Map Monday, How big is Greenland?

Greenland is the world’s largest island. At 830,330 square miles (2,166,086 square km), it’s larger than the next three islands (New Guinea, Borneo, and Madagascar) combined. Its territory includes the northernmost undisputed land (Kaffeklubben Island) on earth.

First Inhabitants

While debate remains about the arrival of the first humans in North America, evidence suggests that Greenland was one of the last places they settled. Arctic peoples, who’d been living in northern Canada for thousands of years, moved to Greenland ~2500 BC. Archeological finds identify several different Paleo-Inuit cultures. The last, known as the Dorset, emerged in ~800 BC. Extending along the coasts, it was the culture encountered by the first European settlers.

Europeans

Norse from Iceland and Norway arrived in 986 and established three settlements on the southwest coast. Explorers from these settlements were the builders of L’anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. In 1261, the colonies formally came under the rule of Norway, which subsequently (1380) formed a union with Denmark. Within a generation or two, the Greenland colonies were abandoned and almost forgotten.

Later Explorations

While searching for a Northwest Passage, Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real and his brother Miguel Corte-Real made two voyages to the area. They failed to find the passage, but their surveys were incorporated into the most accurate European map of the New World. A century later, the king of Denmark and Norway sent several expeditions to Greenland to search for the lost Norse colonies. They didn’t find them, but they did reassert Danish-Norwegian sovereignty over Greenland. After another century, in 1721, the Greenland Seminary and a trading colony of Godthåb was established on the southwest coast.

Conflicts over Greenland

When Norway and Denmark split in 1814, all the colonies remained part of Denmark. In 1931, under the doctrine of terra nullius (nobody’s land), Norway occupied northeastern Greenland as Eirik Raudes Land. In 1933, the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled against Norway’s claim. After the fall of Denmark to Nazi Germany, the US forces occupied the island establishing air bases and eliminating Nazi weather stations. In 1946, the US offered Denmark $100M to buy the island, but Denmark declined to sell. This issue briefly rose again in 2019. Denmark’s premier politely rejected the overtures stating that “Greenland is not for sale and cannot be sold.”

Modern Status

In 1953, Greenland was officially admitted into the Danish realm as the equivalent of a county and Greenlanders are citizens of Denmark. Domination by Danish culture led Greenland to seek and be granted home rule in 1979. This was expanded to include more local authority in 2009. As Danish citizens, Greenlanders are also EU citizens, but strictly speaking the island is not formally part of the EU. It’s mostly an issue with fishing rights and some concerns over indigenous hunting practices.

Our Map (Finally)

Greenland is large, but not as big as seen in the common Mercator projection maps, where it appears larger than Brazil. Today’s map (courtesy of Kellen Perry at Ranker.com) shows the island’s true size relative to Brazil.

As always thanks for reading.

Armen

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