Polity · 1734 CE – present
Greenland
Kalaallit Nunaat · Grønland · Grønland
- Peak recorded area
- 2,219,820 km²
- 1936 CE
- Rulers on record
- 2
- from 1972 CE
- Data series
- 120
- 1800 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and is the largest of the kingdom's three constituent parts by land area, the others being Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenland are citizens of Denmark. They are thus citizens of the European Union (EU), although Greenland is not part of the EU. It is the world's largest island and lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
31 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population78 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 56.8Kpersons2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Life Expectancy76 obs · 1950 CE–2024 CE | 70.27years2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Net Migration76 obs · 1950 CE–2024 CE | -284count2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Life Expectancy Female75 obs · 1950 CE–2023 CE | 73.45years2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Life Expectancy Male75 obs · 1950 CE–2023 CE | 69.74years2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Age Dependency Ratio65 obs · 1960 CE–2024 CE | 46.22%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Economy
6 of 39 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP214 obs · 1800 CE–2013 CE | 26.7Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)2013 CE · Gapminder |
| Forest Rents % GDP51 obs · 1970 CE–2020 CE | 0%2020 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Mineral Rents % GDP51 obs · 1970 CE–2020 CE | 0%2020 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Natural Resource Rents % GDP51 obs · 1970 CE–2020 CE | 0%2020 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Total Natural Resource Rents % GDP51 obs · 1970 CE–2020 CE | 0%2020 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Energy per capita44 obs · 1980 CE–2023 CE | 47KkWh2023 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
Territory & resources
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production117 obs · 1900 CE–2016 CE | 0TWh2016 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.5923%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 243.1Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Country Area63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 41Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Land Area63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 41Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Permanent Meadows Pastures63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 243.1Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Control Of Corruption Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 1.03index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Government Effectiveness Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 0.7639index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Political Stability Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 1.5index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Regulatory Quality Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 1.21index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Rule Of Law Wb Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 1.68index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Voice Accountability Index15 obs · 2009 CE–2023 CE | 1.27index2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Development
6 of 13 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Mobile Subscriptions Per 10050 obs · 1960 CE–2022 CE | 118.64per_1002022 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access Rural %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Electricity Access Urban %34 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 100%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Basic Water Access %25 obs · 2000 CE–2024 CE | 100%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Internet Users %25 obs · 1990 CE–2017 CE | 69.48% of population2017 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Rulers
2 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Margrethe II of DenmarkHead of State1972 CE – 2024 CE
- Jonathan MotzfeldtHead of Government1979 CE – 1991 CE
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
- Government type
- parliamentary democracy (Parliament of Greenland or Inatsisartut)
- Executive branch
- chief of state: King FREDERIK X of Denmark (since 14 January 2024), represented by High Commissioner Julie Praest WILCHE (since May 2022) (2024); head of government: Prime Minister Jens-Frederik NIELSEN (since 28 March 2025); cabinet: Self-rule Government (Naalakkersuisut) elected by the Parliament (Inatsisartut);
- Ethnic groups
- Greenlandic 88.1%, Danish 7.1%, Filipino 1.6%, other Nordic peoples 0.9%, and other 2.3% (2024 est.)
- Natural resources
- coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds, gold, platinum, niobium, tantalite, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas
- Economy
- high-income, self-governing Danish territorial economy; non-EU member but preferential market access; dependent on Danish financial support; exports led by fishing industry; growing tourism and interest in untapped mineral deposits; relies on hydropower for fuel
Language & currency
- Currency
- Danish kroner (DKK)
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CIA World Factbook 2024
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Greenland is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.