Greenland profile
Greenland is the world's largest island and an autonomous Danish dependent territory with self-government and its own parliament.
Though a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe - in particular the two colonial powers, Norway and Denmark - since the 9th Century.
Denmark contributes two-thirds of Greenland's budget revenue, the rest coming mainly from fishing. Potential oil, gas and rare earth mineral reserves have attracted prospecting firms.
Greenland enjoys perpetual daylight for two months each year. Over 80% of the island is covered by a permanent ice cap 4km thick in places. Global warming is causing this to melt but has also increased access to Greenland's mineral resources.
The US has long seen Greenland as strategically important and established a radar base at Thule at the start of the Cold War.
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Capital: Nuuk
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Area: 2,166,086 sq km
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Population: 56,000
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Languages: Greenlandic, also Danish and English
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Life expectancy: 71 years (men) 76 years (women)
Head of State: King Frederik X of Denmark
Prime Minister of Greenland: Mute Bourup Egede
Mr Egede took over in April 2021 after his left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit party won parliamentary elections on a platform of halting a rare metals mining project on environmental grounds.
Disagreement over the project led to the collapse of the previous government earlier in the year, paving the way for snap elections.
Broadcasting in Greenlandic and Danish is the main source of news and entertainment.
There are no daily newspapers. The major titles - a weekly and a bi-weekly - publish in Greenlandic and Danish.
Some key dates in Greenland's history:
982 - Greenland discovered by the Norwegian, Erik the Red, who calls his discovery "Greenland" to make it more attractive. In 986 he returns with settlers.
14th-15th Centuries - Norse settlements disappear, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age as temperatures fall significantly.
1721 - An expedition led by Danish-Norwegian missionary Hans Egede sees new Danish colonisation. A new settlement is established near present-day capital, Nuuk.
1940 - Denmark is occupied by Germany during World War Two.
1941-1945 - United States occupies Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany.
1950 - Denmark agrees to allow the US to regain the use of Thule Air Base which is greatly expanded between 1951 and 1953 as part of a Nato Cold War defence strategy.
1953 - Greenland becomes an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
1968 - A USAF B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashes near Thule. Decades later, a BBC report says that despite earlier US claims to the contrary, searchers were only able to locate three of the four hydrogen bombs, external.
1979 - Greenland attains home rule following a referendum.
1985 - Greenland leaves the European Economic Community (EEC) over disagreement with EEC commercial fishing regulations and an EEC ban on seal skin products.
1999 - Danish High Court rules that Inuit were illegally exiled from their land in northern Greenland in 1953 to expand US airbase at Thule but denies them right of return.
2008 - Greenlanders vote in referendum for more autonomy, greater control over energy resources and granting Kalaallisut or Western Greenlandic status of official language in place of Danish.
2010 - Greenland's ice sheet is shrinking faster and making a bigger contribution to rising sea levels, a study in the journal Science confirms.
2013 - Greenland ends the territory's 25-year ban on the mining of radioactive materials such as uranium, leading to a boom in mineral resource exports.
2021 - Greenland bans all new oil and gas exploration in its territory. Government officials say the environmental "price of oil extraction is too high".
Rain falls on the summit of Greenland's ice cap for the first time in recorded history, which scientists attribute to climate change
Trump Jr heads to Greenland after dad says US should own the territory
Donald Trump Jr is heading for Greenland, two weeks after his father repeated his desire for the US to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
The US president-elect's son said he was going as a tourist on a "very long, personal, day-trip", to talk to people, and had no meetings planned with government officials.
Ahead of his son's trip, Donald Trump revived a controversy he ignited last month when he said "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for US national security.
During his first term as president, Trump had expressed an interest in buying the Arctic island. He has been rebuffed by Greenland's leaders on both occasions.
"We are not for sale and we will not be for sale," the island's Prime Minister, Mute Bourup Egede, said in December. "Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland."
With a population of 57,000, Greenland has wide-ranging autonomy, but its economy is largely dependent on subsidies from Copenhagen and it remains part of the kingdom of Denmark.
Egede had been due to meet King Frederik in Copenhagen on Wednesday, but the meeting was postponed because of what the Greenland prime minister referred to as "calendar gymnastics".
The Danish government has said little about the president-elect's son's visit, pointing out that it was not an official trip.
"We have noted the planned visit of Donald Trump Jr to Greenland. As it is not an official American visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark has no further comment to the visit," the ministry told BBC News.
However, several opposition politicians have expressed concern.
Conservative MP Rasmus Jarlov posted on social media in English that "this level of disrespect from the coming US president towards very, very loyal allies and friends is record-setting".
President-elect Trump confirmed his son's trip on his Truth Social social media platform on Monday.
He said Don Jr and "various representatives" would travel to Greenland "to visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights".
Trump added that Greenland and its people "will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation".
"We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world," he said. "Make Greenland great again!"
Donald Trump Jr, 47, then confirmed his visit on his podcast, Triggered. "No, I am not buying Greenland," he said, explaining he loved Greenland and was flying there on his father's private jet, nicknamed Trump Force One.
The president-elect's post also included a video featuring an unnamed Greenlander- wearing a red Make America Great Again hat - telling Trump to buy Greenland and free it from "being colonised" by Denmark.
The identity of the man in the clip is unclear.
Greenland lies on the shortest route from North America to Europe, making it strategically important for the US. It is also home to a large American space facility.
The president-elect's eldest son played a key role during the 2024 US election campaign, frequently appearing at rallies and in the media.
Hours after President-elect Trump repeated his interest in buying Greenland last month, the Danish government announced a huge boost in defence spending for the island. Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the announcement's timing as an "irony of fate".
On Monday, King Frederik X changed the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature representations of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Some have seen this as a rebuke to Trump, but it could also prove controversial with Greenland's separatist movement.
King Frederik used his New Year's address to say the Kingdom of Denmark was united "all the way to Greenland", adding "we belong together".
But Greenland's prime minister used his own New Year's speech to push for independence from Denmark, saying the island must break free from "the shackles of colonialism".
Trump is not the first US president to suggest buying Greenland. The idea was first mooted by the country's 17th president, Andrew Johnson, during the 1860s.
Separately in recent weeks, Trump has threatened to reassert control over the Panama Canal, one of the world's most important waterways. He has accused Panama of charging excessive fees for access to it.
Panama's president responded by saying "every square metre" of the canal and surrounding area belonged to his country.
Trump Jr. set to visit Greenland after his father reiterates interest in the island
COPENHAGEN/WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Donald Trump Jr. is expected to visit Greenland on Tuesday, after his father, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, again expressed interest in gaining control over the vast Arctic island.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has signalled he would pursue a foreign policy unbound by diplomatic niceties, threatening to take control of the Panama Canal and stating last month that U.S. control of Greenland is an "absolute necessity."
The renewed interest in the Arctic island comes amid heightened tensions between Greenland and its former colonial ruler Denmark, prompted by revelations of misconduct by the latter and prompting calls for independence from Denmark by Greenland's prime minister.
Donald Trump Jr.'s impending visit is a private one, the island's permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Mininnguaq Kleist, told Reuters.
Trump said his son and various representatives were visiting Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, to see "some of the most magnificent areas and sights."
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump late on Monday praised the island and promised to "MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!"
"Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation," he wrote.
With its Pituffik air base, Greenland is strategically important for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.
Greenland's capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
No meetings were scheduled with representatives of the Greenlandic government for Donald Trump Jr.'s visit, which is a private one, Kleist told Reuters.
He was expected to land at around 1300 GMT and stay for about four to five hours, Kleist said, adding that the government had not been briefed on the program of the visit.
A source familiar with the trip told Reuters that Trump Jr. was planning to shoot video content for a podcast and that he would not meet with any government officials or political figures.
Greenland, which has a population of just 57,000, boasts mineral, oil and natural gas wealth. But development has been slow, leaving its economy reliant on fishing and annual subsidies from Denmark.
Its Prime Minister Mute Egede has repeatedly said the vast island is not for sale. But last week, Egede, in a New Year speech, stepped up a push for independence from Denmark, breaking it free from "the shackles of colonialism" to shape its own future, although he did not mention the United States.
"Greenland is open and those who wish to visit us are welcome," Greenland's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement late on Monday.
Denmark's Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Tuesday that he shared the view that Greenland was not for sale.
"(The visit) shows that Greenland and the Arctic will be on the international political agenda in a completely different way than we are used to," he said. "This is a natural consequence of the security situation in the Arctic."
Trump had earlier expressed interest in buying Greenland during his 2017-2021 term but was publicly rebuffed by Greenlandic and Danish authorities before any conversations could take place.
Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, said the idea of a U.S. takeover should be firmly rejected.
"I don't want to be a pawn in Trump's hot dreams of expanding his empire to include our country," she wrote.
Greenland's leader steps up push for independence from Denmark
COPENHAGEN, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede emphasised his desire to pursue independence from Denmark, its former colonial ruler, during his New Year speech, marking a significant change in the rhetoric surrounding the Arctic island's future.
Egede's speech, which comes on the heels of comments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expressing his wish for "ownership and control" of Greenland, also expressed a desire to strengthen Greenland's cooperation with other countries.
"It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be," he said.
An independence movement has gained traction in Greenland in recent years in part due to revelations of misconduct by Danish authorities during the 20th century, including an involuntary birth control campaign launched in the 1960s.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 but is now a self-governing territory of Denmark and in 2009 achieved the right to claim independence through a vote. In 2023, Greenland's government presented its first draft constitution.
"The history and current conditions have shown that our cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark has not succeeded in creating full equality," Egede said.
"It is now time for our country to take the next step. Like other countries in the world, we must work to remove the obstacles to cooperation – which we can describe as the shackles of colonialism – and move forward," he said.
He added that it was up to the people of Greenland to decide on independence but did not say when a vote could be held.
While a majority of Greenland's 57,000 inhabitants support independence, there is division over the timing and potential impact on living standards.
Greenland's government has twice rejected offers by Trump to purchase the island, in 2019 and again last year, with Egede asserting that "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale."
The speech did not mention Trump or the United States. Greenland's capital Nuuk is closer to New York than the Danish capital Copenhagen.
Despite the wealth of mineral, oil, and natural gas resources, Greenland's economy remains fragile, heavily dependent on fishing and annual grants from Denmark.
Greenland is due to hold parliamentary elections before April 6.
Trump Sr. called for US ownership of Greenland. Now Trump Jr.’s expected to visit
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to visit Greenland on Tuesday, just weeks after his father, US President-elect Donald Trump, ruffled feathers by reiterating his desire to obtain control over the autonomous Danish territory.
In a Truth Social post Monday, the president-elect confirmed his son would be traveling to the island along with “various representatives” to “visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights” and again expressed his interest in taking over the vast Arctic territory.
“I am hearing that the people of Greenland are ‘MAGA’,” he said in the post, referring to his slogan of “Make America Great Again.”
“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside world. Make Greenland Great Again!” he posted.
Earlier Monday, Denmark’s foreign ministry told CNN it had “noted” the trip but would not be commenting further as it was “not an official American visit.”
The ministry’s comment came after Reuters reported the island’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs Mininnguaq Kleist as saying the trip was a “private visit.” It also quoted a source as saying the trip was a one-day visit to shoot video footage for a podcast.
CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
The US president-elect last month made headlines when he resurfaced his desire to obtain the territory, calling it an “absolute necessity” for “purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world.”
He previously floated the idea of purchasing Greenland from Denmark in his first term as president, but the idea was shot down by the island’s government, which said at the time that it was “not for sale.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede responded to the US president-elect’s comments in December on Facebook, by reiterating that the island was “not for sale and will never be for sale,” while the office of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen – who called Trump’s first-term suggestion that Greenland could be purchased “absurd” – echoed Egede.
“As far as statements about Greenland, the Prime Minister’s Office has no comments other than reference to what was stated by the premier of Greenland about Greenland not being for sale, but open for cooperation,” the office added.
Trump is not the first American leader to have expressed an interest in controlling Greenland, which is home to Thule Air Base, the US military’s northernmost base, located about 750 miles above the Arctic Circle and built in 1951.
Though President Harry Truman dodged questions about his pursuit of control in the region, the United States allegedly tried to buy Greenland in 1946, and in 1867, Secretary of State William Seward showed interest in purchasing the island.
According to Reuters, Greenland’s prime minister stepped up a push for independence from Denmark in his recent new year’s speech, saying it should break free from “the shackles of colonialism.”
Egede did not, however, mention the United States.
Additional reporting by Steve Contorno, Katherine Sullivan, Pamela Brown, Jim Acosta and Caroline Kelly
