Greenlandic home rule referendum, 1979

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A consultative referendum on home rule was held in Greenland on 17 January 1979. Just over 70.1% of voters voted in favour of greater autonomy from Denmark, [1] [2] leading to the establishment of a Greenlandic Parliament and Greenland gaining sovereignty in areas such as education, health, fisheries and the environment. [3]

Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been decentralized to it by the central government.

Greenland autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark

Greenland is an autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for more than a millennium. The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century, gradually settling across the island.

Denmark constitutional monarchy in Europe

Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.

Contents

As a result of the referendum, home rule came into effect 1 May 1979 and Greenland became an autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
Yes check.svg Yes12,75670.1
No4,70325.8
Valid votes17,45995.9
Invalid or blank votes7434.1
Total votes18,202100.00
Registered voters and turnout28,88963.3
Source: Folketingsårbog 1978–79

See also

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References

  1. Den grønlandske hjemmestyreordning (in Danish). Ministry of the State of Denmark.
  2. Marquard, Arne (ed.) Folketingsårbog 1978–79(in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag, p. 61. ISBN   87-569-0591-2
  3. Politics in Greenland Archived 2009-06-28 at the Wayback Machine . Greenland Representation to the EU