So You Want to Own Greenland? summary

Greenland is the kind of place that dominates a map before you even realize what you’re looking at. Vast, ice-covered, and unmistakable, it stretches between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, with most of its landmass sitting well above the Arctic Circle. Known to its people as Kalaallit Nunaat (which translates to Country of the Greenlanders), Greenland lies just a short distance from Canada – close enough that, for decades, Canada and Denmark quietly sparred over a tiny, uninhabited rock called Hans Island. This lighthearted standoff, nicknamed the Whiskey War, involved flags, bottles of booze, and a lot of diplomatic good humor. By 2022, the dispute ended with a simple solution: split Hans Island in half. It was a rare example of Arctic politics done with a smile.

But how did Denmark end up with its claim on Greenland? Well, the story goes back more than a thousand years, when a Viking by the name of Erik the Red arrived in the late tenth century. Exiled from Iceland, he explored westward and returned with a brilliant piece of early marketing: a name – Greenland – that suggested fertile land and opportunity. The pitch worked as several hundred settlers followed and established two Norse colonies in southern Greenland. Against the odds, these communities thrived, growing to a few thousand people and trading walrus ivory and seal hides. For centuries, Greenland was home to the most remote European society in the medieval world.

Then, it quietly vanished. By the time other Europeans came to check in, the farms stood empty. Churches were bare, homes empty. Theories multiplied as to what exactly happened. Was it a disease? A violent conflict? Oddly enough, no evidence of plague, such as mass graves, ever turned up, nor did any signs of battle. Economic trouble is another explanation. As African elephant ivory entered global markets, Greenland’s walrus-based trade lost its edge. The last known trading ship left in the late 1300s, and after that, the lifeline to Europe faded.

Climate is another factor. Modern research suggests that Greenland grew drier over time. Summer by summer, farming became harder, and bones from Viking burial sites show their diets shifting away from livestock and toward seafood, echoing Inuit practices. Adaptation was happening, but it may not have been enough. However it unfolded, by the fifteenth century more than two thousand people had slipped out of the historical record.

Now we get to Denmark. In 1721, a Lutheran missionary by the name of Hans Egede arrived and really kicked off a colonization effort that is still evident today. Over time, Greenland moved from colony to home rule and, in 2009, to self-government. But through it all, it remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, even though it now has its own parliament and prime minister, with a current population of around 57,000. 

But, as we’ll see in the following sections, Denmark’s history with Greenland hasn’t been without its political tensions.