Greenland Independence?

See previous posts regarding fun facts about the coldest inhabited regions of the world, such as France’s Icelands, Iceland’s bankruptcy, banks of seeds, and seeding arctic populations.

Tribalization and nationalism in the arctic continues! Following on the push for independence from Denmark by the Faroe Islands, Greenland this week voted with a supermajority of more than 75% to receive greater autonomy from Denmark. This may even lead to independence for this enormous island of just 56,000 people. With the approval of more than 3/4 voters, Greenland now has the sovereign right to take control of its security, system of justice, and police force.

Greenland scenery.

What is so bad about Denmark? Greenlanders elect two representatives who sit in the Danish parliament, so the region receives due political representation. The current primary export is fish, but Denmark provides a whopping half billion dollar grant for public services such as education and health care, so there is plenty of economic assistance. Locals may believe that independence promises a greater shares of profits from possible exports of oil, rubies, gold and diamonds—if they can ever convince anyone to invest the money to exploit these possible resources. But that’s a long way off. And who only knows how it would defend itself. (SIDENOTE: does anyone know if Greenland is within the US defense perimeter along with Iceland?)

Ultimately, this referendum comes down to tribalism and the phenomenon of arctic nationalism, the same factor that plays into Faroese identity, as noted previously. Greenland may be the sovereign territory of Denmark, but it shares little history with that nation. Up to 88% of the population is Inuit or mixed Danish and Inuit in ethnicy. Only 12% are of European descent. And Greenland explicitly chose to leave the European Community in 1985, just as the Faroese chose to opt out of EU membership.