Greenland is the largest island in the World, at 2.2m square km. It is also the largest non sovereign territory in the World.
The first people to settle the island were Inuit hunters, coming from the American Artic Archipelago. They settled mostly on the Western shore of the island. Then, the Vikings, coming from Scandinavia, discovered Greenland around the year 1000 and created small settlements at the Southern tip of the island. Contact between those communities and the Scandinavian countries was lost and the communities died after a few centuries. Then, in the eighteenth century, Dano-Norwegian missionaries received assent of the King to evangelize Greenland, where they believed old Scandinavian populations might have survived. While they only evangelized Inuit populations, the link between the two societies was re-established and Denmark retained Greenland as a colony upon the separation of Norway in 1814.
Greenland became an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It rejected entry into the European Economic Community in 1973 and saw its autonomy from Denmark increased as a result. As of 2022, the population is just below 60,000, with over 90% Inuit people. The local Greenlandic is the most spoken language, and it is official throughout the island along with Danish.
Greenland in 2022
