Up until 2025, Greenland generally flew below the world’s radar. All that has changed recently. Facts about Greenland are more well known than ever. For example, it is the world’s largest island, but with a population of less than 60,000 – ninety percent Inuits. It is farther north than any other land mass, including Canada and Russia, and one of the coldest places on earth.
Over 80% of Greenland is covered by a polar ice cap. However, climate change has caused its vast glaciers to start melting. The silver lining of sorts is that this has allowed new access to Greenland’s valuable mineral resources. Potential oil, gas and rare earth mineral reserves have attracted international attention, including from the U.S.
Though a part of the North American continent, Greenland has been associated first with Norway, then Denmark since the 9th Century. Its head of state is King Frederik X of Denmark. It is an autonomous Danish territory with self-government and its own parliament. But how did this all come about?
The first humans to set foot in Greenland were NOT the Vikings. Indigenous people arrived about 5,000 years ago from North America (what is today Canada) when the sea froze in the narrow strait at Thule. Six different Inuit tribes migrated over the centuries. Greenland’s native population is descended from the final Thule culture, which arrived in the 9th century.
This final Inuit immigration took place just before the arrival of Viking Erik the Red and his Norseman in 982 AD. He was called Erik the Red due to his flaming red beard and hair. Erik Thorvaldsson was banished from Iceland, sailed west, and ‘discovered’ the island. Erik the Red was both explorer and entrepreneur. He called his discovery “Greenland” to make it more attractive to settlers. He returned in 986 and established two settlements in the south and west.
Greenland became a part of Denmark in 1380 when Norway’s kingdom united under the Danish Crown.
The Norse colonists vanished from Greenland around 1350 for reasons that remain a mystery. It was likely due to the “Little Ice Age.” A volcano on the Indonesian island of Lombok erupted – the most powerful eruption of the last 7,000 years. The dust in the atmosphere caused temperatures around the world to plummet. In Greenland, summer highs would have been just 6°C/11°F , leading to starvation when their crops failed and livestock died. Many of the Norse settlers’ ruins are still visible in South Greenland and the capital of Nuuk.
A Christian missionary, Hans Egede, convinced King Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway to allow an expedition to Greenland. He arrived in Nuuk in 1721 to set up a mission and search for the lost Norse colony. He never found them, but instead managed to convert the Inuits to Christianity. The Inuits managed to survive the Little Ice Age since they relied upon the sea and not crops for their livelihood. As a result, the Inuits of today are now Lutherans.
In 1814, the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway broke apart following the Napoleonic Wars. Thereafter, Greenland formally became a Danish colony. Greenland’s mining history began in 1854 with the discovery of cryolite, a mineral used in aluminum production. At the time, it was the world’s only commercial source of cryolite, producing 3.7 million tons over its lifetime.
In the 1900’s, Denmark introduced sheep farming in the warmer, southern part of the island and commercial whaling started up. During World War I, the U.S. government, under President Woodrow Wilson, recognized Denmark’s right to Greenland. It was part of an agreement where the U.S. acquired the Danish Virgin Islands (today the U.S. Virgin Islands) for $25 million in gold.
During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. Working with the Danish government in exile, the U.S. occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible German invasion. The military built Thule Air Base on the upper west coast. Cryolite output peaked during World War II amid increased U.S. and British demand for aluminum to build military aircraft.
After the war in 1946, the Truman administration offered to buy Greenland from Denmark.
It was in order to secure military bases because of “the extreme importance of Greenland to the defense of the United States.” Denmark rejected the sale, but did allow Thule Air Force Base to remain. In 1950, during the Cold War, Denmark signed a long-term lease agreement with the U.S. allowing them to expand Thule Air Base. It grew substantially in the 1950’s as part of NATO’s radar and missile defense strategy. Unfortunately, many Inuit communities lost their land in the expansion.
By 1953, Greenland became an official part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Parliament made amendments to the Danish Constitution and Greenland was no longer considered a colony. Real decision-making power, however, remained with the Danish parliament and the Ministry of Greenland in Copenhagen.
In 1979, demands by Greenlanders to have control over their own affairs lead to the Home Rule Act. This established a Greenlandic parliament and gave them local control over education, health and industries. The legislation was approved by the Danish parliament and ratified by seventy percent of Greenland voters.
Greenlanders voted on another referendum in 2008, granting even more independence. They wanted greater control over their energy resources and made Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) the official language. Greenland became a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark. The Self-Government Act was approved by over 75% of Greenland voters. Denmark, however, still retained control of defense and foreign affairs.
By 2010, Greenland’s ice sheet began shrinking faster than ever due to climate change.
The retreating glaciers exposed more of Greenland’s rugged tundra coastline. The cryolite mine closed after it was depleted in 1987, but other mines now started in its place. In 2013, Greenland ended a 25-year ban on mining radioactive materials, like uranium. This lead to a parallel boom in exports of rare earth minerals, like lithium, neodymium and dysprosium, needed for electric vehicle batteries and magnets.
That brings us to 2019, when President Donald Trump made his first offer to buy Greenland from Denmark. The Danish Prime Minister rejected the idea, saying, “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland.” A presidential trip to Copenhagen was quickly cancelled and the deal fell through.
Prime Minister Mute Egede took over in 2021 after his Inuit party won parliamentary elections on a platform of halting a rare metals mining for economic and environmental reasons. Greenland also banned all new oil and gas exploration in its territory. Government officials said the “environmental price was simply too high”.
Today Greenland is a modern, autonomous nation, albeit still a formal part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Snowmobiles have replaced dogsleds as the primary form of transportation outside the modern capital of Nuuk. Like the rest of the world, cell phones and WiFi have become the common means of communication for both young and old alike. Thirty-eight year old Inuit PM Mute Egede is a staunch advocate for Greenland’s full independence.