There is ice, snow, heavy wind and extreme conditions. There are green-clad mountains, an abundance of flowers and unique wildlife. There is uninhabited land as far as the eye can see. There are small villages with ancient traditions and even high-rise buildings and modern society. Greenland is a land that is changing, but most of all, Greenland is a land worth conserving.
Geography & Geology
Covering 2,184,700 km2 (843,517 mi2) Greenland is the largest island in the world. From the southern tip at Cape Farewell to the northern-most point at Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland measures 2,700 km (1660 mi). This distance is comparable to length of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, stretching from the southern tip of Florida to the US-Canada border. At the widest spot, from Disko Bay to Scoresbysund, Greenland is 1,300 km (808 mi) across.
The creation of Greenland, as we know it today, began a long time ago. In fact, Greenland was a part of Africa until 439 million years ago, when it separated from the continent and moved north. Two million years ago, its closer proximity to the North Pole generated the large amounts of snow that created the inland ice sheet. To this day, the island of Greenland is still on the move, progressing westward at a rate of two centimeters every year.
Roughly, 80% of Greenland, or a total area of 1,799,850 sq. km. (694,926 sq. mi.), is covered by ice. The enormous weight of the ice has depressed the middle part of the bedrock surface, pushing it approximately 250 meters (820 ft) below sea level. At its thickest, the Greenland Ice Sheet measures more than 3.3 km (2 mi) in depth.
Civilization & Archeology
The first people to set foot in Greenland were groups of Paleo-Eskimos. They arrived in Greenland 2,400 BC and disappeared around 1,000 BC. Their culture became known as Independence I in recognition of Independence Fjord in northern Greenland, where a Danish archeologist, Count Eigil Knuth, first discovered their archaeological remains in the mid-1900s.'
It took almost another 2,000 years before the ancestors of the current native Inuit population arrived. The Thule people came to Greenland around 1,000 AD, bringing with them a technical knowledge and the skills to build useful equipment such as the kayak and dog sled.
The population of present day Greenland is approximately 56,000 with an estimated 17,000 residents living in Nuuk, the capital. The primary language is Greenlandic or Kalaallisut and the second language is Danish. Many young Greenlanders also speak a third language, typically English.
