Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Greenland. Dominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast; close to one-quarter of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk; world's second largest ice sheet after that of Antarctica covering an area of 1.71 million sq km (660,000 sq mi) or about 79% of the island, and containing 2.85 million cu km (684 thousand cu mi) of ice (this is almost 7% of all of the world's fresh water); if all this ice were converted to liquid water, one estimate is that it would be sufficient to raise the height of the world's oceans by 7.2 m (24 ft). Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is
Location | Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada |
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Geographic coordinates | 72 00 N, 40 00 W |
Map references | Arctic Region |
Tarrain | flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast |
Natural Resources | coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds, gold, platinum, niobium, tantalite, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas |
Natural Hazards | continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island |
Irrigated Land | NA |
Major rivers (by length in km) | |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 0 km |
Border Countries | |
Coastline | 44,087 km |
Climate | arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 2,166,086 sq km (approximately 1,710,000 sq km ice-covered) |
Water Area | |
comparative Area | slightly more than three times the size of Texas |
Maritime Claims | |
Territorial sea | 3 nm |
Continental shelf | 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line |
Exclusive fishing zone | 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Gunnbjorn Fjeld 3,694 m |
Lowest point | Atlantic Ocean 0 m |
Mean elevation | 1,792 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 0.6% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 0% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 0.6% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 0% (2018 est.) |
Other | 99.4% (2018 est.) |
Settlement concentrated on the southwest shoreline, with limited settlements scattered along the remaining coast; interior is uninhabited
In Greenland, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Greenlandic 88.1%, Danish 7.1%, Filipino 1.6%, other Nordic peoples 0.9%, and other 2.3% (2024 est.)
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | -0.05% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 13.5 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 9.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | NA |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 14 beds/1,000 population (2016) |
Total fertility rate | 1.88 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.92 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | NA |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 39.4% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 10.2% of GDP (2019 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -4.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Greenlandic | Greenlander(s) |
Languages | Greenlandic, Danish, English |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran, traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 20.4% (male 5,964/female 5,798) |
15-64 years | 67.1% (male 20,050/female 18,711) |
65 years and over | 12.5% (2024 est.) (male 3,829/female 3,399) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 43.6 |
Youth dependency ratio | 30 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 13.6 |
Potential support ratio | 7.4 (2021) |
Median Age | |
Total | 35.3 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 35.9 years |
Female | 34.7 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 87.9% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 0.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 18,000 NUUK (capital) (2018). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.07 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 1.13 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1.07 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 8.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 9.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 74.5 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 71.8 years |
Female | 77.3 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Want to know more about Greenland? Check all different factbooks for Greenland below.