Greenland

Context:

President-elect Donald Trump has reignited interest in Greenland, proposing it as a valuable strategic addition to the U.S. territory. While the idea may sound audacious, it has sparked discussions about the island’s value, strategic significance, and feasibility of such a purchase.

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, the largest of two within the Kingdom. It is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, and its citizens are European Union citizens. The capital is Nuuk, and it lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. Greenland is the world’s largest island, and the location of the northernmost point of land, Kaffeklubben Island off the northern coast.

Greenland is a significant geographical feature for a number of reasons, including its size, location, and natural resources:

• Size: 
  • Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering 2.175 million square kilometers. It is even larger than the combined areas of France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, and Belgium. 
• Location: 
  • Greenland is located between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, which makes it Geopolitically positioned between Europe, North America, and the Arctic zone. 
• Natural resources: 
  • Greenland has most probably potential oil, gas, and rare earth mineral reserves. Global warming is melting the ice, which has increased access to these resources. 
• Ice cap: 
  • Over 80% of Greenland is covered with a permanent ice cap that’s 4 kilometers thick in some places. 
  • The melting of this ice due to global warming has increased the possibility of new trade routes opening in the Arctic. 
• Coastline: 
  • Greenland’s coastline is jagged and made up of fjords and icebergs. 
• National park: 
  • Northeast Greenland National Park is the world’s largest national park. 

Greenland is an autonomous Danish dependent territory with having self-government and its own parliament. It is technically part of North America, but has been politically and culturally associated with Europe since the 9th century.