Greenland Education

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Greenland, also Kalaallit Nunaat (Danish Grønland), island, internally self-governing part of Denmark, situated between the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Greenland lies mostly north of the Arctic Circle and is separated from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, on the west, primarily by Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, and from Iceland, on the east, by the Strait of Denmark. The largest island in the world, Greenland has a maximum extent, from its northernmost point on Cape Morris Jesup to Cape Farewell in the extreme south, of about 2655 km (about 1650 mi). The maximum distance from east to west is about 1290 km (about 800 mi). The entire coast, which is deeply indented with fjords, is roughly estimated at 5800 km (3600 mi). The total area of Greenland is approximately 2,175,600 sq km (approximately 840,004 sq mi), of which some 1,834,000 sq km (about 708,110 sq mi) is ice cap.

Land and Resources
Greenland consists of an interior ice-covered plateau surrounded by a mountainous, generally ice-free, rim. The interior ice cap is thickest near the center of the island, where the maximum depth is estimated at about 2440 m (about 8000 ft). Underneath the ice cover are the ancient rocks of the Greenland Shield, which is geologically related to the Canadian Shield. The greatest heights of land are along the eastern coast, where the extreme elevation is Mount Gunnbjørn (3700 m/12,139 ft). Drainage is afforded mainly by the so-called ice fjords, in which glaciers from the ice caps pass through valleys to the sea, where they form thousands of icebergs each year. The climate is extremely cold, but during the short summer in the south the mean temperature is 8.9° C (48° F). The mammals of Greenland are more American than European, and include the musk-ox, wolf, lemming, and reindeer. The varieties of seal and whale, and most of the species of fish and seabirds, are also American rather than European. Circumpolar animals, such as the polar bear, arctic fox, polar hare, and stoat, are also found.

Population
Greenlanders are a people of mixed ancestry, primarily Inuit (Eskimo) and European, especially Danish-Norwegian. The total population of Greenland (1992 estimate) was 55,385. Nearly all the population was located on the narrow southwestern coastal fringe.
The capital, Nuuk, formerly known as Godthåb (population, 1992 estimate, 12,233), on the southwestern coast, is the largest and oldest Danish settlement on the island, having been founded 1721. Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg; population, 4800), on the western coast just north of the Arctic Circle, is the second largest town. Other settlements include Qaqortoq (Julianehåb), Paamiut (Frederikshåb), and Narsaq, on the southern coast; Thule, on the northwestern coast; and Ammassalik, on the eastern coast.
Education is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 7 and 16. About 100 school centers have been established, and their languages of instruction are both Greenlandic (an Inuit language with some Danish words) and Danish. A university center is at Nuuk.

Economy
Fishing, sealing, and fur trapping are the principal economic activities. The fish catch is primarily cod, shrimp, and salmon; fish processing is the major manufacturing industry. Agriculture is only possible on about one percent of Greenland's total area. Cattle, sheep, and goats are raised in small numbers in some portions of the southwestern coast, and hardy vegetables are grown. Greenland was formerly the world's main source of natural cryolite, a mineral used in the manufacture of aluminum, but by the late 1970s, reserves were exhausted. Lead and zinc were also produced until the mines were exhausted in 1990, and deposits of coal and uranium are known to exist. Exports are fish, hides and skins, fish oil, lead, and zinc. Thule Air Base in the north supports a community of American and Danish civilian and military personnel.

Government
In a referendum in 1979, Greenland voted for home rule. Denmark continues to administer external affairs. Executive power is held by a seven-member body, the Landsstyre, headed by a premier. Legislative power is vested in a 27-member parliament, the Landsting. Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Danish parliament.

History
Greenland was first explored by Eric the Red, a Norwegian settler in Iceland and father of Leif Ericson, toward the end of the 10th century, and Icelandic settlements were subsequently established there under his leadership. By the early 15th century, however, these settlements had vanished, and all contact with Greenland was lost. In the course of the search for the Northwest Passage, Greenland was sighted again. The English navigator John Davis visited the island in 1585, and his explorative work, together with that of the English explorers Henry Hudson and William Baffin, afforded knowledge of the west coast of Greenland.

Danish Authority Established
The foundation of Danish rule was laid by a mission at Godthåb in 1721 by a Norwegian missionary, Hans Egede. In the 19th century Greenland was explored and mapped by numerous explorers and navigators. From 1930 to 1931, British and German expeditions made weather observations on the inland ice north of the Arctic Circle. In 1933 an American expedition sponsored by the University of Michigan and Pan-American Airways engaged in meteorological research more than 545 km (more than 340 mi) north of the Arctic Circle.
The United States relinquished its claim to land in northern Greenland, based on the explorations of the American explorer Robert Edwin Peary, when it purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917. In May 1921, Denmark declared the entire island of Greenland to be Danish territory, causing a dispute with Norway over hunting and fishing rights. In 1931 a strip of land on the east coast was claimed by some Norwegian hunters, whose action was later recognized by the Norwegian government. The occupation was invalidated by the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague in 1933.

U.S. Protection
Germany's occupation of Denmark in 1940, during World War II, brought the status of Greenland again into question. Negotiations between the U.S. government and the Danish minister to Washington resulted in an agreement on April 9, 1941, granting the United States the right “to construct, maintain and operate such landing fields, seaplane facilities and radio and meteorological installations as may be necessary” to protect the status quo in the western hemisphere; the United States also assumed protective custody over Greenland for the duration of World War II, although recognizing Danish sovereignty.
Greenland is the source of many of the weather changes in the northern hemisphere, and knowledge of Greenland weather is of prime importance for the prediction of conditions in the North Atlantic Ocean and in western Europe. Weather and radio stations are of inestimable value for Atlantic aerial traffic. In 1944, during World War II, a German radio-weather station on the northeast coast was destroyed by the U.S. Coast Guard, and various German attempts to establish weather bases on Greenland were thwarted by Coast Guard vessels. In May 1947, Denmark requested that the U.S. end the 1941 agreement. Protracted negotiations culminated during April 1951, in a 20-year pact providing for Danish control of the chief U.S. naval station in Greenland and for the establishment of jointly operated defense areas. By the terms of other provisions, the armed forces of the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were authorized to use all naval, air, and military bases on the island. In the early 1950s the United States expanded its military operations in Greenland, constructing a vast strategic air base at Thule, about 1500 km (about 930 mi) from the North Pole.
In June 1952, the Danish government and private Danish, Swedish, and Canadian interests formed a company to exploit deposits of zinc, lead, tungsten, and cryolite in eastern Greenland.

New Political Status
Under the new Danish constitution of May 1953, the country became an integral part of the Danish monarchy and obtained representation in the national parliament.
Following a popular referendum in January 1979, Greenland attained home rule. Elections in April of that year for a new parliament were won by the left-wing Siumut party. In a referendum held in February 1982, the Greenlanders voted by a narrow margin to withdraw from the European Community (now called the European Union); the withdrawal was completed by early 1985. In the June 1984 elections, the Siumut party and a moderate opposition group, the Atassut party, each won 11 seats in parliament; the Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) won 3 seats. Results of the May 1987 elections were similarly divided. In March 1991 the balance shifted as Atassut lost 3 seats and the IA gained 2.

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