| Capital: | Nuuk (15,000 inhabitants) |
Area: | 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km
ice-covered) (2000 est.) |
| Population: | 58,000, of which 52,000 are indigenous Greenlanders (‘kalaallit’)
and 6,000 Danes |
| Legal status: | Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Danish realm.
The Greenland Government is a public government. In contrast
to Denmark, Greenland is not a member of the European Union. |
| Government type: | Parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy. |
| Political system: | Greenland has its own parliament elected by all Danish citizens
that have lived for more than 6 months in the country. The
government, which rules on most internal matters, is appointed
by parliament. |
| International conventions: | Greenland is part of all international conventions ratified by
Denmark, including ILO Convention 169. |
| Language: | Greenlandic (‘kalaallisut’) is the national language and Danish is the
first foreign language. Both languages are taught in schools. Danish
and Greenlandic are both official languages. |
| Economy: | The per capita Gross Domestic Product is estimated at 143,647
DKK(2002). This is 61% of Danish GDP but higher than in Spain,
for example. Fishing is the main industry of the country and fishing
products represent 86 % of export value. Hunting of marine
mammals is important to the subsistence of the population. Mining
and tourism are second in importance. |
| Social affairs: | Greenland is a highly developed welfare society but suffers from a
large number of social problems. Life expectancy for men is 63
years and for women 69. |
| Health: | Greenland suffers to an increasing extent from the same health
problems as other welfare societies. Health-related social problems
such as alcohol abuse, suicides and violence are widespread. |
| Education: | All children attend school for at least 10 years. Tere are three
secondary schools in Greenland, a teacher training college, a
number of professional educational institutions and a small
university. There are a couple of thousand young Greenlanders
studying in Denmark and abroad. |
