What is "greenland"

Greenland \Greenland\ prop. n. An island situated between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, the largest island in the world; it is a Danish territory.

Old Norse Groenland, so named by its discoverer (986 C.E.) because "it would induce settlers to go there, if the land had a good name":\n\nHann gaf nafn landinu ok kallaði Groenland, ok kvað menn þat myndu fysa þangat farar, at landit ætti nafn gott.

[Islendingabok, 1122-1133]

Greenland ( ; ) is an autonomous country within the Danish Realm, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium. In 2008, the people of Greenland passed a referendum supporting greater autonomy; 75% of votes cast were in favour. Greenland is the world's largest island, although it is smaller than Australia, which is considered a continent. Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480 (2013), it is the least densely populated country in the world.

Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada. Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, and Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century. Soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador in Canada). In the early 18th century, Scandinavia and Greenland came back into contact with each other, and Denmark-Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island.

Denmark–Norway claimed Greenland for centuries. Greenland was settled by Norwegians over a thousand years ago, who had previously settled Iceland to escape persecution from the King of Norway and his central government. It was from Greenland and Iceland that Norwegians would set sail to discover America for Europeans almost 500 years before Columbus and attempt to colonize land. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262. The Kingdom of Norway was extensive and a military power until the mid-14th century. Norway was dramatically hit with a larger death toll than Denmark by the Black Death, forcing Norway to accept a union in which the central government, university and other fundamental institutions were located in Copenhagen. Thus, the two kingdoms' resources were directed at creating Copenhagen, resulting in Norway becoming the weaker part and losing sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 in the dissolution of the union. Greenland thus became a Danish colony in 1814, and a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark.

In 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC (later expanded into the EU), which was effected in 1985. In 1979, Denmark had granted home rule to Greenland, and in 2008, Greenlanders voted in favour of the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish royal government to the local Greenlandic government. Under the new structure, in effect since 21 June 2009, Greenland can gradually assume responsibility for policing, judicial system, company law, accounting, and auditing; mineral resource activities; aviation; law of legal capacity, family law and succession law; aliens and border controls; the working environment; and financial regulation and supervision, while the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs and defence. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, planned to diminish gradually over time as Greenland's economy is strengthened by increased income from the extraction of natural resources.

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark and an island part of the North American continent.

Greenland may also refer to:

Greenland is Cracker's seventh studio album. The first single was "Something You Ain't Got." According to EntertainmentOne, the album has sold 14,451 copies as of 2008.

Greenland is a 1988 play by Howard Brenton. It is a neo- Brechtian epic psychodrama with many actors, props and scene changes, on which the writer worked for seven years. It is the last of Brenton's three Utopian plays, following Sore Throats and Bloody Poetry.

The play opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 26 May 1988 and played there for a season. Its United States premiere was at the Famous Door Theater in Chicago in January 1994.

Prior to its secession from the European Community in 1985, Greenland was a constituency of the European Parliament for European elections.

Greenland is a play by the British playwrights Moira Buffini, Penelope Skinner, Matt Charman and Jack Thorne on global warming and its effects, named after the island of Greenland. It premiered at the Lyttelton auditorium of the Royal National Theatre in London from 27 January to 2 April 2011, directed by Bijan Sheibani and with a cast including Lyndsey Marshal.

Greenland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Colin Greenland (born 1954), English writer
• Sander Greenland (born 1951), American statistician and epedemiologist
• Seth Greenland, American writer
• Susan Kaiser Greenland (born 1956), American writer