Greenland

Description of Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous constituent country which belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans. Though it is part of North America, it has been political, ethically and culturally associated with Europe. The capital city of Greenland is Nuuk.

History

It is the life under the extreme conditions of Arctic. As 80% of the area is covered with ice cap today, it restricts the human activity. First humans arrived at the Greenland all around 2500 BCE. Decedents of those people died and succeeded by many other migrating groups. Until the 10^th century, there are no evidence that Europeans know about Greenland.

After several years, during 2^nd world war Greenlanders became both economically and socially less connected with Denmark and more to Canada and the United States.

Map

Greenland has a coastline of 44, 097 km. It lies in between 59° and 83°N latitudes and 59° and 83°N longitudes. The land borders of Greenland include Atlantic Ocean in the southeast, the Greenland Sea towards the east, the Baffin Bay on the west and the Arctic Ocean in the North. The extreme points include the Gunnbjørn Fjeld in the high and the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean in the low.

Language

Greenland people are of several ethnic groups that include, Greenlandic Inuit (and European mixed), Danes and other Europeans. Greenland Language is Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) officially and the other languages are English and Danish.

Culture

The culture of Greenland starts after the ending of the ice age. In the tenth century, Norwegian Vikings and Icelandic got settled in the south part of the Iceland and in the North part Thule Inuit culture was set up which later spread to South. The culture of Greenland has a clash between these people.

By the end of the middle age to an early eighteenth century, the Inuit culture has dominated and where the culture of European is reintroduced.

Today Greenland is a blend of conventional Inuit and Scandinavian cultures. Inuit culture has artistic tradition strongly. It also has a small albeit music culture. There are popular Greenlandic artists and bands that include, Some (classic rock), Nuuk poses (hip hop), etc.

Greenland cuisine is mainly and traditionally based on meat that is through marine mammals, fish, bird, etc. which are rich in proteins. Since the advent of international trade, the cuisine has been influenced by Canadian and Danish cuisine.

Greenlandic culture has sport as the main part as the population of Greenland is generally active. Their traditional sport is Arctic sports that are a form of wrestling. Most popular sports include track and field, skiing, association football and handball.

Holidays

Public holidays of Greenland include, January 1            (New Year's Day), January 6 (Epiphany), March or April (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday), April or May 4th Friday after Easter (Store Bededag), May or June (Ascension, Whit Monday), June 21 (Ullortuneq), December 24 (Christmas Eve), December 25 (Christmas), December 26 (St. Stephen's Day) and December 31 (New Year's Eve).

Travelling and Tourism

Greenland tourism is relatively starting a business. The country has few historic sites to visit and spectacular sceneries. Main tourist activities include, sailing trips with the ice bergs, ice cap treks, iceberg seeing and hiking trips. There are many Greenland tours with attractive Greenland packages to visit those places.

Vacation and Destinations

The vacation and destination places of Greenland are, Nuuk (Aurora, museums, nightlife), Northeast Greenland National Park (Parks, polar bears, gray wolf, glaciers), Kulusuk (Polar bears, adventure, glaciers) and lots more destinations to visit.

Some facts about Greenland

Gallery of Greenland

Greenland video guide

More information about Greenland

Top cities of Greenland