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History of Greenland

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   Hunting and whaling have always been important ways to make a living on
   Greenland. One of the exotic animals found here is the polar bear,
   which is also in the coat of arms of the Danish monarch.
   Enlarge
   Hunting and whaling have always been important ways to make a living on
   Greenland. One of the exotic animals found here is the polar bear,
   which is also in the coat of arms of the Danish monarch.

   The history of Greenland, the world's largest island, is the history of
   life under extreme Arctic conditions: an ice-cap covers about 84
   percent of the island, largely restricting human activity to the
   coasts. Greenland was unknown to Europeans until the 10th century, when
   it was discovered by Icelandic Vikings. Before this discovery, it had
   been inhabited for a long time by Arctic peoples, although it was
   apparently unpopulated at the time when the Vikings arrived; the direct
   ancestors of the modern Inuit Greenlanders did not arrive until around
   1200 from the northwest. The Viking settlements along the south-west
   coast eventually disappeared after about 450 years. The Inuit survived
   and developed a society to fit the increasingly forbidding climate (see
   Little Ice Age) and were the only people to inhabit the island for
   several hundred years. Denmark-Norway nonetheless claimed the
   territory, and after several centuries of no contact between the Viking
   Greenlanders and the Scandinavian motherland it was feared that they
   had lapsed back into paganism, so a missionary expedition was sent out
   to reinstate Christianity in 1721. However, since none of the lost
   Viking Greenlanders were found, Denmark-Norway instead proceeded to
   baptize the local Inuit Greenlanders and develop trading colonies along
   the coast as part of its aspirations as a colonial power. Colonial
   privileges were retained, such as trade monopoly.

   During World War II, Greenland became effectively detached, socially
   and economically, from Denmark and more connected to the United States
   and Canada. After the war, control was returned to Denmark, and, in
   1953, the colonial status was transformed into that of an overseas Amt
   (county). Although Greenland is still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark,
   it has enjoyed home rule since 1979. In 1985, the island became the
   only territory to leave the European Union, which it had joined as a
   part of Denmark in 1973.

Early Palaeo-Eskimo cultures

   The prehistory of Greenland is a story of repeated waves of
   Palaeo-Eskimo immigration from the islands north of the North American
   mainland. As one of the furthest outposts of these cultures, life was
   constantly on the edge and cultures have come and then died out during
   the centuries. Of the period before the Scandinavian exploration of
   Greenland, archaeology can give only approximate times:
     * The Saqqaq culture: 2500–800 BC (southern Greenland).
     * The Independence I culture: 2400–1300 BC (northern Greenland)
     * The Independence II culture:800–1 BC (far northern Greenland).
     * The Early Dorset or Dorset I culture: 700 BC–AD 200 (southern
       Greenland).

   There is general consensus that, after the collapse of the Early Dorset
   culture, the island remained unpopulated for several centuries.

Norse settlement

   Islands off Greenland were sighted by Gunnbjörn Ulfsson when he was
   blown off course while sailing from Norway to Iceland, probably in the
   early 10th century. During the 980s, Icelandic Vikings made the first
   European discoveries of mainland Greenland and, finding the land
   unpopulated, settled on the southwest coast. The name Greenland
   (Grønland) has its roots in this colonization and is widely attributed
   to Erik the Red (the Inuit call it Kalaallit Nunaat, "Our Land"), and
   there has been speculation on its meaning. Some have argued that the
   coasts in question were literally green at the time due to the medieval
   climate optimum, in as much as the Viking settlers practised some form
   of an agrarian economy. Others have suspected that the name was in part
   a promotional effort to lure people into settling there by making it
   sound more attractive. The condition of Greenland in the 10th century
   may have been more hospitable than today.

   Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for a period of three years due to
   a murder and sailed to Greenland, exploring the coastline and claiming
   certain land as his own. He then returned to Iceland to bring people to
   settle on Greenland. The date of establishment of the colony is said in
   the Norse sagas to have been 985 when 25 ships left with Erik the Red
   (only 14 arrived safely in Greenland). This date has been approximately
   confirmed by radiocarbon dating of some remains at the first settlement
   at Brattahlid (now Qassiarsuk), which yielded a date of about 1000.
   According to legend, it was also in the year 1000 that Eric's son, Leif
   Ericson, left the settlement to discover Vinland (generally assumed to
   be located in Newfoundland.)

   This colony reached a size of 3,000 to 5,000 people, initially in two
   settlements – the larger Eastern Settlement and the Western Settlement
   (of a peak size of about 1,000 people.) At least 400 farms are known.
   This was a significant colony (the population of modern Greenland is
   only 56,000) and it carried on trade in ivory from walrus tusks with
   Europe as well as exporting rope, sheep, seals and cattle hides
   according to one 13th century account. Stockfish (dried cod) trade is
   also possible. The colony depended on Europe (Iceland and Norway) for
   iron tools, wood (especially for boatbuilding), supplemental foods, and
   religious and social contacts. Trade ships from Iceland traveled to
   Greenland every year and would sometimes overwinter in Greenland.
   The last written records of the Greenlandic Vikings are from a 1408
   marriage in the church of Hvalsey – today the most well-preserved of
   the Norse ruins.
   Enlarge
   The last written records of the Greenlandic Vikings are from a 1408
   marriage in the church of Hvalsey – today the most well-preserved of
   the Norse ruins.

   In 1126, a diocese was founded at Garðar (now Igaliku). It was subject
   to the Norwegian archdiocese of Nidaros (now Trondheim); at least five
   churches in Viking Greenland are known from archeological remains. In
   1261, the population accepted the overlordship of the Norwegian King as
   well, although it continued to have its own law. In 1380 this kingdom
   entered into a personal union with the Kingdom of Denmark. After
   initially thriving, the Scandinavian settlements declined in the 14th
   century. The Western Settlement was abandoned around 1350. In 1378,
   there was no longer a bishop at Garðar. After 1408, when a marriage was
   recorded, no written records mention the settlers. It is probable that
   the Eastern Settlement was defunct by the late 15th century although no
   exact date has been established.

The Demise of the Greenland Norse settlements

   There are many theories to why the Norse settlements collapsed in
   Greenland. Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to
   Fail or Succeed, suggests that five factors contributed to the demise
   of the Greenland colony: environmental damage, climate change, hostile
   neighbors, loss of contact, and failure to adapt. Inquiry into these
   factors has led to numerous studies and new discoveries. The Frozen
   Echo by Kirsten Seaver contests some of the more generally-accepted
   claims about the demise of the Greenland colony. For example, Seaver
   surmises that the Greenland colony was healthier than commonly thought
   and that the Greenlanders didn't simply starve to death. Rather, they
   may have been wiped out by native or unrecorded European attack, or
   they abandoned the colony either to return to Iceland or to seek out
   Vinland. These theories conflict with the physical evidence found at
   farm sites, however. The lack of personal belongings at these sites
   suggests that the Vikings simply packed up their belongings and left.

   Environmental damage is one of the theories due to the inhospitable
   terrain. Greenland was colder than Iceland and Norway. The cold West
   Greenland current that flowed down from the Arctic produced long
   winters; however, the weather changed yearly. The only vegetation
   present were sedges and, on rare occasions, dwarf shrubs.
   Palynologists' tests on pollen counts and fossilized plants prove that
   the Greenlanders struggled with both soil erosion and deforestation.
   Since the land was agriculturally inept, the Greenlanders resorted to
   pastoralism and hunting for food.

   To investigate the possibility of climatic cooling, scientists drilled
   into the Greenland ice caps to obtain core samples. The oxygen isotopes
   from the ice caps suggested that the Medieval Warm Period had caused a
   relatively milder climate in Greenland, which lasted roughly between
   800 and 1200. However, in 1300, the climate began to gradually cool and
   eventually the so called "Little Ice Age" reached intense levels in
   Greenland by 1420. Archeological excavations of garbage heaps from the
   earliest Viking farms in Greenland and Iceland show more bones of sheep
   and goats than those of cows and pigs. Since the winters continued to
   cool, there were hardly any planting opportunities for Greenlanders to
   grow hay. By the mid-fourteenth century deposits from a chieftain’s
   farm showed a large number of cattle and caribou remains, whereas, a
   poorer farm only several kilometers away had no trace of domestic
   animal remains, only seal. Bone samples from Greenland Norse cemeteries
   confirm that the typical Greenlander diet had increased from 20%
   migratory animals to 80%.

   Although Iceland was completely uninhabited prior to being settled by
   the Norse, the Norse in Greenland had to deal with the Inuit. The Inuit
   were the successors of the Dorset who migrated south and finally came
   into contact with the Norse a little after 1150. There are limited
   sources showing the two cultures collaborating; however, scholars know
   that the Norse referred to the Inuit (and Vinland natives) as skraeling
   meaning "wretches" in Old Norse. The Icelandic Annals are one of the
   few existing sources that confirm contact between the Norse and the
   Inuit. They report a hostile encounter initiated by the Inuit against
   the Norse, which left eighteen Greenlanders dead and two boys captured
   into slavery. Historians have learned a great deal about the Inuit from
   the Eskimo folktales. Archeological evidence indicates that the Inuit
   traded with the Norse because of the many Norse artifacts found at
   Inuit sites; however, the Norse did not seem to show as much interest
   in the Inuit because no evidence of Inuit artifacts were found in any
   of the two Norse settlements.

   The Norse did not learn the Inuit techniques of kayak navigation or
   ring seal hunting. Archeological evidence also proves that in 1300 the
   Inuit had expanded their winter settlements as close as the outer
   fjords of the Western Settlement. By 1325, the Norse had completely
   deserted the Western Settlement.

   In mild weather conditions, a ship could make the 200-mile trip from
   Iceland to Greenland within a couple of weeks. Greenlanders had to keep
   in contact with Iceland and Norway in order to trade. Greenlanders
   could not make their own ships, depending on Icelandic merchants or
   logging expeditions to Vinland. The sagas mention Icelanders traveling
   to Greenland to trade, but chieftains and large farm owners had control
   over trade. The chieftains would trade with the foreign ships and then
   disperse the goods by trading with the surrounding farmers.
   Greenlander’s main commodity was the walrus tusk, which was used
   primarily in Europe as a substitute of elephant ivory for art décor,
   whose trade had been blocked by conflict with the Islamic world. Many
   scholars believe that the royal Norwegian monopoly on shipping
   contributed to the end of trade and contact. However, Christianity and
   Europeanization in the greater part of the fourteenth and fifteenth
   century still heavily influenced the Greenlanders. In 1921, a Danish
   historian, Paul Norland, found human remains from the Eastern
   Settlement in a church courtyard. The bodies were dressed in fifteenth
   century medieval clothing with no indications of malnutrition or
   genetic deterioration. Most had crucifixes around their necks with
   their arms crossed as in a stance of prayer. It is known from Roman
   papal records that the Greenlanders were excused from paying their
   tithes in 1345 because the colony was suffering from poverty. The last
   ship to reach Greenland was an Icelandic ship that was blown off course
   at the first decade of the fifteenth century. The crew of the ship
   never came into contact with any Norse Greenlanders. Other theories
   suggest contact with Europe caused the Greenland Norse’s population to
   decline due to the Black Death, but there is no concrete evidence to
   prove this possible.

   Finally, the last of the five factors suggests that the Norse simply
   could not adapt to Greenland. Evidence from the sagas indicates that
   some of the Norse left Greenland in search of a place called Vinland,
   but when hostile natives injured several of those Norse they returned
   to Greenland. In the end, the colony was still able to survive for some
   450 years. The archeological studies prove the Norse did make an
   effortful attempt to adapt, for some Norse did dramatically change
   their lifestyles. Most likely the disappearance of the Greenland Norse
   was not caused by one single factor. An intriguing factor was the lack
   of fish remains among their garbage. Icelanders, Inuit and modern
   Greenlanders consume lots of fish, but something caused rejection from
   the settlers. Jared Diamond speculates that some early authority
   suffered food poisoning and, since Greenlanders were not ready to take
   risky chances in such an unforgiving environment, the taboo was
   transmitted along centuries.

Late Dorset and Thule cultures

   The Thule were skilled whalers, as depicted here by Norwegian
   missionary Hans Egede in the 18th century.
   Enlarge
   The Thule were skilled whalers, as depicted here by Norwegian
   missionary Hans Egede in the 18th century.

   The Norse may not have been alone on the island when they arrived; a
   new influx of Arctic people from the west, the Late Dorset culture, may
   predate them. However, this culture was limited to the extreme
   northwest of Greenland, far from the Vikings who lived around the
   southern coasts. Some archaeological evidence may point to this culture
   slightly predating the Icelandic settlement. It disappeared around
   1300, around the same time as the western of the Norse settlements
   disappeared. In the region of this culture, there is archaeological
   evidence of gathering sites for around four to thirty families, living
   together for a short time during their movement cycle.

   Around 1200, another Arctic culture – the Thule – arrived from the
   west, having emerged 200 years earlier in Alaska. They settled south of
   the Late Dorset culture and ranged over vast areas of Greenland's west
   and east coasts. This people, the ancestors of the modern Inuit, were
   flexible and engaged in hunting of almost all animals on land or in the
   ocean. Increasingly settled, they had large food storages to avoid
   winter famine. The early Thule avoided the highest latitudes, which
   only became populated again after fresh immigration from Canada in the
   19th century.

   The nature of the contacts between the Thule, Dorset and Norse cultures
   are not clear, but may have included trade elements. The level of
   contact is currently the subject of widespread debate, possibly
   including Viking trade with Thule or Dorsets in Canada or possible
   scavenging of abandoned Norse sites (see also Maine penny). No Viking
   trade goods are known in Dorset archaeological sites in Greenland; the
   only Norse items found have been characterized as "exotic items."
   Carved screw threads on tools and carvings with beards show contact
   with the Norse. Some stories tell of armed conflicts between, and
   kidnappings by, both Inuit and Norse groups. The Inuit may have reduced
   Norse food sources by displacing them on hunting grounds along the
   central west coast. These conflicts can be one contributing factor to
   the disappearance of the Norse culture as well as the Late Dorset, but
   few see it as the main reason. Whatever the cause of that mysterious
   event, the Thule culture handled it better, not becoming extinct.

Danish colonization

   In 1536, Denmark and Norway were officially merged. Greenland came to
   be seen as a Danish dependency rather than a Norwegian one. Even with
   the contact broken, the Danish King continued to claim lordship over
   the island. In the 1660s, this was marked by the inclusion of a polar
   bear in the Danish coat of arms. In the 17th century whaling brought
   English, Dutch and German ships to Greenland where the whales were
   sometimes processed ashore but no permanent settlement was made. In
   1721 a joint merchant-clerical expedition led by Norwegian missionary
   Hans Egede was sent to Greenland, not knowing whether the civilization
   remained there, and worried that if it did, they might still be
   Catholics 200 years after the Reformation, or, worse yet, have
   abandoned Christianity altogether. The expedition can also be seen as
   part of the Danish colonization of the Americas. Gradually, Greenland
   became opened for Danish trading companies, and closed for those from
   other countries. This new colony was centered at Godthåb ("Good Hope")
   on the southwest coast. Some of the Inuit that lived close to the trade
   stations were converted to Christianity.

   When Norway was separated from Denmark in 1814, after the Napoleonic
   Wars, the colonies, including Greenland, remained Danish. The 19th
   century saw increased interest in the region on the part of polar
   explorers and scientists like William Scoresby and Knud Rasmussen. At
   the same time, the colonial element of the earlier trade-oriented
   Danish civilization on Greenland grew. Missionary activities were
   largely successful. In 1861, the first Greenlandic language journal was
   founded. Danish law still applied only to the Danish settlers, though.

   At the turn of the 19th century, the northern part of Greenland was
   still close to unpopulated; only scattered shelters attributed to
   hunting parties were found there. During that century however, new
   Inuit families immigrated from Canada to settle in these areas. The
   last group from Canada arrived in 1864. During the same time, the
   eastern part of the island became depopulated as economic conditions
   worsened.

   Democratic elections for the district assemblies of Greenland were held
   for the first time in 1862–1863, although no assembly for the land as a
   whole was allowed. In 1911, two Landstings were introduced, one for
   northern Greenland and one for southern Greenland, not to be finally
   merged until 1951. All this time, most decisions were made in
   Copenhagen, where the Greenlanders had no representation.

   Towards the end of the 19th century, the Danish trade monopoly was
   criticized by traders. It was argued that it kept the natives in
   non-profitable ways of life, holding back the potentially large fishing
   industry. Many Greenlanders however were quite satisfied with the
   status quo, as they felt the monopoly would secure the future of
   commercial whaling. Nonetheless, the Danes gradually moved over their
   investments to the fishing industry.

Strategic importance

   After Norway regained full independence in 1905, it refused to accept
   Denmark's sovereignty over Greenland, which was a former Norwegian
   possession severed from Norway proper in 1814. In 1931, Norwegian
   whaler Hallvard Devold occupied uninhabited eastern Greenland, on his
   own initiative. After the fact, the occupation was supported by the
   Norwegian government. Two years later, the Permanent Court of
   International Justice ruled in favour of the Danish view, which was
   then accepted by Norway.
   The Thule Air Base, established after World War II, is the northernmost
   base of the US Air Force.
   Enlarge
   The Thule Air Base, established after World War II, is the northernmost
   base of the US Air Force.

   During World War II, when Germany extended its war operations to
   Greenland, Henrik Kauffmann, the Danish Minister to the United States –
   who had already refused to recognize the German occupation of Denmark –
   signed a treaty with the United States on April 9, 1941, granting the
   US Armed Forces permission to establish stations in Greenland. Because
   of the difficulties for the Danish government to govern the island
   during the war, and because of successful export, especially of
   cryolite, Greenland came to enjoy a rather independent status. Its
   supplies were guaranteed by the United States and Canada.

   During the Cold War, Greenland had a strategic importance, controlling
   parts of the passage between the Soviet Arctic harbours and the
   Atlantic, as well as being a good base for observing any use of
   intercontinental ballistic missiles, typically planned to pass over the
   Arctic. The United States were interested in this position, and, in
   1951, the Kauffman treaty was replaced by another one. The Thule Air
   Base at Thule (now Qaanaaq) in the northwest was made a permanent air
   force base. In 1953, some Inuit families were forced by Denmark to move
   from their homes to provide space for extension of the base. For this
   reason, the base has been a source of frictions between the Danish
   government and the Greenlandic people. These frictions only grew when
   on January 21, 1968 there was a nuclear accident – a B-52
   Stratofortress carrying four hydrogen bombs crashed near the base,
   leaking large amounts of plutonium over the ice. Although most of the
   plutonium was retrieved, natives still tell about resulting
   deformations in animals.

Home rule

   The colonial status of Greenland was lifted in 1953, when it became an
   integral part of the Danish kingdom, with representation in the
   Folketing. Denmark also began a programme of providing medical service
   and education to the Greenlanders. For this purpose, the population
   became more and more concentrated to the towns. Since most of the
   inhabitants were fishers and had a hard time finding work in the towns,
   these population movements may have contributed to unemployment and
   other social problems that have been troubling Greenland lately.

   As Denmark engaged in the European cooperation later to become the
   European Union, friction with the former colony grew. Greenlanders felt
   the European customs union would be harmful to their trade, which was
   largely carried out with non-European countries such as the United
   States and Canada. After Denmark, including Greenland, joined the union
   in 1973 (despite the Greenlanders having voted 70.3% no in the
   referendum), many inhabitants thought that representation in Copenhagen
   was not enough, and local parties began pleading for self-government.
   The Folketing granted this in 1978, the home rule law coming into
   effect the following year. On February 23, 1982, a 53% majority of
   Greenland's population voted to leave the European Community, which it
   did in 1985, the only entity to have done so.

   Self-governing Greenland has portrayed itself as an Inuit nation.
   Danish placenames have been replaced. The centre of the Danish
   civilization on the island, Godthåb, has become Nuuk, the capital of a
   close-to-sovereign country. In 1985, a Greenlandic flag was
   established, using the colours of the Danish Dannebrog. However, the
   movement for complete sovereignty is still weak.

   International relations, a field earlier handled by Denmark, are now
   left largely, but not entirely, to the discretion of the home rule
   government. After leaving the EU, Greenland has signed a special treaty
   with the Union, as well as entering several smaller organizations, not
   least with Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and with the Inuit
   populations of Canada and Russia. It was also one of the founders of
   the environmental Arctic Council cooperation in 1996. Renegotiation of
   the 1951 treaty between Denmark and the United States, with a direct
   participation of self-governing Greenland, is an issue, and the
   1999–2003 Commission on Self-Governance suggested that Greenland should
   then aim at the Thule Air Base eventually becoming an international
   surveillance and satellite tracking station, subject to the United
   Nations.

   Modern technology has made Greenland more accessible, not least due to
   the breakthrough of aviation. However, the capital Nuuk still lacks an
   international airport (see transportation in Greenland). Television
   broadcasts began in 1982.

                  Danish overseas colonies and territories
                           Former Danish colonies
    Danish Gold Coast (Danish Guinea) | Danish India (capital Dansborg at
   Tranquebar, Balasore in Orissa, Frederiksnagore at Serampore in Bengal,
      Dannemarksnagore at Gondalpara, Calicut, Oddeway Torre on Malabar
   coast; annex Frederiksøerne: the Nicobar islands) | Danish West Indies
                            (U.S. Virgin Islands)
       See also: Danish East India Company | Danish West India Company
    Current overseas territories of Denmark: | Faroe Islands | Greenland

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