Denmark or not, why it is so, and much more.
Greenland- A part of Denmark?
Yes, Greenland is a part of Denmark. It became a part of Denmark a long time ago because Danish explorers claimed it after exploring its coast. In the 1700s, Denmark started settling people there, and over time, they took control of the island. In 1953, Greenland officially became part of Denmark, through a change in its political status, transitioning from a colony to an overseas administrative division of Denmark, but it got more freedom to govern itself.
Even though it’s still part of Denmark, Greenland has its government. People talk about who should control things like land and resources, and how to respect the rights of the native people who live there.
Why is Greenland Part of Denmark?
The following are the main reasons:
Denmark and Greenland have been connected for a long time, more than a thousand years. Denmark started ruling over Greenland in the early 1700s, and by the middle of the 1900s, Greenland became fully part of Denmark.
Greenland didn’t just stay a colony. In 1979, Denmark gave them “home rule,” which means they got to control things like education and social welfare on their own. Then, in 2009, they got even more control with “self-government.”
People from Greenland are citizens of Denmark, so they get to use Danish social programs like healthcare and education. But Denmark takes care of things like protecting Greenland and making decisions about its relationships with other countries. This helps Greenland stay safe and get some money from Denmark too.
In Greenland, some people want the island to be completely independent. But it’s not an easy choice because Greenland relies a lot on money from Denmark. Some folks in Greenland might think it’s better to have more control over their affairs first before going all the way to independence.
Interesting Facts about Greenland
Greenland is the biggest island globally, not counting continents. It’s huge, covering over 2.1 million square kilometers.
Even though it’s called “Greenland,” about 80% of it is covered by a 3-kilometer thick sheet of ice, which is the second-largest in the world after Antarctica.
If all the Ice Sheet melted, the sea could go up by 7 meters, galloping lots of coastal areas. Because of climate change, the ice sheet is melting much faster than before which is a matter of concern.
It’s where you’ll find Northeast Greenland National Park, the biggest one in the world. It’s huge, covering 972,000 square kilometers. This giant park looks after the most northern fjords on Earth and is a safe place for lots of different animals, like polar bears, musk oxen, walruses, and birds.
Norse settlers came in the 10th century, but even before them, archaeologists think Inuit folks had been there for thousands of years. We are not sure why the Norse settlements disappeared. But we can still see some of their old stuff, like Norse ruins and the names of some places they left behind.
Around 57,000 people live in Greenland, mostly by the coast. The capital, Nuuk, has about 18,000 people. Most of the folks are Inuit, the indigenous people of Greenland. In their language, Kalaallisut, they call Greenland “Kalaallit Nunaat,” which means “Land of the People.”
Greenland is known as the “Iceberg Capital of the World” because it has a ton of icebergs. They break off from glaciers and float into the water.