Iceland and Greenland 2
The southwest corner of Iceland is the most densely populated region. It is also the location of the capital Reykjavík, the northernmost national capital in the world. The largest towns outside the Greater Reykjavík area are Akureyri and Reykjanesbær, although the latter is relatively close to the capital. HP 657942-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Some 500 Icelanders under the leadership of Erik the Red colonized Greenland among the existing paleo-Eskimo inhabitants in the late 10th century.[132] The total population reached a high point of perhaps 5,000 and developed independent institutions before disappearing by 1500.[133] HP 646578-001 CPU fan with heatsink
From Greenland the Norsemen launched expeditions to settle in Vinland, but these attempts to colonise North America were soon abandoned in the face of hostility from the indigenous peoples. Emigration to the United States and Canada began in the 1870s. Today, Canada has over 88,000 people of Icelandic descent,[13HP 606609-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 610778-001 CPU fan with heatsink4] while there are more than 40,000 Americans of Icelandic descent, according to the 2000 US census.[135]
Urbanisation[edit source | editbeta]
Iceland's de facto official written and spoken language is Icelandic, a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse. In grammar and vocabulary, it has changed less from Old Norse than the other Nordic languages; HP 612354-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 610777-001 CPU fan with heatsink Icelandic has preserved more verb and noun inflection, and has to a considerable extent developed new vocabulary based on native roots rather than borrowings from other languages. The puristic tendency in the development of Icelandic vocabulary is to a large degree a result of conscious language planning, HP 612355-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 622033-001 CPU fan with heatsink in addition to centuries of isolation. Icelandic is the only living language to retain the use of the runic letter Þ in Latin script. The closest living relative of the Icelandic language is Faroese. HP 606014-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Icelandic Sign Language was officially recognised as a minority language in 2011. In education, its use for Iceland's deaf community is regulated by the National Curriculum Guide.
English and Danish are compulsory subjects in the school curriculum. Both languages are widely understood and spoken.[136] HP 606013-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 610774-001 CPU fan with heatsinkOther commonly spoken languages are Swedish, Norwegian, German and French . Danish is mostly spoken in a way largely comprehensible to Swedes and Norwegians—it is often referred to as skandinavíska (i. e. Scandinavian) in Iceland.[137] HP 532613-001 CPU fan with heatsink
Rather than using family names, as is the custom in all mainland European nations, the Icelanders use patronymics or matronymics. The patronymic and matronymic follows the person's given name, e.g. Elísabet Jónsdóttir ("Elísabet, Jón's daughter") or Ólafur Katrínarson ("Ólafur, Katrín's son").
HP 576838-001 CPU fan with heatsink Consequently, Icelanders refer to one another by their given name, and the Icelandic telephone directory is listed alphabetically by first name rather than by surname. HP 582321-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Health[edit source | editbeta]
Iceland has a universal health care system that is administered by The Ministry of Welfare (Icelandic: Velferðarráðuneytið)[138] and paid for mostly by taxes (85%) and to a lesser extent by service fees (15%). Unlike most developed nations, there are no private hospitals, and private insurance is practically nonexistent.[139] HP 532614-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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A considerable portion of the government budget is assigned to health care,[139] and Iceland ranks 11th in health care expenditures as a percentage of GDP[140] and 14th in spending per capita.[141] Over all, the country’s health care system is one of the best performing in the world, ranked 15th by the World Health Organization.[14HP 587244-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 450864-001 CPU fan with heatsink2] According to an OECD report, Iceland devotes far more resources to healthcare than most industrialized nations. As of 2009, Iceland had 3.7 doctors per 1,000 people (compared with an average of 3.1 in OECD countries) and 15.3 nurses per 1,000 people (compared with an OECD average of 8.4).[143] HP 535438-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Icelanders are among the world’s healthiest people, with 81% reporting to be in good health, according to an OECD survey.[68] Although it is a growing problem, obesity is not as prevalent as in other developed countries,[14HP 448016-001 CPU fan with heatsink
3] infant mortality is one the lowest in the world,[144] and the proportion of the population that smokes is lower than the OECD average.[143] The average life expectancy is 81.8 (compared to an OECD average of 79.5), the 4th highest in the world.[145] HP 486799-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Additionally, Iceland has a very low level of pollution, thanks to an overwhelming reliance on cleaner geothermal energy, a low population density, and a high level of environmental consciousness among citizens.[146] HP 491572-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 492314-001 CPU fan with heatsink According to an OECD assessment, the amount of toxic material in the atmosphere is far lower than any other industrialized country measured.[147]
Religion[edit source | editbeta]
Iceland is a very secular country: as with other Nordic nations, religious attendance is relatively low.[148][149] The above statistics represent administrative membership of religious organisations,
Compaq Presario CQ62Z-200 CTO keyboard which does not necessarily reflect the belief demographics of the population of Iceland. According to a study published in 2001, 23% of the inhabitants are either atheist or agnostic.[150] A Gallup poll conducted in 2011 found that 60% of Icelanders considered religion to be unimportant in their daily lives, one of the highest rates of irreligion in the world. Compaq Presario CQ62-215SA keyboard
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Culture[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Culture of Iceland
Icelandic culture has its roots in Norse traditions. Icelandic literature is popular, in particular the sagas and eddas that were written during the High and Late Middle Ages. Compaq Presario CQ62-220SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ62-230EA keyboard Centuries of isolation have helped to insulate the country's Nordic culture from external influence; a prominent example is the preservation of the Icelandic language, which remains the closest to Old Norse of all modern Scandinavian languages except Faroese. Compaq Presario CQ62-221SA keyboard
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In contrast to other Nordic countries, Icelanders place relatively great importance on independence and self-sufficiency; in a public opinion analysis conducted by the European Commission, over 85% of Icelanders found independence to be "very important," compared to 47% of Norwegians, 49% of Danes, and an average of 53% for the EU25.[1Compaq Presario CQ62-225SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ62Z keyboard51] Icelanders also have a very strong work ethic, working some of the longest hours of any industrialized nation.[152]
According to a poll conducted by the OECD, 66% of Icelanders were satisfied with their lives, while 70% believed that their lives will be satisfying in the future. Similarly, 83% of people in Iceland reported having more positive experiences in an average day than negative ones, Compaq Presario CQ62-229SA keyboard
compared to an OECD average of 72%, which makes Iceland one of the happiest countries in the OECD.[68] A more recent 2012 survey found that around three quarters of respondents stated they were satisfied with their lives, compared to a global average of about 53%.[153] Compaq Presario CQ62-230SA keyboard
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Iceland is liberal with regard to LGBT rights issues. In 1996, the Icelandic parliament passed legislation to create registered partnerships for same-sex couples, conferring nearly all the rights and benefits of marriage. In 2006, Compaq Presario CQ62-235SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ62-A55SA keyboardparliament voted unanimously to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples in adoption, parenting and assisted insemination treatment. On 11 June 2010, the Icelandic parliament amended the marriage law, making it gender neutral and defining marriage as between two individuals, Compaq Presario CQ62-A20SA keyboard
making Iceland one of the first countries in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. The law took effect on 27 June 2010.[154] The amendment to the law also means registered partnerships for same-sex couples are now no longer possible, and marriage is their only option—identical to the existing situation for opposite-sex couples.[154] Compaq Presario CQ62-A25SA keyboard
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Icelanders are known for their deep sense of community: an OECD survey found that 98% believe they know someone they could rely on in a time of need, higher than in any other industrialized country. Similarly, only 6% reported "rarely" or "never" socializing with others.[68]
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This high level of social cohesion is attributed to the small size and homogeneity of the population, as well as to a long history of harsh survival in an isolated environment, which reinforced the importance of unity and cooperation.[155] Compaq Presario CQ62Z-200 keyboard
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Egalitarianism is highly valued among the people of Iceland, with income inequality being among the lowest in the world.[84] The constitution explicitly prohibits the enactment of noble privileges, titles, and ranks.[156] Compaq Presario CQ60-114EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ56-254SA keyboard Everyone is addressed by their first name. As with other Nordic countries, equality between the sexes is very high, Iceland is consistently ranked among the top three countries in the world for women to live in.[157][158][159] Compaq Presario CQ60-212EA keyboard
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Literature[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Icelandic literature
A page of Njáls saga from Möðruvallabók. The sagas are a significant part of the Icelandic heritage
Iceland's best-known classical works of literature are the Icelanders' sagas, prose epics set in Iceland's age of settlement. Compaq Presario CQ60-218EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60Z-200 CTO keyboardThe most famous of these include Njáls saga, about an epic blood feud, and Grænlendinga saga and Eiríks saga, describing the discovery and settlement of Greenland and Vinland (modern Newfoundland). Egils saga, Compaq Presario CQ60-219EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-430SA keyboard Laxdæla saga, Grettis saga, Gísla saga and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu are also notable and popular Icelanders' sagas.
A translation of the Bible was published in the 16th century. Important compositions since the 15th to the 19th century include sacred verse, Compaq Presario CQ60-305EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-420SA keyboardmost famously the Passion Hymns of Hallgrímur Pétursson, and rímur, rhyming epic poems. Originating in the 14th century, rímur were popular into the 19th century, when the development of new literary forms was provoked by the influential, National-Romantic writer Jónas Hallgrímsson. Compaq Presario CQ60-305SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-410SA keyboardIn recent times, Iceland has produced many great writers, the best-known of whom is arguably Halldór Laxness, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955 (the only Icelander to win a Nobel Prize thus far). Steinn Steinarr was an influential modernist poet during the early 20th century who remains popular. Compaq Presario CQ60-307SA keyboard
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Icelanders are avid consumers of literature, with the highest number of bookstores per capita in the world. For its size, Iceland imports and translates more international literature than any other nation.[156] Iceland also has the highest per capita publication of books and magazines,[160] and around 10% of the population will publish a book in their lifetimes.[161] Compaq Presario CQ60-307EA keyboard
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Art[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Icelandic art
The distinctive rendition of the Icelandic landscape by its painters can be linked to nationalism and the movement for home rule and independence, which was very active in the mid-19th century.
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Contemporary Icelandic painting is typically traced to the work of Þórarinn Þorláksson, who, following formal training in art in the 1890s in Copenhagen, returned to Iceland to paint and exhibit works from 1900 to his death in 1924, Compaq Presario CQ60-311SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-311EA keyboardalmost exclusively portraying the Icelandic landscape. Several other Icelandic men and women artists studied at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at that time, including Ásgrímur Jónsson, Compaq Presario CQ56-254SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-106SA keyboard who together with Þórarinn created a distinctive portrayal of Iceland's landscape in a romantic naturalistic style. Other landscape artists quickly followed in the footsteps of Þórarinn and Ásgrímur. These included Jóhannes Kjarval and Júlíana Sveinsdóttir.
Compaq Presario CQ56-106EA keyboardKjarval in particular is noted for the distinct techniques in the application of paint that he developed in a concerted effort to render the characteristic volcanic rock that dominates the Icelandic environment. Compaq Presario CQ56Z-200 CTO keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-103EA keyboardEinar Hákonarson is an expressionistic and figurative painter who by some is considered to have brought the figure back into Icelandic painting. In the 1980s, many Icelandic artists worked with the subject of the new painting in their work. Compaq Presario CQ56-251SA keyboard
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In the recent years artistic practice has multiplied, and the Icelandic art scene has become a setting for many large scale projects and exhibitions. The artist run gallery space Kling og Bang, members of which later ran the studio complex and exhibition venue Klink og Bank, Compaq Presario CQ56-253SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-261EA keyboard has been a significant part of the trend of self-organised spaces, exhibitions and projects.[162] The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik Art Museum and the National Gallery of Iceland are the larger, more established institutions, curating shows and festivals. Compaq Presario CQ56-115SA keyboard
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Icelandic music is related to Nordic music, and includes vibrant folk and pop traditions, medieval music group Voces Thules, alternative and indie rock bands The Sugarcubes and Of Monsters and Men, jazz fusion band Mezzoforte, singers Björk and Emilíana Torrini, and post-rock band Sigur Rós. The national anthem of Iceland is Lofsöngur, written by Matthías Jochumsson, with music by Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson.[163] Compaq Presario CQ56-156SA keyboard
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Singer Björk, the best-known Icelandic musician
Traditional Icelandic music is strongly religious. Hymns, both religious and secular, are a particularly well-developed form of music, due to the scarcity of musical instruments throughout much of Iceland's history. Hallgrímur Pétursson wrote many Protestant hymns in the 17th century. Icelandic music was modernised in the 19th century, when Magnús Stephensen brought pipe organs, which were followed by harmoniums. Compaq Presario CQ56-206SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-112EA keyboard Other vital traditions of Icelandic music are epic alliterative and rhyming ballads called rímur. Rímur are epic tales, usually a cappella, which can be traced back to skaldic poetry, using complex metaphors and elaborate rhyme schemes.[164] The best known rímur poet of the 19th century was Sigurður Breiðfjörð (1798–1846). Compaq Presario CQ56-109SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-111EA keyboardA modern revitalisation of the tradition began in 1929 with the formation of Iðunn.[clarification needed]
Icelandic contemporary music consists of a big group of bands, ranging from pop-rock groups such as Bang Gang, Quarashi and Amiina to solo ballad singers like Bubbi Morthens, Megas and Björgvin Halldórsson. Independent music is very strong in Iceland, with bands such as múm,
Compaq Presario CQ56-107SA keyboard The Sugarcubes, HAM, Of Monsters and Men, Sigur Rós, and Viking metal band Skálmöld as well as solo artists Emilíana Torrini and Mugison.
Some Icelandic jazz musicians and jazz bands have earned a reputation outside Iceland. Perhaps best known is the jazz fusion band Mezzoforte and Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist Anna Mjöll. Many Icelandic artists and bands have enjoyed international success, Compaq Presario CQ56-112SA keyboard
most notably Björk and Sigur Rós but also Quarashi, Hera, Ampop, Mínus and múm. The main music festival is arguably Iceland Airwaves, an annual event on the Icelandic music scene, where Icelandic bands along with foreign ones play in the clubs of Reykjavík for a week. Electronic musicians include like Thor and GusGus. Compaq Presario CQ56-113SA keyboard
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Media[edit source | editbeta]
Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, best known for the films 101 Reykjavík, Jar City and Contraband
See also: Media of Iceland and Cinema of Iceland
Iceland's largest television stations are the state-run Sjónvarpið and the privately owned Stöð 2 and SkjárEinn. Smaller stations exist, Compaq Presario CQ56-102SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-104SA keyboard many of them local. Radio is broadcast throughout the country, including some parts of the interior. The main radio stations are Rás 1, Rás 2, X-ið 977, Bylgjan and FM957. The daily newspapers are Morgunblaðið and Fréttablaðið. The most popular websites are the news sites Vísir and Mbl.is.[165] Compaq Presario CQ71-135SA keyboard
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Iceland is home to LazyTown (Icelandic: Latibær), a children's television programme created by Magnús Scheving. It has become a very popular programme for children and adults and is shown in over 100 countries, including the UK, the Americas and Sweden.[166] The LazyTown studios are located in Garðabær. Compaq Presario CQ71-140EA keyboard
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In 1992 the Icelandic film industry achieved its greatest recognition hitherto, when Friðrik Þór Friðriksson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his film, Children of Nature. Actress Guðrún S. Gísladóttir, Compaq Presario CQ71-140SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ71 keyboardwho is Icelandic, played one of the major roles in fabled Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's 1986 film, The Sacrifice. Anita Briem, known for her performance in Showtime's The Tudors, is also Icelandic. Briem starred in the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth, which shot scenes in Iceland. The 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day is set for a large-part in Iceland. Compaq Presario CQ71-210SA keyboard
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On 17 June 2010, the parliament passed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, a resolution proposing greater protection of free speech rights and the identity of journalists and whistle-blowers, the strongest journalist protection law in the world.[167Compaq Presario CQ71-235SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ71-402SA keyboard] According to a 2011 report by Freedom House, Iceland is one of the highest ranked countries in press freedom.[168]
CCP Games, developers of the critically acclaimed EVE Online and Dust 514, is headquartered in Reykjavik. CCP Games hosts the third most populated MMO in the world, which also has the largest total game area for an online game.
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Iceland has a highly developed internet culture, with around 95% of the population having internet access, the highest proportion in the world.[169] Iceland ranked 12th in the World Economic Forum's 2009–2010 Network Readiness Index, which measures a country's ability to competitively exploit communications technology.[170] Compaq Presario CQ71-305SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ71-320SA keyboard The United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks the country 3rd in its development of information and communications technology, having moved up four places between 2008 and 2010.[171] In February 2013 the country was working on banning all Internet pornography claiming the images are a threat to children.[172] Compaq Presario CQ71-312SA keyboard
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Cuisine[edit source | editbeta]
Main articles: Icelandic cuisine and Þorramatur
A typical Þorramatur assortment
Much of Iceland's cuisine is based on fish, lamb, and dairy products, with little to no utilization of herbs or spices. Due to the island's climate, fruits and vegetables are not generally a component of traditional dishes, HP 640426-001 CPU fan
although the use of greenhouses has made them more common in contemporary food. Þorramatur is a selection of traditional cuisine consisting of many dishes, and is usually consumed around the month of Þorri, which begins on the first Friday after 19 January. Traditional dishes also include skyr, hákarl (cured shark), HP 641477-001 CPU fan
HP 582140-001 CPU fancured ram, singed sheep heads, and black pudding. Puffin is considered a local delicacy that is often prepared through broiling.
Breakfast usually consists of pancakes, cereal, fruit, and coffee, while lunch may take the form of a smörgåsbord. The main meal of the day for most Icelanders is dinner, which usually involves fish or lamb as the main course. HP 650848-001 CPU fan
HP 582139-001 CPU fan Seafood is central to most Icelandic cooking, particularly cod and haddock but also salmon, herring, and halibut. It is often prepared in a wide variety of ways, either smoked, pickled, boiled, or dried. Lamb is by far the most common meat, and it tends to be either smoke-cured (known as hangikjöt) HP 653627-001 CPU fan
HP 580718-001 CPU fan or salt-preserved (saltkjöt). Many older dishes make use of every part of the sheep, such as slátur, which consists of offal (internal organs and entrails) minced together with blood and served in sheep stomach. Additionally, boiled or mashed potatoes, pickled cabbage, green beans, and rye bread are prevalent side dishes. HP 665309-001 CPU fan
Coffee is a popular beverage in Iceland, and is drunk at breakfast, after meals, and with a light snack in mid-afternoon. Coca-Cola is also widely consumed, to the extent that the country is said to have one of the highest per capita consumption rates in the world.[173HP 666391-001 CPU fan
HP 384622-001 CPU fan ] Iceland's signature alcoholic beverage is Brennivín (literally "burnt (i.e. distilled) wine"), which is similar to Scandinavian akvavit. It is a type of vodka made from distilled potatoes and flavoured with either caraway seeds or angelica. Its potency has earned it the nickname svarti dauði ("Black Death").HP 650057-001 CPU fan
Sports[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Sport in Iceland
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen, Iceland's best-known football player
Sport is an important part of Icelandic culture, as the population is generally quite active.[174] The main traditional sport in Iceland is Glíma, a form of wrestling thought to have originated in medieval times. HP 582141-001 CPU fan
Popular sports include association football, track and field, handball and basketball. Handball is often referred to as the national sport,[175] and Iceland's team is ranked among the top 12 in the world. Icelandic women excel at football relative to the size of the country, with the national team ranked 16th by FIFA.[176] HP 431312-001 CPU fan
Iceland has excellent conditions for skiing, fishing, snowboarding, ice climbing and rock climbing, although mountain climbing and hiking are preferred by the general public. Iceland is also a world-class destination for alpine ski touring and Telemark skiing, HP 487436-001 CPU fan
HP 608378-001 CPU fan with the Troll Peninsula in Northern Iceland being the main centre of activity. Although the county's environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there are nevertheless lots of golf courses throughout the island, and Iceland holds the world record for most golf courses per capita with around 5000 individuals per golf course. Iceland regularly hosts an international tournament known as the Arctic Open.[17HP 531941-001 CPU fan
HP 608095-001 CPU fan7] Iceland has also won the most competitions for World's Strongest Man, with eight titles shared evenly between Magnús Ver Magnússon and Jón Páll Sigmarsson.
Swimming is popular in Iceland. Geothermally heated outdoor pools are widespread, and swimming courses are a mandatory part of the national curriculum. HP 532141-001 CPU fan
[178] Horseback riding, which was historically the most prevalent form of transportation on the island, remains a common pursuit for many Icelanders.
The oldest sport association in Iceland is the Reykjavík Shooting Association, founded in 1867. Rifle shooting became very popular in the 19th century with the encouragement of politicians and nationalists who were pushing for Icelandic independence. To this day, it remains a significant pastime.[179] HP 532617-001 CPU fan
Iceland has also produced many chess masters and hosted the historic World Chess Championship 1972 in Reykjavik during the height of the Cold War. As of 2008, there have been nine Icelandic chess grandmasters, a considerable number given the small size of the population.[18HP 534676-001 CPU fan
HP 606731-001 CPU fan0] Bridge is also popular, with Iceland participating in a number of international tournaments. Iceland won the world bridge championship (the Bermuda Bowl) in Yokohama, Japan, in 1991 and took second place (with Sweden) in Hamilton, Bermuda, in 1950. HP 534685-001 CPU fan
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Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat [kaˈla:ɫit ˈnuna:t]) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. HP 576837-001 CPU fan
HP 606575-001 CPU fan Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and later Denmark) for more than a millennium. In 2008, the people of Greenland passed a referendum supporting greater autonomy; HP 579158-001 CPU fan
HP 606574-001 CPU fan75% of votes cast were in favour. Greenland is, in terms of area, the world's largest island,[7] over 3/4 of which is covered by the only contemporary ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of 56,370 (2013), it is the least densely populated country in the world.[8]
Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from Canada.[9] Norsemen settled on the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century. HP 603690-001 CPU fan
HP 603691-001 CPU fan Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century. In the early 18th century, Scandinavia and Greenland came back into contact with each other, and Denmark established sovereignty over the island. HP 631742-001 CPU fan
Having been ruled by Denmark–Norway for centuries, Greenland (Danish: Grønland) became a Danish colony in 1814, and a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark. In 1979, HP 637607-001 CPU fan
HP 622029-001 CPU fan Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted to transfer more power from the Danish royal government to the local Greenlandic government. Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009,[ HP 637610-001 CPU fan
HP 631743-001 CPU fan3] the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs, national defence, the police force, and the justice system. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, HP 657529-001 CPU fan
HP 610778-001 CPU fanslated to diminish gradually over time as Greenland's economy is strengthened by increased income from the extraction of natural resources.
It was the early Scandinavian settlers who gave the country the name Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. Along with his extended family and his thralls, HP 480481-001 CPU fan
HP 610777-001 CPU fanhe set out in ships to find the land rumored to lie to the northwest. After finding it and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.[10][11][1HP 533736-001 CPU fan
In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to several successive Paleo-Eskimo cultures known primarily through archaeological finds. The earliest entry of the Paleo-Eskimo into Greenland is thought to have occurred about 2500 BC. From around 2500 BC to 800 BC, HP 535442-001 CPU fan
HP 610773-001 CPU fansouthern and western Greenland was inhabited by the Saqqaq culture. Most finds of Saqqaq-period archaeological remains have been around Disko Bay. From 2400 BC to 1300 BC, the Independence I culture existed in northern Greenland. It was a part of the Arctic small tool tradition.[14][15] HP 655983-001 CPU fan
Around 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 was the first culture to extend throughout the Greenlandic coastal areas, HP 646578-001 CPU fan
both on the west and east coasts, and it lasted until the total onset of the Thule culture in 1500 AD. The Dorset culture population lived primarily from whale hunting. The Thule culture people are the ancestors of the current Greenlandic population. They started migrating from Alaska around 1000 AD, reaching Greenland around 1300 AD. HP 606609-001 CPU fan
The Thule culture was the first to introduce to Greenland such technological innovations as dog sleds and toggling harpoons.
Norse settlement[edit source | editbeta]
From 986 AD, Greenland's west coast was colonized by Icelanders and Norwegians in two settlements on fjords near the southwestern-most tip of the island.[ HP 612355-001 CPU fan
HP 610774-001 CPU fan16] They shared the island with the late Dorset culture inhabitants who occupied the northern and western parts, and later with the Thule culture arriving from the north. Norse Greenlanders submitted to Norwegian rule in the 13th century, HP 606014-001 CPU fan
HP 606013-001 CPU fanand the kingdom of Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark in 1380, and from 1397 was a part of the Kalmar Union.[17] Sony VGN-NR31E Keyboard
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The settlements, such as Brattahlíð, thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age.[18] Apart from some runic inscriptions, no contemporary records or historiography survives from the Norse settlement. Sony VGN-NR31J Keyboard
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Icelandic saga accounts of life in Greenland were composed in the thirteenth century and later, and do not constitute primary sources for the history of early Greenland.[19] Modern understanding therefore depends on the physical data. Interpretation of ice core and clam shell data suggests that between 800 and 1300 AD, Sony VGN-NR31MR Keyboard
Sony VGN-NR31S Keyboard
Sony VPCF22J1E Keyboard the regions around the fjords of southern Greenland experienced a relatively mild climate several degrees Celsius higher than usual in the North Atlantic,[20] with trees and herbaceous plants growing and livestock being farmed. Barley was grown as a crop up to the 70th parallel.[21] Sony VGN-NR31SR Keyboard
Sony VPC-F21Z1E Keyboard What is verifiable is that the ice cores indicate Greenland has experienced dramatic temperature shifts many times over the past 100,000 years.[22] Similarly the Icelandic Book of Settlements records famines during the winters in which "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs". (Arnold 2010) Sony VGN-NR31Z Keyboard
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The last written records of the Norse Greenlanders are of a marriage in 1408 in the church of Hvalsey—today the best-preserved Nordic ruins in Greenland.
These Icelandic settlements vanished during the 14th and 15th centuries, probably as a result of famine and increasing conflicts with the Inuit.[2Sony VGN-NR31ZR Keyboard
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Sony VPC-F2 Keyboard3] The condition of human bones from this period indicates that the Norse population was malnourished, probably due to soil erosion resulting from the Norsemen's destruction of natural vegetation in the course of farming, turf-cutting, and wood-cutting, pandemic plague, a decline in temperatures during the Little Ice Age, and/or armed conflicts with the Inuit.[18]
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1500–1814[edit source | editbeta]
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 the Portuguese area of influence. In 1501, Corte-Real returned with his brother, Miguel Corte-Real. Sony VGN-NR38M Keyboard
Sony VPC-F11M1E/H KeyboardFinding 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 the Ercole I d'Este, Sony VGN-NR38S Keyboard
Duke of Ferrara by Alberto Cantino in 1502. The Cantino planisphere, made in Lisbon, accurately depicts the southern coastline of Greenland.[24]
In 1605–1607, King Christian IV of Denmark sent a series of expeditions to Greenland and Arctic waterways in order to locate the lost eastern Norse settlement and assert Danish sovereignty over Greenland. Sony VGN-NR38Z Keyboard
Sony VGN-NR38Z/T Keyboard
Sony VPCF11D4E KeyboardThe expeditions were mostly unsuccessful, partly due to leaders who lacked experience with the difficult arctic ice and weather conditions, Sony VGN-NR11M Keyboard
Sony VPCF11C5E Keyboardand partly because the expedition leaders were given instructions to search for the Eastern Settlement on 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.
A 1747 map based on Egede's descriptions and misconceptions.
After the Norse settlements died off, the area came under the de facto control of various Inuit groups, but the Danish government never forgot or relinquished the claims to Greenland that it had inherited from the Norwegians; Sony VGN-NR11S Keyboard
Sony VGN-NR21S/T Keyboard and when contact with Greenland was re-established in the early 18th century, Denmark asserted its sovereignty over the island. In 1721, a joint mercantile and clerical expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether a Norse civilization remained there. Sony VGN-NR11Z Keyboard
Sony VGN-NR21S KeyboardThe expedition can be seen as part of the Danish colonization of the Americas. After 15 years in Greenland, Hans Egede left his son Paul Egede in charge of the mission in Greenland and returned to Denmark where he established a Greenland Seminary. This new colony was centred at Godthåb ("Good Hope") Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Keyboard
on the southwest coast. Gradually, Greenland was opened up to Danish merchants, and closed to those from other countries.
Treaty of Kiel to World War II[edit source | editbeta]
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Eirik Raudes Land
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 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. Sony VPCF11S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF13M0E/B KeyboardNorway and Denmark agreed to submit the matter in 1933 to the Permanent Court of International Justice, which decided against Norway.[25]
Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in World War II, when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland in order to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.[26Sony VPCF11C4E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCF13Z0E/B Keyboard] 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. The major air bases were Bluie West-1 at Narsarsuaq and Bluie West-8 at Sondrestrom (Kangerlussuaq), Sony VPCF11Z1E/BI Keyboard
Sony VPCF13M8E/B Keyboard both of which are still used as Greenland's major international airports. During this war, 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; Sony VPCF12E1E/H Keyboard
Sony VPCF12M0E/B KeyboardGovernor 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 dogsleds, detecting several German weather stations and alerting American troops who then destroyed them. Sony VPCF12F4E/H Keyboard
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Sony VPCF12S1E/B KeyboardAfter 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 turn himself in to the United States Armed Forces.[27] Sony VPCF13E4E Keyboard
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Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government had maintained a strict monopoly of Greenlandic trade, allowing only small scale troaking with Scottish whalers. Nevertheless, wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world. Sony VPCF13J0E/H Keyboard
Sony VPCF12Z1E KeyboardDespite 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. Sony VPCF1318E/H Keyboard
Sony VPCF13S0E/B KeyboardA final report (G-50) was presented in 1950: Greenland was to be a modern welfare state with Denmark as sponsor and example. In 1953 Greenland was made an equal part of the Danish Kingdom. Home rule was granted in 1979. Sony VPCF13M1E/B Keyboard
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Home rule and self-rule[edit source | editbeta]
The orthography and vocabulary of the Greenlandic language is governed by Oqaasileriffik, the Greenlandic language secretariat, located in the Ilimmarfik university Campus in Nuuk.
Following World War II, the United States developed a geopolitical interest in Greenland, and in 1946 the United States offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100,000,000,
Sony VPCF22M0E Keyboardbut Denmark refused to sell.[28][29] However, in 1950, Denmark did agree to allow the United States to reestablish Thule Air Base, which 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 over 100 kilometres away in the winter. Sony VPCF11C4E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCY21S1E/G Keyboard A secret attempt to construct a subterranean network of nuclear missile launch sites in the Greenlandic ice cap named Project Iceworm was carried out from Camp Century from 1960 to 1966 before being abandoned as unworkable. The Danish government did not become aware of the program's actual mission until 1997, Sony VPCF13Z8E Keyboard
Sony VPCY21S1E/L Keyboard when it was discovered while looking 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), Sony VPCF13Z8E/BI Keyboard
Sony VPCF23N1E Keyboardalso extending Danish citizenship to Greenlanders. This also resulted in a change in Danish policies toward Greenland that consisted of a strategy of cultural assimilation—or de-Greenlandification. Sony VPCF12S1E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCF23P1E KeyboardDuring this period, the Danish government promoted the exclusive use of Danish in official matters, and required Greenlanders to go to Denmark for their post-secondary education; many Greenlandic children grew up on boarding schools in southern Denmark, many losing their cultural ties to Greenland. Sony VPCF12Z1E/BI Keyboard
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While the policies "succeeded" in the sense of creating a demographic shift turning Greenlanders from being primarily subsistence hunters into being urbanized wage earners, the policy also backfired to produce a reassertion of Greenlandic cultural identity by the Greenlandic elite, leading to a movement in favour of independence that reached its peak in the 1970s.[30] Sony VPCF21Z1E/BI Keyboard
Sony VPCF24Q1E Keyboard As a consequence of political complications in relation to Denmark's entry into the European Common Market in 1972, a further desire to establish the legality of Greenland's status formed in Denmark, Sony VPCY21S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCY11M1R Keyboard resulting in the Home Rule Act of 1979, which 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. Sony VPCYB3V1E Keyboard
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Sony VPCYB3V1E Keyboard The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenland's Head of state. In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC) upon achieving self-rule, in view of the EEC's commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products.[31] A referendum on greater autonomy was approved on 25 November 2008.[32][33] Sony VPCY11M1E Keyboard
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On 21 June 2009, Greenland assumed self-determination with responsibility for self-government of judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Also, Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law.[3Sony VPCY11S1E Keyboard
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Sony VPCYB2M1E Keyboard 4] 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. It is considered by some to be a step toward eventual full independence from Denmark.[35] Greenlandic became the sole official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.[1][6][36Sony VPCY11V9E Keyboard
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Sony VPCYB1S1R Keyboard ][37][38]
Government[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Politics of Greenland
Greenland's head of state is Margrethe II, Queen regnant of Denmark. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a High Commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The current commissioner is Mikaela Engell. Sony VPCY21S1E/L Keyboard
Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, out of 179 total. The current representatives are Sara Olsvig of the Inuit Community Party and another representative from the Forward Party. Sony VPCY21S1E/P Keyboard
Greenland also has its own Parliament, which has 31 members. The head of government is the Prime Minister, usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The current Prime Minister is Aleqa Hammond of the Siumut Party. Sony VPCY21S1E/SI Keyboard
Administrative divisions[edit source | editbeta]
Municipalities of Greenland
Main article: Administrative divisions of Greenland
Although it is largely unpopulated, Greenland abolished its three counties in 2009 and has since been divided into four territories known as "municipalities": Sermersooq ("Much Ice") around the capital Nuuk; Kujalleq ("South") around Cape Farewell; Sony VPCY21A7E Keyboard
Sony VPCYA1C5E Keyboard Qeqqata ("Centre") north of the capital along the Davis Strait; and Qaasuitsup ("Darkness") in the northwest. The northeast of the island composes the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Sony VPCY21B7E Keyboard
Sony VPCY22C5E Keyboard Thule Air Base is also unincorporated, an enclave within Qaaquitsup municipality administered by the United States Air Force. During its construction, there were as many as 12,000 American residents but in recent years the number is below 1,000. Sony VPCY21C5E Keyboard
Politics[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: List of political parties in Greenland
The party system is currently dominated by the social-democratic Forward Party (14 MPs), and the formerly communist Inuit Community Party (11 MPs), both of which broadly argue for greater independence from Denmark. While the 2009 election saw the unionist—and largely Danish—Democrat Party (2 MPs) decline greatly, Sony VPCY21M1R Keyboard
Sony VPCY21V9E Keyboard the 2013 election consolidated the power of the two main parties at the expense of the smaller groups, and saw the far-left Inuit Party (2 MPs) elected to the Parliament for the first time.
The non-binding 2008 referendum on self-governance favoured independence 21,355 votes to 6,663.
In 1985, Greenland left the European Economic Community (EEC), unlike Denmark, which remains a member. The EEC later became the European Union (EU, it was renamed and expanded in scope in 1992). Greenland retains some ties with the EU via Denmark. However, EU law largely does not apply to Greenland except in the area of trade. Sony PCG-41111M Keyboard
Economics and business[edit source | editbeta]
About half of public spending on Greenland is funded by block grants from Denmark which in 2007 totalled over 3.2 billion kr. Additional proceeds from the sale of fishing licences and the annual compensation from the EU represents 280 million DKK per year. Sony PCG-41112M Keyboard
Sony PCG-81411M KeyboardGreenland's economy is based on a narrow professional basis with the fishing industry as the dominant sector with some 90% of its exports. In a few years, quarrying and tourism could complement the fisheries that depend on the changing prices of fish and fishing opportunities.
Sony PCG-81311M KeyboardThe long-range divides the domestic market into many small units that have high operating costs. Most of the fish factories are owned by Royal Greenland. Sony PCG-81111M Keyboard
Geography and climate[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Geography of Greenland
See also: Administrative divisions of Greenland, Territorial claims in the Arctic, Climate change in the Arctic, and Climate of the Arctic#Greenland
Map of Greenland.
Greenland lies between latitudes 59° and 83°N, and longitudes 11° and 74°W and is the third largest country in North America.[39] The Atlantic Ocean borders Greenland's southeast; the Greenland Sea is to the east; the Arctic Ocean is to the north; Sony PCG-81112M Keyboard
Sony PCG-81212M Keyboardand Baffin Bay is to the west. The nearest countries are Canada, to the west across Baffin Bay, and Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean. Greenland also contains the world's largest national park, and is the world's largest island and the largest dependent territory by area in the world. Sony PCG-21313M Keyboard
The average daily temperature of Nuuk, Greenland vary over the season from -8 to 7 °C (18 to 45 °F).
Southeast coast of Greenland.
The total area of Greenland is 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) (including other offshore minor islands), of which the Greenland ice sheet covers 1,755,637 km2 (677,855 sq mi) (81%) and has a volume of approximately 2,850,000 km3 (680,000 cu mi).[40] The highest point on Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld at 3,700 m (12,139 ft). The majority of Greenland, however, is less than 1,500 m (4,921 ft) in elevation. Sony PCG-51512M Keyboard
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The weight of the ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level,[41][42] while elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.[43] 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 the ice sheet, Greenland is composed of three large islands.[44] Sony PCG-51111M Keyboard
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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 is not part of any municipality, but is the site of the world's largest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park.[45] Sony PCG-51211M Keyboard
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View of mountains on Greenland from the air
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 map to the right): Eismitte, North Ice, North GRIP Camp and The Raven Skiway. Sony PCG-5S1M Keyboard
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Sony PCG-7186M KeyboardCurrently, there is a year-round station, Summit Camp, on the ice sheet, established in 1989. The radio station Jørgen Brønlund Fjord was, until 1950, the northernmost permanent outpost in the world.
Southern Greenland scenery, near Nanortalik, where fjords and mountains dominate the landscape.
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, the world's sea level would rise by more than 7 m (23 ft).[46] Sony PCG-5P1M Keyboard
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Scoresby Sund in eastern Greenland, the longest fjord in the world.
Between 1989 and 1993, U.S. and European climate researchers drilled into the summit of Greenland's ice sheet, obtaining a pair of 3 km (1.9 mi) long ice cores. Analysis of the layering and chemical composition of the cores has provided a revolutionary new record of climate change in the Northern Hemisphere going back about 100,000 years, Sony PCG-5N2M Keyboard
Sony PCG-3C2M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7151M Keyboard and illustrated that the world's weather and temperature have often shifted rapidly from one seemingly stable state to another, with worldwide consequences.[47] The glaciers of Greenland are also contributing to a rise in the global sea level at a faster rate than was previously believed.[48Sony PCG-7195M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7143M Keyboard] Between 1991 and 2004, monitoring of the weather at one location (Swiss Camp) showed that the average winter temperature had risen almost 6 °C (11 °F).[49] Other research has shown that higher snowfalls from the North Atlantic oscillation caused the interior of the ice cap to thicken by an average of 6 cm or 2.36 in/yr between 1994 and 2005.[50
Sony PCG-7162M Keyboard]
However, a recent study suggests a much warmer planet in relatively recent geological times:
Scientists who probed 2 km (1.2 mi) through a Greenland glacier to recover the some of the oldest plant DNA on record said that the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. Sony PCG-7196M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7154M KeyboardDNA of trees, plants, and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. Sony PCG-7192M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7153M KeyboardThat view contrasts sharply with the prevailing one that a lush forest of this kind could not have existed in Greenland any later than 2.4 million years ago. These DNA samples suggest that the temperature probably reached 10 °C (50 °F) Sony PCG-7194M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7151M Keyboard in the summer and −17 °C (1.4 °F) in the winter. They also indicate that during the last interglacial period, 130,000–116,000 years ago, when local temperatures were on average 5 °C (9 °F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away.[51]
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Greenland bedrock, at current elevation above sea level
In 1996, the American Top of the World expedition found the world's northernmost island off Greenland: ATOW1996. An even more northerly candidate was spotted during the return from the expedition, but its status is yet to be confirmed. Sony PCG-61211M Keyboard
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In 2007 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.[ Sony PCG-71213M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7186M Keyboard52] The island was named Place of the Year by the Oxford Atlas of the World in 2007.[53] Ben Keene, 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, Sony PCG-71212M Keyboard
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Sony PCG-7185M Keyboard 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".[this quote needs a citation] Sony PCG-71311M Keyboard
Some controversy surrounds 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.[54]
Postglacial glacier advances[edit source | editbeta]
The 1310 m-high Qaqugdluit-mountain-land on the south-side of the peninsula Nugssuaq, situated north of the Disko Bay, Sony PCG-71313M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7182M Keyboard 50 km W of the Greenland inland ice at 70°8′N 51°44′W, is exemplary of the numerous mountain areas of West-Greenland. Up to the year 1979 (Stage 0) it shows Historical to Holocene, i.e. Postglacial glacier stages dating back at least 7000 and at most c. 10 000 years. [
Sony PCG-7181M Keyboard55][56] In 1979 the glacier tongues came to an end – according to the extent and height of the glacier nourishing area – between 660 and 140 m above sea-level. The pertinent climatic glacier- snowline (ELA) ran at c. 800 m in height. The snowline of the oldest (VII) of the three Holocene glacier stages (V – VII) ran c. 230 m deeper, i.e. at c. 570 m in height.[57] The four youngest glacier stages (IV-I) Sony PCG-61212M Keyboard
Sony PCG-5T2M Keyboardare of a Historical age. They have to be classified as belonging to the global glacier advances in the years 1811 to 1850 and 1880 to 1900 (“Little Ice Age”), 1910 to 1930, 1948 and 1953.[56] Their snowlines rose step by step up to the level of 1979. The current snowline (Stage 0) runs nearly unchanged. Sony PCG-71411M Keyboard
Sony PCG-5T1M KeyboardDuring the oldest Postglacial Stage VII an ice-stream-network from valley glaciers joining each other, has completely covered the landscape. Its nourishing areas consisted of high-lying plateau-glaciers and local ice caps. Sony PCG-71511M Keyboard
Sony PCG-5R2M Keyboard Due to the uplift of the snowline about that c. 230 m – what corresponds to a warming about c. 1.5° C –, since 1979 there merely exists a plateau- glaciation with small glacier tongues hanging down on the margins that nearly did not reach the main valley bottoms any more.[57]
Nature[edit source | editbeta]
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2013)
The few land mammals in Greenland include polar bear, reindeer, musk ox, arctic fox, wolf, stoat, and arctic hare. There are dozens of species of seals and whales along the coast. Sony PCG-71D14M Keyboard
Over 100 species of birds have been seen, and around 50 breed in Greenland.
There are very occasionally low forest of birch or willow and, in all, around 500 plant species.
Greenland today is dependent on fishing and fish exports. The shrimp and fish industry is by far the largest income earner.[58Sony PCG-61511M Keyboard
] Despite resumption of several hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities, it will take several years before hydrocarbon production can materialize. The state oil company Nunaoil was created in order to help develop the hydrocarbon industry in Greenland. The state company Nunamineral has been launched on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange to raise more capital to increase the production of gold, started in 2007. Sony PCG-71811M Keyboard
Mining of ruby deposits began in 2007. Other mineral prospects are improving as prices are increasing. These include iron, uranium, aluminium, nickel, platinum, tungsten, titanium, and copper. Sony VPCEE2M1E keyboard
Electricity has traditionally been generated by oil or diesel power plants, even if there is a large surplus of potential hydropower. Because of rising oil prices, there is a program to build hydro power plants. The first, and still the largest, is Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant. Sony VPCEE2S1E keyboard
There are also plans to build a large aluminium smelter, using hydropower to create an exportable product. It is expected that much of the labour needed will be imported.[59]
The European Union has urged the Denmark protectorate Greenland to restrict People's Republic of China development of rare-earth projects, Sony VPCEE3E0E keyboard
Sony PCG-7Y1M Keyboard as China accounts for 95 percent of the world's current supply. As of early 2013, the Greenland government has said that it has no plans to impose such restrictions.[60]
The public sector, including publicly owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays a dominant role in Greenland's economy. Sony VPCEE3J0E keyboard
Sony PCG-7X2M KeyboardAbout half the government revenues come from grants from the Danish government, an important supplement to the gross domestic product (GDP). Gross domestic product per capita is equivalent to that of the average economies of Europe.
Greenland suffered an economic contraction in the early 1990s. But, since 1993, the economy has improved. The Greenland Home Rule Government (GHRG) has pursued a tight fiscal policy since the late 1980s, Sony VPCEE3L0E keyboard
which has helped create surpluses in the public budget and low inflation. Since 1990, Greenland has registered a foreign trade deficit following the closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mine that year. More recently, new sources of ruby in Greenland have been discovered, promising to bring new industry and a new export to the country. (See Gemstone industry in Greenland). Sony VPCEE3S1E kseyboard
Air transportation exists both within Greenland and between the island and other nations. There is also scheduled boat traffic, but the long distances lead to long travel times and low frequency. There are no roads between cities because the coast has many fjords that would require ferry service to connect a road network, Sony VPCEE keyboard
[citation needed] Also the lack of agriculture, forestry and similar countryside activities has meant that very few countryside roads have been built.
Kangerlussuaq Airport around 100 km (60 miles) from the west coast is the major airport of Greenland and the hub for domestic flights. Intercontinental flights connect mainly to Copenhagen. Sony VPC EL series Keyboard
In May 2007, Air Greenland initiated a seasonal route to and from Baltimore in the United States,[61] but on 10 March 2008, the route was cancelled because of financial losses.[62] In 2012 Air Greenland commenced seasonal, biweekly flights, Sony VPCEL3S1E Keyboard
Sony PCG-71C11M Keyboard between Nuuk and Iqaluit.[63] Working in tandem with First Air passengers can then continue to Ottawa.[64] Air Iceland began operating a twice-weekly Keflavík-Ilulissat route in July 2009.[6Sony VPCEL2S1E/B Keyboard
Sony 9Z.N5CSW.A0U Keyboard5] In addition to these routes there are scheduled international flights between Narsarsuaq and Copenhagen. Air Iceland operates routes between Reykjavík and Narsarsuaq, Ilulissat, Nuuk on the west coast and Kulusuk, Ittoqqortoormiit on the east coast. Sony VPCEL2S1E/W Keyboard
Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction.
Demographics[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Demographics of Greenland
See also: List of Greenlanders
Greenland has a population of 57,637 (July 2010 estimate),[66] of whom 88% are Greenlandic Inuit (including Inuit-Danish mixed). The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Danish. The majority of the population is Lutheran. Sony VPCEL3S1E/W Keyboard
Sony VPCEL2S1E KeyboardNearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate.[67] Approximately 15,000 Greenlanders reside in Nuuk, the capital city.
v t e Largest cities or towns of Greenland
The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with propitiating a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts. Sony VGN-N11M Keyboard
The first Norse colonists were pagan, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Catholic Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 990 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar. Sony VGN-N11SR Keyboard
Rediscovering these colonists and spreading the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Sony VGN-N21E Keyboard
Sony VGN-N38L KeyboardNorwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements and began converting the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. Sony VGN-N21M Keyboard
Sony VGN-N38E KeyboardThe New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.[69] Sony VGN-N21S Keyboard
Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, mostly members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. While there is no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Lutheran Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen[70] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.[7Sony VGN-N21Z Keyboard
1] There are still Christian missionaries on the island, but mainly from charismatic movements proselytizing fellow Christians.[citation needed] The first reported Muslim in Greenland, Wassam Azaqeer, made headlines around the world when he observed Ramadan north of the Arctic Circle, requiring him to fast for 21 hours at a time.[72][7Sony VGN-N29VN Keyboard
Sony VGN-N31Z Keyboard3][74][75][76]
Languages[edit source | editbeta]
A bilingual sign in Nuuk, displaying the Danish and Kalaallisut for "Parking forbidden for all vehicles".
Both Greenlandic and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979; the majority of the population can speak both languages. Kalaallisut became the sole official language in June 2009.[7Sony VGN-N31L Keyboard
Sony VGN-N31S Keyboard7] In practice, Danish is still widely used in the administration and in higher education, as well as remaining the first or only language for some people in Nuuk and the larger towns. A debate about the role of Kalaallisut and Danish in future society is ongoing. The orthography of Kalaallisut was established already in 1851[7Sony VGN-NW20ZF Keyboard
Sony VGN-NW24S Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS11E keyboard8] and revised in 1973, and the country has a 100% literacy rate.[66]
A majority of the population speaks Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic), most of them bilingually. It is spoken by about 50,000 people, making it the most populous of the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by more people than all the other languages of the family combined. Sony VGN-NW26M Keyboard
Kalaallisut is the Inuit dialect of West Greenland, which has long been the most populous area of the island. This has led to its de facto status as the official "Greenlandic" language, although the northern dialect Inuktun remains spoken by 1,000 or so people around Qaanaaq and the eastern dialect Tunumiisut by around 3000.[7Sony VGN-NW20EF Keyboard
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Sony VGN-NS20EF keyboard9] These dialects are almost unintelligible to one another and are considered by some linguists to be separate languages.[citation needed] A UNESCO report has labelled the other dialects as endangered and measures are now being considered to protect the Eastern Greenlandic dialect.[80]
An Inuit family in Greenland, 1917.
About 12% of the population speak Danish as their first or only language, many of them filling positions as administrators, professionals, academics, or skilled tradesmen. While Kalaallisut is dominant in smaller settlements, a part of the population of Inuit or mixed ancestry, Sony VGN-NW24JG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS30Z keyboard especially in towns, speaks Danish as their first language. Most of the Inuit population speak Danish as second language. In larger towns, especially Nuuk and in the higher social strata, this is a large group. Sony VGN-NW24MG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS30E keyboardWhile one strategy aims at promoting Greenlandic in public life and education, developing its vocabulary and suitability for complex contexts, this approach is labelled "Greenlandization" by opponents who do not wish to aim at Greenlandic becoming the sole national language. Sony VGN-NW24MR Keyboard
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English is taught in schools.[81]
In the 10th century, Icelandic and Norwegian Vikings settled in the southern part of the island, while the Thule Inuit culture was introduced in the north of the island and expanded southward. The culture clash between two peoples is attested by the discovery of a fragment of Viking chain mail at a high latitude of the island, Sony VGN-NW26JG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS20J keyboard while a figurine carved from walrus ivory, clearly of Inuit origin, was found in Bergen, Norway. Both objects must be understood as a clear testimony of the trade between the two peoples. Sony VGN-NW20SF Keyboard
Inuit culture dominated the island from the end of the Middle Ages to the recolonization in the early 18th century, where European culture was reintroduced.
Today Greenlandic culture is a blending of traditional Inuit (Kalaallit) and Scandinavian culture. Inuit, or Kalaallit, culture has a strong artistic tradition, Sony VGN-NW21MF/P Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS20E keyboard dating back thousands of years. The Kalaallit are known for an art form of figures called tupilak or a "spirit object." Traditional art-making practices thrive in the Ammassalik.[82] Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.[83] Sony VGN-NW31EF Keyboard
Greenland also has a successful, albeit small, music culture. Some popular Greenlandic bands and artists include Sume (classic rock) Chilly Friday (rock), Siissisoq (rock), Nuuk Posse (hip hop) and Rasmus Lyberth (folk), who performed in the Danish Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performing in Greenlandic.
Sony VGN-NS10L keyboardThe singer-songwriter Simon Lynge is the first musical artist from Greenland to have an album released across the United Kingdom, and to perform at the UK's Glastonbury Festival. The music culture of Greenland also includes traditional Inuit music, largely based around singing and drums. Sony VGN-NW31ZF/S Keyboard
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Association football is the national sport of Greenland. The governing body, the Football Association of Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaanni Arsaattartut Kattuffiat), is not yet a member of FIFA because of ongoing disagreements with Sepp Blatter and an inability to grow grass for regulation grass pitches.[citation needed] However, it is the 17th member of the N.F.-Board. Sony VGN-NS11E keyboard
In January 2007, Greenland took part in the World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams.
Greenland competes in the biennial Island Games, as well as the biennial Arctic Winter Games. In 2002, Nuuk hosted the AWG in conjunction with Iqaluit, Nunavut.[84Sony VGN-NS11J keyboard
Sony VGN-NS38M/W Keyboard] Also in 2002 and previously in 1994 they won the Hodgson Trophy for fair play.[85]