Greenland Explore Greenland on a small ship cruise

History

The first people to inhabit Greenland was indigenous Inuit people from Arctic Canada, who crossed the then frozen Thule strait. No less than 6 different Inuit cultures have immigrated to Greenland from the west, over a period of several thousand years and the Greenlanders on the island today are descendants from the last Inuit immigration, the Thule people, in 9th centaury AD.

Around the same time, the first Norse settlers arrived in the southeast part of the island. Erik the Red, exiled for three years from Island sailed east and explored the southern parts of Greenland. Upon his return to Iceland, he called for settlers to join him in creating settlements on this new island, which he referred to as Greenland. The Norsemen settled on the island and lived in small settlements scattered on the south coast for a period of a few hundred years. Why the settlements of Norsemen vanished from Greenland is not fully known but theories from a change in climate to altercations with Inuit population and changed trading opportunities exists.

In the mid 1700 hundreds Danish-Norwegian rule claimed the territory and colonized the island. The island remained colonized under what later become the sole Danish crown, until 1953 when Greenland instead became a constituently of the Danish Kingdom. In 1979, Greenland home rule was established and in effect till 2009 when a Greenland self-government replaced the home rule government.

Although considered remote in world geography, Greenland also played an important strategic role during WW2, where several weather monitoring stations were established throughout the island and stations established where planes for the allied forces could refuel. Today, a large American airbase and radar monitoring station is still operational in Thule and remains of older stations are still visible around the island.

Glaciers & pack ice

There is no wonder the Greenlanders have over 50 different words for snow and ice. Contrary to what the name suggests, Greenland is by 84% permanently covered under ice, namely the Greenlandic Icesheet. This is the world’s second largest freshwater reservoir, locking in just under 10% of all the world’s fresh water. On the east coast, several rocky mountains- known locally as “Nunataks” protrude the icesheet which at its deepest reaches a thickness of over 3000 meters. All around the coast, the ice from the icecaps spills over in glaciers which drain the ice from the icecap into the ocean, in calving lose large pieces of ice, icebergs. It is widely accepted that the large iceberg which sank the Titanic calved from the Kangia glacier in Western Greenland, which also was the area in which the largest recorded calving in the world occurred in 2012, when an area equal in size to that of Manhattan, broke of the glacier.

As well as glacier ice, pack ice is prominent in the waters around Greenland in the winter and spring months. Down the east coast, large areas of the cost and fjord systems can be impenetrable due to sea from the Arctic Ocean, well into the early summer months.

Wildlife & nature

Greenland is home to seven species of terrestrial mammals, most notably polar bear, muskox and Arctic fox, as well as six species of seal which can be found around its costal regions. The waters are home to several species of whales, most commonly humpback, fin and minke whales.

The landscape is much varied between the three main regions of Greenland.

The east coast is jagged with dramatic mountains plunging steeply into narrow fjords, often filled with icebergs from calving glaciers. The area is remote with only a handful of small colorful settlements, home to Greenland’s highest peak of over 3000 meters, Mt Gunnbjörnfjeld, and the world’s largest national park, The Northeast Greenland National Park. The northeast is the main home to polar bears and muskox.

On the contrary, the western part of Greenland is considered relatively flat with enormous outlet glaciers which produce the largest icebergs in the northern hemisphere, home to several fishing settlements and Disko island, a volcanic island different to the rest of Greenland, outside of Ilulissat, the city of Icebergs.

The south of Greenland is home to much varied terrain with narrow fjords and jagged mountains but also to much Arctic shrub vegetation and wildflowers. This is a popular area for muskox and Arctic fox and it is also the area of Greenland with the most European historical sights, remains form the Norse Culture.

Birding in Greenland is not something to be taken for granted. Although an impressive list of 235 species is recorded, about two thirds of such have only been recorded once. Main species normally observed includes fours species of gulls, the northern fulmar, great shearwater and some species of geese.