Greenland

Inuit, Norse and Danes

Peoples crossed to Greenland from North America in waves from at least 2500 BCE. The most recent were the Inuit of the Thule culture, around 1100.^[4] Today most Greenlanders are Inuit, and they call their land Kalaallit Nunaat, “Country of the Greenlanders”.^[1]

In 982 Erik the Red, banished from Iceland, settled on the island and called it Greenland. The Norse settlements he founded declined in the 14th century and were empty by the 15th.^[4]

In 1721 Hans Egede, with the permission of Denmark–Norway, founded a trading company and a Lutheran mission near present-day Nuuk, the real start of the colonial era. From 1776 Denmark held a full monopoly of trade, and the coast stayed closed to foreigners until 1950. The United States protected Greenland while Germany occupied Denmark in the Second World War, and handed it back in 1945.^[4]

From colony to self-government

In 1953 Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and reforms followed. Denmark granted it home rule on 1 May 1979.^[4] In a referendum on 25 November 2008, 75.5% of voters backed more self-government.^[2]

The Act on Greenland Self-Government came into force on 21 June 2009, replacing home rule. Its preamble recognises the people of Greenland as a people with the right of self-determination under international law.^[3][2] Greenland’s parliament, Inatsisartut, and government, Naalakkersuisut, can take over areas such as the police, courts, mineral resources and border control. Denmark keeps the constitution, nationality, the Supreme Court, foreign, defence and security policy, and monetary policy.^[2] Greenland elects two members of the Danish parliament.^[2]

A legal path to independence

Chapter 8 of the Act sets out how Greenland could leave. If Greenlanders decide on independence, the Danish and Greenlandic governments negotiate an agreement, which needs the consent of both parliaments and a referendum in Greenland.^[3] Support for greater autonomy grew partly in hope that mineral and oil revenue could end Greenland’s economic dependence on Denmark.^[4]

“Decision regarding Greenland’s independence shall be taken by the people of Greenland.”^[3]

The United States and the crisis of 2025–26

The United States has a base in the far northwest, Thule Air Base, now Pituffik Space Base. Inuit who were forcibly moved from around it in the 1950s later sued for the right to return.^[4]

Donald Trump first floated buying Greenland in his first term. On 7 January 2025 he said the United States could use military force to take it. Denmark’s prime minister said Greenland was not for sale, and Greenland’s said it belonged to Greenlanders. The March 2025 election was won by the Democratic party, whose leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen formed a broad coalition to resist the pressure.^[4]

In January 2026 the leaders of seven European countries declared that it was for Denmark and Greenland alone to decide their future, and several European countries sent small forces to the island. Trump threatened tariffs on countries that opposed him, then, on 21 January, seemed to rule out force and agreed the concept of a deal with NATO’s secretary general.^[4]

On 22 September 2026 Trump and the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland signed an agreement at the United Nations. It lets the United States expand Pituffik and set up defence areas at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, and recognises Greenlanders’ right to self-determination. It takes effect once Denmark’s and Greenland’s parliamentary processes are complete.^[5]