Greenland
Explore our expedition voyages to the Arctic region, all designed to engage your heart, mind, and spirit through the duration of the journey.
Dominating the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland is Earth's largest island. This vast land covers an impressive 2,175,600 km2. This is more than New Guinea, Borneo, and Madagascar (the next three largest islands) combined, more than three times the size of Texas, and more than four times the size of France! At the core of the country lies the Greenland Ice Sheet, the largest outside of Antarctica, containing approximately a tenth of all Earth's ice - around 6% of all fresh water on planet Earth - and covering an area the size of Libya. The Ice Sheet is so vast it influences climate and weather throughout the northern hemisphere.
Inhabited largely by Inuit people, Greenland is a country where ancient traditions still hold sway, and Mother Nature rules all human activity, as since time immemorial. Greenland has long cold snowy winters, and brief bright summers bathed in the midnight sun. Greenland holds huge diversity of scenery and ecology, from the lush green fjords and rolling pastures of the south, to the rugged hills and icebergs of Disko Bay, from the stark polar deserts of the north, to the deep rich fjords which line the coast.
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark. The country has its own parliament (Inatsisartut) and government (Naalakkersuisut) and creates its own laws, while also electing MPs to the Folketing in Copenhagen. Despite its extreme geography, today's Greenland is a thriving modern country rooted in deep traditions. Smartphones are taken on every seal hunt, ancient drum songs are woven into techno beats in Nuuk's downtown clubs, and whale blubber and other delicacies are served up with new Nordic flair. However you choose to experience Greenland, experience with us!
Area of Greenland
2,166,086 km²
Population of Greenland
56,609 people
Facts about Greenland
- Greenland has the lowest population density of any country globally, with just 0.03 people per square km (around 40km2 per person)! The second least densely populated (the Falkland Islands) has over ten times this density!
- There are many more boats than cars in Greenland - there are no roads between settlements, and the sea provides a better highway than the rugged landscape. There are only around 5,700 cars registered in Greenland - far outnumbered by fishing boats alone!
- Greenland is home to the world's largest National Park. Comprising the entire northeastern quarter of the island, the Northeast Greenland National Park measures 972,000 square kilometers - over twice the size of Sweden. The park is a haven for polar wildlife, from muskoxen to polar bears, narwhals to arctic wolves. There are no permanent human inhabitants, and the park is protected by the legendary Sirius Dog Sled Patrol - an elite branch of the Danish Navy.
- Greenland is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The first was the spectacular natural phenomenon of Ilulissat Icefjord, a product of the Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier - the world's largest and most productive glacier outside Antarctica. In South Greenland lies Kujataa, a cultural landscape where the Norse once farmed, now inhabited by Inuit farmers. Greenland's newest UNESCO World Heritage Site is Aasivissuit-Nipisat in Greenland's Arctic Circle region, encompassing a hunting landscape used for over 4,000 years.
- Arctic
- Greenland
Population of Greenland
Greenland has been inhabited for around 4,500 years by several waves of nomadic people, arriving from Arctic Canada. These Paleo-Inuit groups were not the ancestors of the modern Greenlanders, but unrelated groups who arrived and then disappeared - sometimes thousands of years later. Around the year 1000, the Norse arrived in Greenland from Iceland, led by legendary explorer Eric the Red, whose son Leif would go on to reach North America. The Norse named the land of green fjords they discovered 'Greenland' - a name which persists to this day.
Around the year 1300, a group of technologically advanced people raced into the north of Greenland from Canada, travelling on speedy dog sleds and swift boats: these were the Thule people, ancestors of the modern Kalaallit (Greenlandic) Inuit. There is limited evidence of trade between the Thule and Norse, although both groups of people lived very different lifestyles; the marine mammal hunters of the North had little in common with the farmers of the South. In the early 1400s, the Norse Greenlanders disappeared - whether they died as winters turned colder, fell to an epidemic or simply returned to Scandinavia remains one of history's great mysteries. What is known is that the Inuit remained alone on Greenland until the arrival of Danish missionary Hans Egede in 1721, re-establishing contact with Scandinavia.
The population in Greenland is around 56,000, of which around 19,000 live in the capital Nuuk. More than 90 % of the population live on the west coast, with a few settlements in the far north and east coasts. Around 90% of the population are Greenlandic Inuit, the rest being Danes and other nationalities.
The most widely spoken language in Greenland is Kalaallisut, an Inuit language closely related to those spoken in Canada and Alaska. In East and North Greenland, the Tunumiisut and Inuktun varieties are spoken - whether they consitute dialects of Greenlandic or separate languages entirely remains unclear. Many Greenlanders also speak Danish, but English is less widely understood; Greenlanders are always appreciative of any attempt to speak their languages, so try out a few words or phrases to enrich your visit!
Geography of Greenland
Greenland stretches nearly 2,700 km from the northernmost point of land on Earth (Kaffeklubben Island) to the south (Nunap Isua/Cape Farvel), and is approximately 1,000 km wide. Covering latitudes between 59°N-83°N, and latitudes between 11°E-74°E, Greenland dominates the Atlantic Arctic.
The highest mountain in the country is Gunnbjørns Fjeld on the east coast, at 3,733m. The ice sheet covers about 85 % of Greenland, and measures 3,500m at its thickest, meaning that the central part of Greenland's is below sea level. The total volume of the ice sheet is a whopping 2.7 million km3, which corresponds to about 7 % of the Earth's total freshwater resources.
Greenland's huge coastline is among the longest on Earth, and is indented with thousands of fjords, islands and skerries. A combination of the hard ancient bedrock of the island along with extensive glacial action over the island has created this maze-like coastline over the past 1.8 million years or so.
While mining and resource extraction do not currently constitute a large proportion of Greenland's economy, Greenland is known to hold huge quantities of rare earth metals such as uranium, platinum and cobalt, as well as iron, nickel, graphite and gold. The prohibitive cost of extraction in Greenland's harsh environment, as well as local environmental concerns currently limit resource exploitation.
Climate of Greenland
Greenland's climate is dominated by its northerly latitude. Unsurprisingly, the island's climate is dominated by the Greenland Ice Sheet, which moderates temperatures throughout the island. There are however vast differences depending on location.
Southern Greenland lies well below the Arctic circle, and the warming effects of the Gulf Stream moderate the climate, which is similar to that in Scandinavia or northern Scotland. Green fjords and lush pastures are common, and some areas are warm enough to grow hardy vegetables.
The western coast of Greenland has the largest areas of ice free land in the country. While the coasts are cool even in summer, rarely rising much about 10°C, temperatures inland in towns such as Kangerlussuaq can rise over 20°C. In winter, this is reversed, with the sea moderating the brutal Arctic winter, with temperatures rarely dropping below arond -20°C; inland however, the Ice Sheet reduces temperatures in towns such as Kangerlussuaq to -40°C or even colder. Summer days on the west coast however benefit from low humidity and long bright midnight sunlit days; in sunny windless areas, the temperature can feel very pleasantly warm!
North and East Greenland do not feel the warming effects of ice-free land or the Gulf Stream, and summer temperatures rarely rise much about 6°C. In winter, temperatures can be brutal, regularly plummetting to below -30°C, with extensive sea ice forming in these areas. Snowfall is highest on the east coast, where street lights are built a metre higher than the rest of the country to avoid being buried!
On the core of Greenland's Ice Sheet, the temperature is permanently subzero; the coldest temperature ever recorded in Greenland was on the core of the Ice Sheet, at a bone-chilling -69.6°C.
Tourism in Greenland
Tourism in Greenland is a growing industry. Infrastructure in the country remains the limiting factor - connections between settlements are only by air or sea, and the country has a relatively small capacity for overnight stays. Travelling by sea therefore remains by far the best way to travel - the same way the locals and their ancestors have since time immemorial. Visitors to Greenland primarly come to experience the country's spectacular unspoiled Arctic nature, as well as to experience Inuit culture - trips range from short stops on larger cruise vessels to smaller, more adventurous and exciting expedition cruise voyages, to months-long wilderness expeditions (such as crossing the Ice Sheet).
Kangerlussuaq is primarily a transport hub but its short distance to the ice sheet and its magnificent glacial landscapes, wildlife such as muskoxen, caribou, falcons and eagles, as well as opportunities for hunting and fishing make it an excellent place to explore.
For city folks, Greenland’s tiny capital Nuuk is a fun experience, despite its relatively small size, with excellent museums, shopping and local culture. Ilulissat however is Greenland’s undisputed tourist capital. Disko Bay is famed worldwide, and has received even more acclaim since Ilulissat Icefjord was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tourism in Northern and Eastern Greenland in regions such as Scoresby Sound, the Nares Strait/Thule and the Northeast Greenland National Park is limited to small expedition cruise ships such as Ocean Albatros, and to overland wilderness expeditions. The area is often inaccessible because of the sea ice drifting south from the Arctic Ocean. The best time of year to visit is from mid-August to late September.
Our Greenlandic Expeditions
Travel with us alongside the dramatic coastlines of Greenland. See small and colourful houses perched between the glassy fjords and the steep mountains, witness gigantic glaciers producing enormous icebergs, and watch whales and seals play in the sea as we follow the maritime highways of the Arctic.
Join us on an expedition cruise from Reykjavík to Kangerlussuaq, following the same maritime course set by Norse settlers over a thousand years ago.
Are you interested in visiting the world's most beautiful, wild, and pristine natural areas? Embark on a voyage from Svalbard to Iceland via the vast wilderness of East Greenland. Our for an experience combining staggering natural beauty and warm local culture, join or voyages through the icy waters of Disko Bay.
However you choose to experience Greenland, experience with us!