Geography

Facts about Greenland

We found 23 facts about Greenland

The world's largest island.

Greenland is an island that geographically belongs to the North American continent. Historically and politically it belongs to Europe and is an autonomous dependent territory of Denmark.

It is the largest island in the world that is not a continent. Most of the island lies outside the northern Arctic Circle. Greenland's area is about 2.16 million square kilometers (836,3 thousand square miles), and only a small part of it is inhabited.

These vast spaces make Greenland an unusual, exotic country with all-encompassing silence, tranquility and unspoiled nature.

Greenland
1
The climate of the island is typically polar.

It is only on the coasts that it is subpolar, since the climate near the bodies of water is always a little milder than in the middle of the land.

2
The Greenland ice sheet covers about 81% of the island.

The original appearance of the island is hidden under the ice.

3
The glacier that covers Greenland hides what is probably the world's longest canyon. It is more than 750 kilometers long.

It is not the deepest, although it reaches below sea level in places and is covered by a three-kilometer layer of ice.

4
Greenland is a mountainous country.

Mountain peaks exceed 3,500 meters.

5
The island is divided into five very large municipalities.

The largest of these is Sermersooq, which is also home to Greenland's capital, Nuuk. Sermersooq is the size of Central African Republic and has a population of just over 20,000.

6
The indigenous people of Greenland are the Inuit.

Greenlanders are about 90% indigenous, Europeans, mainly Danes, also live there.

7
Greenlanders speak three dialects of Greenlandic. The dialect spoken on the west coast is the official language.

Danish and English are also widely spoken in Greenland (especially in the cities).

8
People have inhabited Greenland for at least 4,500 years.

They were migrants from areas of present-day Canada.

9
The first European to reach Greenland was Erik the Red.

This happened in 982. Erik the Red was the founder of the first Norse settlements in Greenland. He got his nickname from the color of his hair and was also known as Erik Thorwaldsson. He was born in Norway.

10
Greenland became a Danish colony in the 18th century.

It is now an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark with autonomy since 1979.

11
The lowest temperature recorded in Greenland was -69.6 °C (-93.2 °F).

The temperature was recorded on 22 December 1991 at the Klinck weather station, which is located in the central part of the island.

12
Greenland has tundra and grassland, where you can find mosses, lichens, low shrubs and dwarf trees.

Of course, vegetation is only found where there is no ice cover, above 80 degrees north there is no vegetation at all.

13
On the south coast, about 50 km from the Atlantic Ocean, lies the Qinngua Valley, protected from the cold winds from the interior of the island. This is the warmest place in Greenland where a natural forest has developed.

The trees that grow there can reach a height of 7-8 metres. Birch, willow, ash and alder are among the trees that grow there.

14
Greenland is also home to representatives of the fauna.

Greenland's waters are home to bowhead whales, narwhals, walruses and several species of seals. On land there are polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, arctic wolves, muskoxes and lemmings.

15
Greenland is also home to representatives of the fauna.

Greenland's waters are home to bowhead whales, narwhals, walruses and several species of seals. On land there are polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, arctic wolves, muskoxes and lemmings.

16
The island is home to the world's largest and northernmost national park.

It was established in 1974 and covers an area of 972,000 km2 (375,291 sq mi). It has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1977. The park is home to between 5,000 and 15,000 muskoxen and polar bears. Scientific activities are carried out in small research facilities.

17
In eastern Greenland, a Portuguese paleontologist has discovered the remains of a dinosaur that lived there more than 200 million years ago.

The animal was a 5-meter tall carnivore. The paleontologist also discovered the fossil of a turtle, which is one of the oldest specimens of this animal ever found in the world. He also found fossils of giant salamanders and fish.

18
On the Nuussuaq Peninsula lies the former Inuit settlement of Qilakitsoq, where the well-preserved mummies of six women and two young children dating back some 500 years have been discovered.
19
Near the town of IIuIissat is a fjord that was listed by UNESCO in 2004.

At the mouth of the fjord is the world's fastest moving glacier, Sermeq Qujalleg.

20
The Qassiarsuk settlement contains traces of the oldest Viking settlement on the island.

The site was named Brattahlio (Brattahlíð) thousand years ago. It was the estate of Erik the Red in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in southwestern Greenland at the end of the 10th century.

21
The highest peak in Greenland is Gunnbjørn Fjeld.

It is both the highest peak in Greenland and the highest peak in the Arctic, with an altitude of 3,694 metres.

Gunnbjørn FjeldDue to its great distance from human settlements, the mountain is rarely climbed by mountaineers. Expeditions usually use helicopters or skidded planes to get there.
Public domain

The summit is located in the Watkins Range in the central-eastern part of Greenland.

22
The currency on the island is the Danish krone.
23
The indigenous people of Greenland were once called Eskimo.

It is now considered a derogatory term, meaning "those who eat raw meat," while the word Inuit means "people".

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