Greenland is an 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; 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.
This is a demography of the population of Greenland including population density, ethnicity, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
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.
Denmark and the former real union of Denmark–Norway had a colonial empire from the 17th through to the 20th centuries, large portions of which were found in the Americas. Denmark and Norway in one form or another also maintained land claims in Greenland since the 13th century, the former up through the twenty-first century.
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.
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.
Paul or Poul Hansen Egede was a Dano-Norwegian theologian, missionary, and scholar who was principally concerned with the Lutheran mission among the Kalaallit people in Greenland that had been established by his father, Hans, in 1721.
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.
Aron of Kangeq was a Greenlandic Inuit hunter, painter, and oral historian. His woodcuts and watercolors are noted for their depiction of Inuit culture and history, and the often violent encounters between Inuit and Danish colonizers. His storytelling is known to children's literature in Greenland.
Count Eigil Knuth was a Danish explorer, archaeologist, sculptor and writer. He is referred to as the Nestor of Danish polar explorers. His archaeological investigations were made in Peary Land and adjacent areas of High Arctic Greenland. Knuth was made a Knight of the Dannebrog.
Gertrud Rask was the first wife of the Danish-Norwegian missionary to Greenland Hans Egede and was the mother of the missionary and translator Paul Egede.
Old Nuuk may refer to several neighborhoods of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
The Statue of Hans Egede is a monument in Nuuk, Greenland. It commemorates the Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary Hans Egede who founded Nuuk in 1728. Funded by Greenlanders, the statue lies on a hill near the shore above Nuuk Cathedral in the historical Old Nuuk area of the city. The original statue by August Saabye stands outside Frederik's Church in Copenhagen. Egede's controversial missionary practices have recently attracted vandalism and calls for removal of the monument.
Dr. Hinrich Johannes Rink was a Danish geologist, one of the pioneers of glaciology, and the first accurate describer of the inland ice of Greenland. Rink, who first came to Greenland in 1848, spent 16 winters and 22 summers in the Arctic region, and became notable for Greenland's development. Becoming a Greenlandic scholar and administrator, he served as Royal Inspector of South Greenland and went on to become Director of the Royal Greenland Trading Department. With "Forstanderskaber", Rink introduced the first steps towards Greelandic home rule.
Nipisat Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland.
Major Claus Enevold Paarss was a Danish military officer and official. Retired from service, he was appointed governor of Greenland by King Frederick IV between 1728 and 1730.
The Bergen Greenland Company or Bergen Company (Bergenkompagniet) was a Dano-Norwegian private corporation charged with founding and administering Danish-Norwegian colonies and trade in Greenland, as well as searching for any survivors from the former Norse settlements on the island. It operated from 1721 until its bankruptcy in 1727. Although the Bergen Company failed as a concern and both its settlements were destroyed and abandoned, it was ultimately successful in re-establishing sovereignty over Greenland.
Kingdom of Denmark 
Greenland 
Sermersooq 
