Greenland
Basic Data
| Official Country Name: | Greenland |
| Region (Map name): | North & Central America |
| Population: | 56,309 |
| Language(s): | Greenlandic, Danish, English |
| Literacy rate: | similar to Denmark proper |
Greenland is the world's largest island, but more than 80 percent of its area is covered with ice, not surprising for a region located between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean.
As a division of Denmark, Greenland's print media enjoys broad freedoms but independent radio stations are subject to tighter regulations. There are no daily newspapers in Greenland, but the country does support two national weekly publications. Grolandsposten/Atuagagdliutit was founded in 1861 and publishes on Tuesday and Thursday. Sermitsiak , founded in 1958, appears every Friday in print and online. Both are printed from Nuuk, the capital, and are written in Greenlandic and Danish.
There are five AM and 12 FM radio stations serving 30,000 radios. One publicly owned television station broadcasts to 30,000 televisions. There is one Internet service provider.
Greenland came under Danish rule in the fourteenth century, and it remains a part of Denmark today as a self-governing overseas administrative division. Greenland's chief of state is the Danish monarch, represented locally by a High Commissioner. The government is headed by a Prime Minister who is elected by a unicameral, 31-seat Parliament, or Landstinget.
The population of Greenland is approximately 56,000. Most inhabitants live in settlements along the coast. The official languages are Dutch and Greenlandic, a type of Inupik East-Eskimo language. The literacy rate is 98 percent. Fish exports drive the economy, but seal and whale hunting is also important. Tourism plays a minor role, limited mostly by climate and location.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). "Greenland." World Fact Book 2001 . 2001. Available from www.cia.gov .
Freedom House. 2002. Available from http://www.freedomhouse.org
Worldinformation.com . 2002. Available from http://www.worldinformation.com .
Sermitsiak . 2002. Available from http://www.sermitsiaq.gl .
Jenny B. Davis