Who owns Greenland? Why the island's history is more complicated than you think

Who owns Greenland?

Greenland is owned by Denmark, but it operates as an autonomous and self-governing territory.

The island was formally incorporated into the Danish Kingdom in 1953, but has since become increasingly independent of its sovereign state, passing laws that have increased responsibility for its own governance.

Is Greenland a country?

Greenland is officially not a country, but a territory within the Kingdom of Denmark which is on an increasing path toward self-governance.

Greenland now governs itself in most domestic matters, including education, health, and natural resources, but Denmark retains control over defence and foreign affairs.

Is Greenland part of North America?

Geographically, Greenland is part of the North American continent.

Its massive landmass is located on the North American tectonic plate, and is closer to Canada than to Europe.

However, Greenland is firmly placed within the cultural and political sphere of Europe, particularly through its long association with Denmark.

But it hasn’t always been this way.

A complete history of the ‘ownership’ of Greenland

For thousands of years of prehistory, Paleo-Eskimos ventured into Greenland looking to unlock its potential through access to its vast hunting grounds. But survival for these populations was a constant challenge, requiring intimate knowledge of the shifting ice and a mastery of the rhythms of the Arctic seasons.

Greenland existed in this state – providing a home for small populations that passed through – for at least 4,500 years, until the arrival of Erik the Red between AD 982 and 985.

Erik the Red arrives

The first true ‘ownership’ of Greenland in a formal sense can be traced to the arrival of Erik the Red in the late 10th century.

Banished from Iceland for committing murder, Erik sailed west and stumbled upon Greenland, naming it deceptively in a bid to lure settlers to it.

• Read more | The truth about Viking berserkers

This gambit worked: small settlements took root along the island’s southwestern coast. For centuries, the settlers held on, eking out a living through farming and trade with Europe, even as they struggled against the encroaching cold of the Little Ice Age.

These Viking Greenlanders were so renowned that they became the subject of their own saga, Saga of the Greenlanders, which recounts how Erik’s son, Leif Erikson, sailed westward from Greenland and reached Vinland – now known to be Newfoundland.

The saga also tells the dramatic tale of Freydís Eiríksdóttir, Erik’s daughter, whose bold and brutal exploits have cemented her place in Viking lore.

• Read more | Leif Erikson's voyage to Vinland

But while the Norse saw Greenland as their distant outpost, it was never really theirs to keep. By the 15th century, as the Viking Age had faded, Norse settlements on the island had vanished, swallowed by a challenging combination of climate change, isolation and shifting trade routes.

Denmark’s claim to Greenland

Greenland might have faded from European maps were it not for Hans Egede, a Danish-Norwegian missionary with an audacious vision. In 1711, Egede began a campaign to convince the crown to support his voyage to Greenland, ostensibly to convert any remaining Norse settlers (who he believed still inhabited the island, potentially reverting to Norse paganism) to Christianity.

Reaching Greenland in 1721 with a small group of ships, Egede instead found Inuit communities living in a world profoundly different from his own – and from what he’d anticipated. Despite this, Egede remained on Greenland, and in the absence of the Norse populations who he expected to find, he formed relationships with Greenlandic Inuit Kalaallit people.

This mission marked the beginning of Denmark’s modern claim to Greenland, and Egede established the island’s capital, Godthåb, now known as Nuuk, during his time on the island.

• Read more | What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

Following Egede’s expedition, the island subsequently became a site of Danish colonies and was folded into the Danish state out of a desire for expansion. Denmark was a small European power with waning influence, and was looking to bolster its status. Greenland, though inhospitable, was a means of achieving this.

For centuries, Danish control over Greenland was more symbolic than practical. The island’s largely inhospitable landscape seemed mostly irrelevant to global affairs, a distant land on the periphery that held little interest for Europe’s larger empires.

But this perception would change dramatically in the 20th century, when Greenland suddenly found itself situated at the centre of world affairs.

Why is Greenland so important to the United States?

The German occupation of Denmark in 1940 thrust Greenland into the spotlight: cut off from its colonial protector, Greenland now turned to the United States for protection. The Americans, eyeing Greenland’s strategic position in the North Atlantic, quickly established bases there to guard against Nazi incursions.

These were established on the west and east coasts to send aircraft to Europe, and to provide bases from which Allied forces could launch attacks on German submarines. This established the island as a base throughout the Battle of the Atlantic; the longest continuous military campaign in the war.

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Meanwhile, Greenland offered unique opportunities for gathering meteorological intelligence for weather forecasting as the Allies attempted to secure an advantage over the German military. Accordingly, in 1941, Greenlanders and Americans jointly established The Sledge Patrol which consisted of small and nimble teams of Greenlanders and sled dogs to find and destroy upstart German stations.

By the time the Second World War ended in 1945, Greenland’s place within global security was now strikingly clear.

When the Cold War soon began, the Arctic zones, once considered an afterthought, were now a theatre of vital strategic importance. Accordingly, the United States leased land from Denmark to once again take advantage of Greenland’s opportunities, and build Thule Air Base, a linchpin in its early-warning system against Soviet missile attacks.

• Read more | How Stanislav Petrov prevented Cold War Armageddon

To the American military, Greenland was no longer a frozen wasteland but a valuable chess piece in a global game of power. Its location, straddling North America and Europe, made it indispensable.

For the Inuit who lived near Thule, however, this sudden transformation came at a cost. Whole communities were displaced to make way for the base, their lives disrupted by decisions made thousands of miles away.

The Cold War may have ended, but Greenland’s potential within the game of geopolitics had only grown – and substantially.

Greenland today

Since then, melting ice has exposed vast reserves of oil, gas and rare earth minerals, sparking interest from international corporations and governments. New shipping routes, made possible by climate change, have put Greenland at the centre of Arctic trade, though Danish control over the island has waned.

After gaining home rule in 1979, and further enhanced autonomy in 2009, Greenland has charted a path toward self-determination, while retaining its position as a Danish territory.

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