Demographics of Greenland

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Demographics of Greenland
Greenland single age population pyramid 2020.png
Population pyramid of Greenland in 2020
Population57,792 (2022 est.)
Growth rate-0.02% (2022 est.)
Birth rate13.79 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate8.96 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy73.98 years
  male71.28 years
  female76.82 years
Fertility rate1.91 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate8.75 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years20.82%
65 and over10.36%
Sex ratio
Total1.08 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.05 male(s)/female
Under 151.03 male(s)/female
65 and over0.84 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityGreenlander
Language
OfficialGreenlandic
SpokenGreenlandic, Danish, English

This is a demography of the population of Greenland including population density, ethnicity, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Contents

Population pyramid of Greenland was highly impacted by involuntary birth control program conducted by Danish authorities in the 1960s and 70s.

Populations

As of 1 January 2024 the resident population of Greenland was estimated at 56,699, an increase of 90 (0.2%) compared to the corresponding figure the previous year. [1]

Population by municipality
on 1 January 2024
MunicipalityPopulation % of totalAnnual change
Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq 24,38243.00%Increase2.svg +234 (+1.0%)
Avannaata Kommunia 10,84619.13%Decrease2.svg −74 (−0.7%)
Qeqqata Kommunia 9,20416.23%Increase2.svg +13 (+0.1%)
Kommune Kujalleq 6,14510.84%Decrease2.svg −60 (−1.0%)
Kommune Qeqertalik 6,05810.68%Decrease2.svg −24 (−0.4%)

Values do not sum to 100% because there were 64 inhabitants living outside the five municipalities, which include residents in the unincorporated Northeast Greenland National Park. Nuuk is the most populous locality in Greenland with 19,872 inhabitants, which is about 35% of Greenland's total population.

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2013) (Population statistics are compiled from registers.): [2]
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total29 86726 61656 483100
0–42 1421 9304 0727.21
5–92 0041 9423 9466.99
10–142 0882 0224 1107.28
15–192 1302 1114 2417.51
20–242 3502 2834 6338.20
25–292 1592 0814 2407.51
30–341 9541 8643 8186.76
35–391 7301 4403 1705.61
40–442 0081 6903 6986.55
45–492 9802 5375 5179.77
50–542 5992 1234 7228.36
55–592 0921 5463 6386.44
60–641 4251 0362 4614.36
65–691 0717311 8023.19
70–746295941 2232.17
75–793193656841.21
80–841432293720.66
85–8939801190.21
90–94410140.02
95–99123<0.01
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–146 2345 89412 12821.47
15–6421 42718 71140 13871.06
65+2 2062 0114 2177.47
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Population statistics are compiled from registers.): [3]
Age GroupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total29 85526 79856 653100
0–42 0581 9874 0457.14
5–91 9941 8553 8496.79
10–141 9911 8403 8316.76
15–191 8511 7603 6116.37
20–241 9721 9433 9156.91
25–292 3632 2684 6318.17
30–342 3982 3384 7368.36
35–392 0961 9023 9987.06
40–441 7931 5173 3105.84
45–491 6301 2892 9195.15
50–542 2151 9224 1377.30
55–592 5772 1744 7518.39
60–642 1081 6153 7236.57
65–691 2859922 2774.02
70–747766181 3942.46
75–794854339181.62
80–841942194130.73
85–8952921440.25
90–941329420.07
95+4590.02
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–146 0435 68211 72520.70
15–6420 88618 72839 61469.92
65+2 9262 3885 3149.38

Vital statistics

[4] [5]

YearAverage populationLive birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Total fertility rateInfant mortality rate
190012,00041630611035.626.29.4
190112,00046130116038.725.313.4
190212,00042625916735.521.613.9
190312,00042832710135.126.88.3
190412,00053528325243.523.020.5
190513,00048729219539.023.415.6
190613,00049336612739.129.010.1
190713,00047636211437.228.38.9
190813,00054337816542.129.312.8
190913,00056444811643.134.28.9
191013,0004433548933.626.86.7
191113,0005775621543.141.91.1
191214,0004823899335.728.86.9
191314,00059239020243.528.714.9
191414,0005314587338.833.45.3
191514,00054542811739.831.28.5
191614,0005454479839.532.47.1
191714,00054731223539.422.416.9
191814,00055032822239.323.415.9
191914,000510614−10436.243.5−7.4
192014,00056942914040.130.29.9
192114,0006105654542.739.53.1
192215,00054539614937.327.110.2
192315,00056332623738.022.016.0
192415,00058042615438.428.210.2
192515,0006605827842.937.85.1
192616,00061934027939.721.817.9
192716,00061532229338.720.318.4
192816,00068036631442.022.619.4
192917,00074335339045.021.423.6
193017,00076838338545.722.822.9
193117,00077943134846.125.520.6
193217,00072862510343.337.16.2
193317,00077637040645.621.823.8
193417,00080750330446.428.917.5
193518,000813835−2246.547.7−1.3
193618,000740811−7142.046.1−4.0
193718,00076747429343.126.616.5
193818,00073137535640.420.719.7
193918,0007626808241.637.24.5
194019,00087335651746.919.127.8
194119,00081536445142.719.123.6
194220,00090444845646.122.923.3
194320,00079642936739.821.518.4
194420,00091149142044.724.120.6
194521,00081840841039.519.719.8
194621,00092041650443.619.723.9
194722,00095349046344.122.721.4
194822,00088349938440.522.917.65.695
194922,0009898989144.740.64.16.045
195023,0001,12953959050.023.826.16.930
195123,00099955044942.923.619.35.770
195224,0001,03447555943.119.823.35.960
195325,0001,10939871144.916.128.86.150
195426,0001,13638874844.415.229.26.310
195527,0001,23437585946.414.132.36.605
195627,0001,29335194247.212.834.46.670
195729,0001,3613371,02447.611.835.86.925
195830,0001,4102901,12047.29.737.56.815
195931,0001,4912851,20647.69.138.57.145
196033,0001,5862561,33048.67.840.77.245
196134,0001,6442921,35248.88.740.17.310
196235,0001,6103611,24946.110.335.87.085
196336,0001,6712791,39246.27.738.57.035
196438,0001,7973291,46847.48.738.77.270
196539,0001,7383371,40144.38.635.76.960
196641,0001,7813291,45243.58.035.56.995
196743,0001,6853141,37139.37.332.06.395
196845,0001,5763331,24335.37.427.85.845
196946,0001,31031199928.56.821.74.580
197046,0001,14428386124.76.118.63.900
197147,0001,02828973921.86.115.73.245
197248,00094829565319.66.113.52.770
197349,00094033960119.26.912.32.69036.2
197450,00086633253417.56.710.82.30028.9
197550,00081531350217.56.311.22.34536.8
197650,00085934851117.37.010.32.25532.6
197749,00091837354518.67.211.42.34942.5
197849,00087030956117.76.411.32.19726.4
197950,00090039350718.28.110.02.18737.8
198050,0001,03438065420.57.612.82.43531.9
198151,0001,05638167520.67.513.12.33231.3
198252,0001,05240864420.68.212.42.23637.1
198352,00099443356118.98.310.62.05437.2
198453,0001,05443961520.08.311.72.10728.5
198553,0001,15243571721.48.213.22.24124.3
198654,0001,05544561019.78.311.42.04422.7
198754,0001,10444565920.48.212.22.08326.3
198855,0001,21343278122.17.914.32.31716.5
198955,0001,21045575521.98.213.72.29921.5
199056,0001,25846779122.68.414.22.44432.6
199156,0001,19245873421.58.313.22.42134.4
199255,0001,23744179622.48.014.42.60712.9
199355,0001,18043274821.37.813.52.57826.3
199456,0001,13944569420.58.012.52.51622.8
199556,0001,10148062119.78.611.12.54220.9
199656,0001,05144460718.88.010.92.51322.8
199756,0001,09549260319.68.810.82.77418.3
199856,00098045752317.58.19.32.49120.4
199956,00094547946616.88.58.32.48216.9
200056,00087945042915.78.07.72.41018.2
200156,00094246647616.88.38.52.50610.6
200257,00095444650816.97.89.12.60813.6
200357,00087941146815.47.28.22.3288.0
200457,00089247941315.68.47.22.43413.5
200557,00088646542115.58.17.42.3267.9
200657,00084244040214.87.77.12.27616.6
200757,00085345240115.17.97.22.22010.6
200856,00083442840614.97.67.32.2499.6
200956,00089543745816.07.88.22.3404.5
201056,00086950436515.59.06.52.1858.1
201157,00082147634514.48.36.12.09711.0
201257,00078645932713.88.05.82.0078.9
201356,00082044437614.67.96.72.0668.5
201456,00080546134414.48.26.21.9857.5
201556,00085447238215.28.46.82.11610.5
201656,00083048734314.88.76.12.0617.2
201756,00085349935415.28.96.32.1237.0
201856,00081948733214.68.75.92.0227.3
201956,00084954830115.29.85.42.11511.8
202056,00083552031514.99.35.62.1098.4
202156,00076153123013.49.34.11.82014.5
202257,00074852522313.29.33.91.81512.0
202357,00071653418212.79.43.31.76912.6

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.25 years
male: 68.6 years
female: 74.04 years (2012 est.)

Ethnic groups

Ethnic groups of Greenland (2018) [6]
Ethnic groupspercent
Inuit
89.7%
Danish
7.8%
Other Nordic
1.1%
Other
1.4%
Significant minority groups [7]
NationalityPopulation (2024)
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 921
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 349
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 138
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 122
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 121
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 78
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 65
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 63
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 54
Flag of the United States.svg  USA 39
Other America39

The population of Greenland consists of Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed-race people), Danish Greenlanders and other Europeans and North Americans. The Inuit population makes up approximately 85–90% of the total (2009 est.). 6,792 people from Denmark live in Greenland, which is 12% of its total population.

In recent years, Greenland experienced a significant increase in immigration from Asia, especially from the Philippines, Thailand, and China.

Languages

The only official language of Greenland is Greenlandic. [8] The number of speakers of Greenlandic is estimated at 50,000 (85–90% of the total population), divided in three main dialects, Kalaallisut (West-Greenlandic, 44,000 speakers and the dialect that is used as official language), Tunumiit (East-Greenlandic, 3,000 speakers) and Inuktun (North-Greenlandic, 800 speakers). The remainder of the population mainly speaks Danish; Inuit Sign Language is the language of the deaf community.

Religion

Religion in Greenland (2010): [9] [10]

   Protestantism (95.5%)
   Roman Catholicism (0.2%)
  Other Christian (0.4%)
   Agnostic (2.3%)
   Atheist (0.2%)
  Other religion (0.6%)
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik (Bjornsted), have their own Lutheran church under the Church of Denmark Nanortalik church.jpg
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik (Bjørnsted), have their own Lutheran church under the Church of Denmark

The nomadic Inuit were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with propitiating a vengeful and fingerless sea Goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.

The first Norse colonists were pagan, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Catholic Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 990 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.

Rediscovering these colonists and spreading the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements and began converting the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000. [11]

Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, mostly members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. While there is no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Lutheran Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen [12] estimated that 85% of the Greenlandic population were members of its congregation in 2009. [13] Estimates in 2022 put the figure at 93%. [14]

Spiral case

In the 1960s and 70s, Greenland was subject to one of the most impactful eugenics programs ever implemented. At least 4,500 Inuit women were involuntarily implanted with IUD's without their knowledge or consent - about half the fertile population at the time. Within a generation, the birthrate declined by 50%, which led to multigenerational demographic effects. Public officials at the time blamed the decline in birthrate on poverty and cultural trends, but the extent of the involuntary program became public only in 2022 in an investigation known as the spiral case. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenland</span> Autonomous territory of Denmark

Greenland is a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the largest of three constituent countries of the kingdom, the other two being metropolitan Denmark and 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; Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, amounting to near half of the territory's total public revenue.

Greenlandic may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Greenland</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuuk</span> Capital and largest city of Greenland

Nuuk is the capital of and most populous city in Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. Nuuk is also the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. In January 2024, it had a population of 19,872, – more than a third of the territory's population – making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population. Nuuk is considered a modernized city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Egede</span> Missionary to Greenland, Lutheran pastor

Hans Poulsen Egede was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inuit and is credited with revitalizing Dano-Norwegian interest in the island after contact had been broken for about 300 years. He founded Greenland's capital Godthåb, now known as Nuuk.

<span title="Old Norse-language text"><i lang="non">Skræling</i></span> Peoples the Norse Greenlanders encountered in North America

Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the peoples they encountered in North America. In surviving sources, it is first applied to the Thule people, the proto-Inuit group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century. In the sagas, it is also used for the peoples of the region known as Vinland whom the Norse encountered and fought during their expeditions there in the early 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlanders</span> Ethnic group and nation

Greenlanders, also called Greenlandics or Greenlandic people, are an Inuit ethnic group native to Greenland. As of 2024, Greenland's population stands at 55,840 and is in decline. Many Greenlanders are emigrating to other countries, particularly Denmark. Within Greenland, most residents live along the western coastline, primarily in the central and southern regions, while the northern areas are sparsely populated due to climatic and geographical factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlandic Inuit</span> Ethnic group indigenous to Greenland

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.

The Bishop of Greenland is a diocesan bishop of the Church of Denmark, and the leader of the Church of Greenland, which is an episcopal church in the Lutheran tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlandic independence</span> Political movement

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.

The Greenland Provincial Council was the provincial government of Greenland between 1950, when it was formed from the union of the earlier North and South Greenland Provincial Councils, and 1 May 1979, when it was replaced by the Greenland Home Rule Government and its Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danish people in Greenland</span> Ethnic group

Danish Greenlanders are ethnic Danes residing in Greenland and their descendants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlandic people in Denmark</span> Ethnic group

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Greenland</span>

The majority of the Greenlandic population is Christian and associates with the Church of Denmark via the Church of Greenland, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation. The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark; this applies to all of the Kingdom of Denmark, except for the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007. But traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs remain strong in many of Greenland's remote communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristian Mørch</span> Former Greenlandic Bishop

Kristian Mørch was a Greenlandic Inuit prelate who became Greenland's first bishop in 1993 after the restoration of the Diocese of Greenland. He is also considered as the mastermind behind the formation of the Church of Greenland, distinct from the Church of Denmark.

Vera Leth is a Greenlandic civil servant who was the County Council Ombudsman for the Parliament of Greenland between 1997 and 2023.

Marie Margrethe Ruth Ane Thomsen Heilmann is a Greenlandic teacher and politician who represents the Siumut party. In January 2008, she became the first female speaker of the Inatsisartut or Parliament of Greenland. The Parliament honoured her in April 2016 with the Nersornaat (gold), a medal for meritorious service, for a political career lasting over 20 years.

Aki-Matilda Tilia Ditte Høegh-Dam is a Danish-Greenlandic Siumut politician who currently serves in the Folketing. She was elected to the Folketing during the 2019 Danish general election at the age of 22, becoming its youngest member.

The levels of education in Greenland are primary, secondary and higher education. A 10-year primary education is compulsory for all children aged between 6 and 16. Education in Greenland is controlled by the Greenlandic Department of Education. Danish is taught as a second language starting in the first grade.

References

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  2. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Archived from the original on 21 September 2004.
  3. "UNSD - Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  4. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
  5. "Grønlands Statistik". stat.gl.
  6. "North America: Greenland". CIA The World Factbook. 27 September 2021.
  7. "Population by age, citizenship, gender and time". Statbank. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  8. "Ethnolgue".
  9. "Greenland, Religion and Social Profile | National Profiles | International Data". Thearda.com. 21 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  10. "Table: Christian Population as Percentages of Total Population by Country | Pew Research Center". 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  11. Leif Kiil Sørensen (29 November 2000). "Grønlandsk bibel præsenteret | Kristeligt Dagblad". Kristeligt-dagblad.dk. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  12. "Bells ring a wake-up call for climate justice." Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine World Council of Churches. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010
  13. "Grønland, Grundloven og Gejstligheden" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  14. [https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/denmark/ US State Dept 2022 Kurds inhabited Al-Jazeera, which is part of Kurdistan. report]
  15. Murray, Adrienne (30 September 2022). "Inuit Greenlanders demand answers over Danish birth control scandal". British Broadcasting Corporation.