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Do you want self-government to be introduced in Greenland with the content and conditions outlined in the Greenlandic-Danish Self-Government Commission's draft self-government law? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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A non-binding referendum on Greenland's autonomy was held on 25 November 2008 to support or oppose the Greenland Self-Government Act. It was passed with 76% approval and a 72% turnout. The non-binding referendum was on expanded home rule in 30 areas, including police, courts, and the coast guard; gave Greenland a say in foreign policy; provided a more definite split of future oil revenue; and made the Greenlandic language the sole official language.
The referendum was announced by Prime Minister Hans Enoksen on 2 January 2008. [1] Enoksen also announced the launch of an information and discussion campaign on the issue of self-government. This included town hall meetings throughout the country. [2]
Greenland became a Denmark–Norway colony in 1775 and was made a province of Denmark in 1953. In 1979, it was made an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, with a parliament and local control of health care, schools, and social services. In 1985, it withdrew from the then European Economic Community (now known as the European Union) to maintain control of fishing in its waters. There has been some movement towards independence, encouraged by Denmark but held back by Greenland's need for economic subsidies.
A 2003 report from the Commission on Self-Governance outlined six possibilities for the future of Greenland. [3] These were:
Although it was a non-binding referendum, the Danish parliament supported it and promised to honour its results. The expansion of home rule took effect on 21 June 2009, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of home rule, when the Act on Greenland Self-Government took effect.
Greenland gained greater control of the police, coast guard, and courts. [4] In addition, the Greenlandic language became the sole official language. [4]
Oil revenues will be divided differently, with the first 75 million Danish kroner (US$13.1 million) going to Greenland, and the remaining revenue split evenly with Denmark. [4]
Greenland's subsidies from Copenhagen will be phased out. In 2008 the subsidy was 3.5 billion kroner ($588 million) per year, [5] which accounted for about one-third of the island's gross domestic product of 10.5 billion kroner [6] and almost two-thirds of the total income of the home rule government of 6.1 billion kroner. [7]
Greenlanders are also recognized as a separate group of people under international law. [8]
The changes were met with skepticism from some Danish politicians. Per Ørum Jørgensen, who helped negotiate the agreement, said that it may be "30–40 years" before Greenland is ready to take charge of itself. MP Søren Espersen from the Danish People's Party controversially claimed that Greenlanders had been "brainwashed with unprecedented propaganda" and that he believed "huge problems are waiting in the future". [9]
The referendum passed. [10] The Greenlandic government was pursuing future independence, [11] and the result was seen by some observers as a "major step" in that direction. [12]
Choice | Votes | % | |
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For | 21,355 | 76.22 | |
Against | 6,663 | 23.78 | |
Total | 28,018 | 100.00 | |
Valid votes | 28,018 | 99.12 | |
Invalid/blank votes | 250 | 0.88 | |
Total votes | 28,268 | 100.00 | |
Registered voters/turnout | 39,285 | 71.96 | |
Source: Valg |
Greenland is a North American island autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the larger of two autonomous territories within the Kingdom, the other being the Faroe Islands; the citizens of both territories are full citizens of Denmark. As Greenland is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, citizens of Greenland are European Union citizens. The capital and largest city of Greenland is Nuuk. Greenland lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is the world's largest island, and is the location of the northernmost point of land in the world – Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land, and Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s.
The economy of Greenland is characterized as small, mixed and vulnerable. Greenland's economy consists of a large public sector and comprehensive foreign trade. This has resulted in an economy with periods of strong growth, considerable inflation, unemployment problems and extreme dependence on capital inflow from the Kingdom Government.
Greenlandic may refer to:
The history of Greenland is a history of life under extreme Arctic conditions: currently, an ice sheet covers about eighty percent of the island, restricting human activity largely to the coasts. The first humans are thought to have arrived in Greenland around 2500 BCE. Their descendants apparently died out and were succeeded by several other groups migrating from continental North America. There has been no evidence discovered that Greenland was known to Norsemen until the ninth century CE, when Norse Icelandic explorers settled on its southwestern coast. The ancestors of the Greenlandic Inuit who live there today appear to have migrated there later, around the year 1200, from northwestern Greenland.
Siumut is a political party in Greenland in the social democratic tradition. Since the establishment of home rule in 1979, it has been the dominant party in Greenland. Siumut is led by Erik Jensen, who beat the then-incumbent Prime Minister Kim Kielsen in a tight leadership contest in late 2020.
The Inatsisartut, also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm. Established in 1979, it meets in Inatsisartut, on the islet of Nuuk Center in central Nuuk.
Pituffik is a former settlement in northern Greenland, located at the eastern end of Bylot Sound by a tombolo known as Uummannaq, near the current site of the American Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day town of Qaanaaq. The relocation and the fallout from the 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash in the vicinity are a contentious issue in Greenland's relations with Denmark and the United States.
Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark is one of the EU members’ overseas countries and territories (OCT) associated to the European Union. Greenland receives funding from the EU for sustainable development and has signed agreements increasing cooperation with the EU.
The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state and refers to the area over which the monarch of Denmark is head of state. It consists of metropolitan Denmark—the kingdom's territory in continental Europe and sometimes called "Denmark proper" —and the realm's two autonomous regions: the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The relationship between the three parts of the Kingdom is also known as The unity of the Realm.
Tourism in Greenland is a relatively young business area of the country. Since the foundation of the national tourist council, Greenland Tourism, in 1992, the Home Rule Government has been working actively with promoting the destination and helping smaller tourist providers to establish their services. Foreign travel agencies have increasingly been opening up sale of Greenland trips and tours, and the cruise industry has had a relatively large increase in routes to Greenland since about the turn of the century.
General elections were held in Greenland on 2 June 2009. Prime Minister Hans Enoksen announced the election date on 15 April 2009, stating that he would prefer for a newly elected parliament to administer Greenland when the self-government reform took effect on 21 June 2009. The reform gave more power to the Greenlandic parliament with decisions on most issues being devolved to the parliament but defence and foreign affairs remaining under the control of Denmark.
Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist is a Greenlandic politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013. A member of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, he was the first prime minister not affiliated with Siumut.
The Naalakkersuisut is the chief executive body and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. An autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is a parliamentary representative democratic territory, in which the premier leads the cabinet, and of a multi-party system.
The Greenlandic Inuit are the indigenous and most populous ethnic group in Greenland. Most speak Greenlandic and consider themselves ethnically Greenlandic. People of Greenland are both citizens of Denmark and citizens of the European Union.
Greenlandic independence is a political ambition of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals of Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, to become an independent sovereign state.
Danish Greenlanders are ethnic Danes residing in Greenland and their descendants.
Greenlandic people in Denmark are residents of Denmark with Greenlandic or Greenlandic Inuit heritage. According to StatBank Greenland, as of 2020, there were 16,780 people born in Greenland living in Denmark, a figure representing almost one third of the population of Greenland. According to a 2007 Danish government report, there were 18,563 Greenlandic people living in Denmark. The exact number is difficult to calculate because of the lack of differentiation between Greenlandic and Danish heritage in Danish government records and also due to the fact that the way in which people identify themselves is not always a reflection of their birthplace. As of 2018, there were 2,507 Greenlanders enrolled in education in Denmark.
The County of Greenland was an amt (county) of Denmark, comprising Greenland and its associated islands, before home rule was granted to Greenland.
After being a part of the European Communities (EC) for twelve years, Greenland withdrew in 1985. It had joined the EC in 1973 as a county of Denmark, even though a majority in Greenland was against joining. In a consultative referendum in 1982, 53% of the electorate of Greenland voted to withdraw from the Communities. This latter referendum became possible after the introduction of home rule in Greenland in 1979. Following its withdrawal, which was regulated through the Greenland Treaty, the relationship between Greenland and the EC was partly settled through an association under Overseas Countries and territories (OCT) status. In recent years, the Greenlandic withdrawal from the European Communities has marginally been referred to as "Greenxit".
Since 1867, the United States has considered, or made, several proposals to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark, as it did with the Danish West Indies in 1917. While Greenland remains an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, a 1951 treaty gives the United States much control over an island it once partially claimed from exploration.