History of Greenland

The Inuit are believed to have crossed to northwest Greenland from North America, using the islands of the Canadian Arctic as stepping-stones, in a series of migrations that stretched from at least 2500 bce to the early 2nd millennium ce. Each wave of migration represented different Inuit cultures. Several distinct cultures are known, including those classified as Independence I (c. 2500–1800 bce), Saqqaq (c. 2300–900 bce), Independence II (c. 1200–700 bce), Dorset I (c. 600 bce–100 ce), and Dorset II (c. 700–1200). The most recent arrival was the Thule culture (c. 1100), from which the Inugsuk culture developed during the 12th and 13th centuries.

In 982 the Norwegian Erik the Red, who had been banished from Iceland for manslaughter, settled on the island today known as Greenland. Returning to Iceland about 985, he described the merits of the newly discovered land, which he called Greenland, and in 986 he organized an expedition to the island that resulted in the development of two main settlements: the East Settlement, near present-day Qaqortoq (Julianehåb), and the West Settlement, near present-day Nuuk (Godthåb). These settlements may have reached a population of 3,000–6,000 on about 280 farms, suggesting that temperatures at that time may have been as warm or warmer than they are today. Christianity arrived in the 11th century by way of Erik’s son Leif Eriksson, who had just returned from the recently Christianized Norway. A bishop’s seat was established in Greenland in 1126.

Beginning sometime in the 13th century, the Norse (Scandinavian) settlers began to interact with the expanding Inuit Thule culture that had appeared in northern Greenland about 1100. But in the 14th century the Norse settlements declined, perhaps as a result of a cooling in Greenland’s climate. In the 15th century they ceased to be inhabited.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Dutch and English whalers frequently traveled in the seas around Greenland, and occasionally they interacted with the local population. However, no further attempt at colonization was made until 1721, when Hans Egede, with the permission of the united kingdom of Denmark-Norway, founded a trading company and a Lutheran mission near present-day Nuuk, thus marking the real beginning of Greenland’s colonial era. In 1776 the Danish government assumed a full monopoly of trade with Greenland, and the Greenland coast was closed to foreign access; it was not reopened until 1950. During this period Denmark tried gradually to acclimatize the Greenlanders to the outside world without exposing them to the danger of economic exploitation.

Greenland fell under the protection of the United States during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II and was returned to Denmark in 1945. Following the war, Denmark responded to Greenlanders’ complaints over its administration of the island. The monopoly of the Royal Greenland Trading Company was abolished in 1951, and, after Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953, reforms were undertaken to improve the local economy, transportation systems, and the educational system. Denmark granted home rule to the island on May 1, 1979.

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At the start of the 21st century, there was growing support in Greenland for greater control of its foreign affairs. This arose partly in response to a 2004 agreement allowing the United States to upgrade its missile defense system at Thule Air Base. Inuit who had been forcibly removed from the area surrounding the base in the 1950s sued for the right to return, airing their grievances at the European Court of Human Rights. Some Greenlanders were wary of continued U.S. involvement because the United States had stored nuclear bombs on the island during the Cold War without Greenland’s knowledge, despite a Danish ban on such weapons; additionally, in 1968 a U.S. military aircraft carrying four hydrogen bombs had crashed near Thule.

There were calls for an independent Greenland, and parties campaigning for greater autonomy scored electoral victories in the first decade of the 21st century. In November 2008 more than 75 percent of Greenlanders who voted approved a nonbinding referendum calling for greater autonomy. The proposal, which was formulated by legislators in both Greenland and Denmark, had the tacit approval of the Danish government even before the referendum was held. It would increase the responsibilities of Greenland’s government in foreign affairs, immigration, and justice, among other areas, while also granting it the rights to the potentially lucrative hydrocarbon and mineral resources that have become increasingly accessible as a result of the island’s melting ice cap. It was widely believed that this potential revenue would free Greenland from its economic dependence on Denmark, which many saw as the final stumbling block to complete independence. Snap elections held in June 2009 saw Siumut removed from power for the first time since home rule was granted in 1979. The opposition Inuit Ataqatigiit captured more than 40 percent of the vote, and party leader Kuupik Kleist worked quickly to form a coalition government prior to the expansion of home rule later that month.

In elections in 2013 Siumut returned to power at the head of a coalition presided over by Greenland’s first female prime minister, Aleqa Hammond, whose government placed a moratorium on granting licences for oil exploration and began requiring royalty payments from foreign concerns before they began mining. (Kleist’s government had planned to allow foreign firms to defer payments until some startup costs could be recouped.) Hammond’s government also announced its willingness to allow the mining of some radioactive minerals, notably uranium, which had previously been prohibited.

In October 2014, with her government having narrowly escaped a vote of no confidence, Hammond temporarily stepped down amid accusations of having misused government funds and was replaced by Kim Kielsen. When the parliamentary opposition engineered a snap election at the end of November, Kielsen led Siumut to the polls, where it captured about 34 percent of the vote, compared with about 33 percent for the chief opposition party, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA). Both parties were awarded 11 of the 31 legislative seats, but Kielsen arranged a new governing coalition with two smaller partners, the Demokratiit party (four seats) and the Atassut Party (two seats).

In 2016 that ruling coalition splintered, and in October Kielsen reached out to the rival IA to form a new coalition government that also included the pro-independence Partii Naleraq. In the April 2018 parliamentary election, Siumut claimed about 27 percent of the vote and nine seats, whereas IA won more than 25 percent of the vote and eight seats. Because the two leading parties were too far apart on fishery-related issues, a partnership was out of the question at the time, and Kielsen headed up a new coalition government that again included Partii Naleraq (which tallied four seats) along with the Nunatta Qitorna and Atassut parties. Roughly four months later, in October, Partii Naleraq withdrew from the coalition over differences related to funding upgrades of Greenland’s airports. Rather than call for a snap election, Kielsen remained at the helm of a minority coalition government comprising Siumut, Nunatta Qitorna, and Atassut, which maintained power with the support of the Demokratiit party.

The central issue of the April 2021 parliamentary elections was the development of a rare-earths mine, which promised the creation of many jobs but posed a potential threat to the environment. Siumut supported the mine. IA opposed it, as did much of the electorate, which awarded IA a commanding 37 percent of the vote and 12 seats in the Inatsisartut, compared with about 30 percent of the vote and 10 seats for Siumut. IA leader Múte Bourup Egede became prime minister, the steward of IA-Naleraq majority coalition government that was supported by Atassut.