| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Greenland
local long form: none
local short form: Kalaallit Nunaat |
| Capital: |
Nuuk (Godthab) |
| Location: |
Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
72 00 N, 40 00 W |
| Area: |
total: 2,166,086 sq km
land: 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km ice-covered) (2000 est.) |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly more than three times the size of Texas |
| Land
Boundaries: |
0 km |
| Coastline: |
44,087 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 3 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line |
| Climate: |
arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters |
| Terrain: |
flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
3 districts (landsdele); Avannaa (Nordgronland), Tunu (Ostgronland), Kitaa (Vestgronland)
note: there are 18 municipalities in Greenland |
| Independence |
Dependency status:part of the Kingdom of Denmark; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark since 1979 |
| National
Holiday: |
June 21 (longest day) |
| Constitution: |
5 June 1953 (Danish constitution) |
| Legal
System; |
Danish |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II of Denmark (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner Peter LAURITEEN (since NA 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Hans ENOKSEN (since 14 December 2002)
cabinet: Home Rule Government is elected by the parliament (Landstinget) on the basis of the strength of parties
elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner appointed by the monarch; prime minister is elected by parliament (usually the leader of the majority party); election last held 3 December 2002 (next to be held December 2006)
election results: Hans ENOKSEN elected prime minister
note: government coalition - Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral Parliament or Landstinget (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 December 2002 (next to be held by December 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - Siumut 28.7%, Inuit Ataqatigiit 25.5%, Atassut Party 20.4%, Demokratiit 15.6%, Katusseqatigiit 5.3%; seats by party - Siumut 10, Inuit Ataqatigiit 8, Atassut 7, Demokratiit 5, Katusseqatigiit 1
note: two representatives were elected to the Danish Parliament or Folketing on 8 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Siumut 1, Inuit Ataqatigiit 1 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen) |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Atassut Party (Solidarity, a conservative party favoring continuing close relations with Denmark) [Augusta SALLING]; Demokratiit [Per BERTHELSEN]; Inuit Ataqatigiit or IA (Eskimo Brotherhood, a leftist party favoring complete independence from Denmark rather than home rule) [Josef MOTZFELDT]; Issituup (Polar Party) [Nicolai HEINRICH]; Kattusseqatigiit (Candidate List, an independent right-of-center party with no official platform [leader NA]; Siumut (Forward Party, a social democratic party advocating more distinct Greenlandic identity and greater autonomy from Denmark) [Hans ENOKSEN] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
56,375 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 25% (male 7,216/female 6,888)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 20,897/female 17,823)
65 years and over: 6.3% (male 1,672/female 1,879) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 33.83 years
male: 35.15 years
female: 32.14 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Greenlander(s)
adjective: Greenlandic |
| Ethnic groups: |
Greenlander 88% (Inuit and Greenland-born whites), Danish and others 12% (January 2000) |
| Religions: |
Evangelical Lutheran |
| Languages: |
Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
26,000 (2001) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
16,747 (2001) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: adequate domestic and international service provided by satellite, cables and microwave radio relay; totally digitalized in 1995
domestic: microwave radio relay and satellite
international: country code - 299; satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 2 Americom GE-2 (all Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 5, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 publicly-owned station, some local low-power stations, and three AFRTS (US Air Force) stations (1997) |
| Internet country
code: |
.gl |
| Internet hosts: |
2,642 (2004) |
| Internet users: |
20,000 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
|
| Highways: |
total: NA (there are no roads between towns) (2003) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Aasiaat (Egedesminde), Ilulissat (Jakobshavn), Kangerlussuaq, Nanortalik, Narsarsuaq, Nuuk (Godthab), Qaqortoq (Julianehab), Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), Tasiilaq |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,593 GRT/3,640 DWT
by type: cargo 1, passenger 2
foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1)
registered in other countries: 1 (2005) |
| Airports: |
14 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
