GreenlandThe geography of Greenland is quite ironic considering its name. Greenland is locatedin the northern part of North America. It is between the Arctic Ocean and theNorth Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada. Greenland’s area is approximately2,715,600 square kilometers. Its area is slightly more than 3 times the size ofTexas.
It is the largest island in the world. It is also primarily by the DavisStrait and Baffin Bay and from Iceland on the east, by the Denmark Strait. Greenland’s terrain is flat to a gradually sloping icecap. It coverseverything but a narrow, mountainous, rocky coast. It’s climate has coolsummers and very cold winters! During the summertime in the southern part ofGreenland, the average Temperature is 48? Fahrenheit. The climate of Greenlandis generally dry.
People have lived on Greenland for about 5, 000 years, theearliest belonging to what are called the Independence I, Saqqaq, andIndependence II cultures. Greenland is the source of many weather changes in theNorthern Hemisphere. Their natural resources include Zinc, lead, iron ore, coal,gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals and whales. The mammals include themusk-ox, wolf, lemming, and reindeer. Circumpolar animals that inhabit theisland are the polar bear, arctic fox, polar hare, and stoat. The environmentalissues consist of protecting the arctic environment and preservation of theirtraditional way of life, including whaling.
The population of Greenland is 59,827 people. They are called Greenlanders and the majority religion isEvangelical Lutheran. Their languages include Eskimo dialects, Danish, andGreenlandic (An Inuit dialect. ).
The age structure is 0-14 years ?26%; 15-64? 68%; 65-? ? 6%. The total life expectancy is male ?65. 98 years andfemale ? 74. 24 years. The total life expectancy population is to 70 years. Thecapitol of Greenland is Nuuk (Godthab).
Its population is 12,483. It is thelargest and oldest Danish settlement on the island. It was founded in 1721. Other settlements include Julianh?b (Qaqotorq), Fredereksh?b and Narsaq on thesouthern coast. With Thule on the northwestern coast, and Ammassalik on theeastern coast.
Greenland’s dependency status is very reliable on Denmark. Ithas a self ? governing overseas administrative division of Denmark since 1979. The national holiday is the birthday of the Queen, April 16, 1940. Its legalsystem is Danish, and the chief of state is Queen Margarethe 2 of Denmark(represented by High Commissioner Gunnar Martens. The head of government is thePrime Minister Jonathan Motzfieldt (elected by Parliament).
The legislativebranch includes unicameral Parliament or Landsting. (31 members are elected bypopular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve 4-year terms. )The Judicial Branch includes the High Court or Landsret. The flag has two equalhorizontal bands of white (top) with a large disk slightly to the hoist side ofanter ? the top half of the disk is red and the bottom is white. Greenland hadsuffered negative economic growth in the early 1990s, since 1993 economy hasimproved.
Since 1990 Greenland has registered a foreign trade deficit followingthe closure of the last remaining lead and zinc mines in 1989. Greenland iscritically dependent in fishing and fishing exports. Their export partners andtheir percentages are Denmark 89%, Japan 5%, and United Kingdom 5%. Theirexports include 95% fish and fishing products. About half of the governmentrevenues come from grants from the Danish government. The labor force is about24,500.
Their agriculture products are forage crops, garden vegetables, sheepand fish. The profit for their imports is 421,000,000. Their imports consist ofmachinery and transport equipment 25%, manufactured goods 8%, food and liveanimals 11%, petroleum products 6%. Their import partners are Denmark, Iceland,Japan, Norway, United States, Germany, and Sweden. In June 1952, the Danishgovernment and private Danish, Swedish, and Canadian interests formed a companyto exploit deposits of zinc, lead, tungsten, and cryolite in Eastern Greenland.
The education of Greenland is obviously not as emphasized as many of thecountry’s of the world. A university is located in Nuuk, and education is freeand compulsory for all children between the ages of seven and sixteen. Eric theRed first explored Greenland. Father of Leif Ericson.
There, Icelandicsettlements were established. By the early Fifteenth century, these settlementshad vanished, and all contact with Greenland was lost.
