Greenland is the largest island in the world and almost 81% of its area is covered with ice. The island was first inhabited by the Vikings in the 10th century, who came from Iceland. In the 18^th century Danish began to colonize the land and in 1953 it was made an integral part of Denmark. In the year 1973, Greenland joined the European Community, but withdrew from it in 1985 because of strict fishing laws. Danish parliament granted it a self government in 1979.

The country is locally known as Kalaallit Nunaat and is mostly inhabited by Inuit and Danish populations. It is an amazing country with a lot of history. The country is also famous for its nights, which last months at a time.

Some of the amazing facts about Greenland are:

1. Geopolitically the country is a part of Europe, while geographically it is a part of the North America and its inhabitants originate from the Central Asia.

2. Erik Thorvaldsson, nicknamed as Erik the Red from Scandinavia was the first European settler from Europe to first settle in Greenland after being exiled in the 10^th Century.

3. The name Greenland was given to the country by Erik the Red in order to allure the settlers to move to the island, which they believed it to be beautiful and green land. He was exiled from Iceland for a murder, but when he returned home, he attracted the people to help him to establish a colony in the Greenland.

4. There are almost 57,000 inhabitants in the country, among which 15,000 live in the capital of the country, Nuuk.

5. The name Greenland means Land of People.

6. The country is spread over a land of about 2,175,900 square kilometers and almost its 81% of the land is covered with ice.

7. Scientists and geologists have estimated that the ice sheet covering the country is around 400000 to 800000 years old.

8. The currency of the country is the Danish Krone.

9. The country is located in between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and is the part of the North America.

10. Greenlandic and Danish are the official languages of the country, but English is also widely spoken.

11. Igloo and Kayak are some of the Greenlandic words that have been directly adopted by other languages.

12. Fishing and fish export are the major economy of the country.

13. Hunting, sealing, fishing and whaling are the major sources of income for the people of the country. With the terrain, mostly ice and unfavorable for agriculture of other similar pursuits, there are limited options available to the inhabitants. How unfavorable is the land to agriculture? Greenland has 0% arable land according to the last expert estimate. A huge reason behind such barren lands is the almost permanent frost which covers well over two-thirds of the island nation.

14. Greenland provides clean and drinkable water to a 100% of its population. The nation has also ensured sanitation facilities for  100% of its people.

15. Greenland generates its own power and is able to meet the requirement of its inhabitants with ease. At 314 million kWh consumption, and 320 million kWh generation, the country does not rely on anyone for electricity.

16. Greenland does not maintain a regular army. Since the island is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, they are responsible for Greenland’s security as well. Despite this, Greenland enjoys a fairly large amount of freedom in self governance, and is even present in international meetings and events which involve its external affairs policy, even though Denmark is authorized as well as entitled to make these decisions for Greenland.