🇩🇰 - A (semi) autonomous territory 🔍 within the Kingdom of Denmark under "home-rule" where Denmark retains control over foreign affairs & defense (& is highly involved in management of may aspects of infrastructure)
(In reality, while the southern coast is green in the summer, over 80% of the land surface is covered by an ice 🧊 sheet.)
The Greenlandic endonym is Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning land of the Kalaallit; the Greenlandic-speaking Inuit people, (nunaat = country or inhabited land.)
Land of Inuits and Vikings, Greenland is full of jaw-dropping Arctic scenery; icebergs, fjords, glaciers, the world’s 2nd largest ice 🧊 sheet... not to mention it's one of the best places
to see the Northern Lights.
@ a glance essentials:
LANGuaGE:
Greenlandic
+ Danish
+ Danish. Most Locals can speak English.
Danish Krona
Water safety
Safe to Drink - Among the Cleanest in the World
Currency:
DKK
Local Transport
There are bus and ferry networks in large cities and even some smaller towns.
.
.................................. The Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) version of toasting ‘cheers’ 🥂 is Aqajaggui (alt. Aqajaqqut); literally = stomachs, because when raising a glass one's shirt tends to lift up revealing one's stomach.
Greenlandic Gab:
With a total area of ~2 million km² Greenland is the world's largest (non-continent) island, as well as one of the most isolated, with no roads between settlements and reliance on air and sea 🔍 transport.
The earliest Paleo-Inuit† tribes crossed the arctic 🔍 from North America ~2500 BC, but Europeans weren't aware of the island until Viking Erik the Red 'discovered' it during his banishment from Iceland for manslaughter in the 980's AD. He and a group of ~500 Norse then established a settlement in the southern fjords, near present-day Qaqortoq. The Thule tribes then arrived ~1200 AD via Alaska displacing the earlier Inuits in the north 🔍.
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
........................Kayak 🛶 & Igloo 🍙 are both Inuit words, as is Kunik, cousin to the 'Eskimo Kiss,' the Greenlanders' unique greeting where one puts their face on another’s cheek / neck and takes a deep "sniff" or inhale while rubbing her/his nose against them.
FUN FACT:
The territory🔍 was integrated into the Danish Realm🔍 in the 18c, when, driven by hopes of finding & Christianizing the descendants of the medieval Norse, the Danish recolonized the island in the 1720's. There were no Vikings left, however, their settlements had collapsed by the mid 15c. essentially leaving the island entirely to the Thule,†† ancestors of the modern Greenlandic Inuits (still 89% of todays population.)
Under the new Danish rule Inuit economic activity was confined to just local trade in sealskins & fish, forcing dependency on imported Danish goods. It wasn't until 1953 that Greenland's colony status was removed, and Home Rule, with parliamentary government, wasn't granted until 1979. Then in 2009 it was made an autonomous territory of the Kingdom 🔍 of Denmark.
Greenland maintains the right to pursue independence, but it is dependent on Danish block $ grants, (over half it's annual budget.) And they maintain close cultural ties; they even celebrate New Years twice, 1st on Denmark time, 8pm in Greenland, and then at their own midnight.
† "Inuit" mean "the people" in their own language - it is the preferred term for Arctic tribes that are sometimes referred to as Eskimo.
†† Likely due to the combined factors of trade disruptions from the Black Death in Europe, and the on set on the 'Little Ice Age.' devestating their farms. The Inuit's however with superior mobility & hunting skills were able to survive the conditions that made the Norse farms unsustainable.
*** GREENLAND CAN'T BE EXPLORED WELL By PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ***
The only way to get between cities/ regions is by flying or by boat; there are no connecting roads and there is not that much to do in the towns, even the larger ones, however Guided Tours are also Expensive $$$
TRAVEL AGENTS:
while they do add a bit to the $, they can actually be very helpful in this instance; not only in the original planning stage of tours/ activities & scheduling inter-Greenland travel, but particularly when those plans go awry (as they often do due to weather) when all the plans need to be re-shuffled...
Muktuk / Maktak - cubed raw, sometimes frozen, whale meat & skin ∞ Hákarl - raw, fermented† shark
Muskox (Arctic Bovidae. related to cows) ∞ Suaasat - Traditional soup w/ seal, whale, or reindeer
Kiviak / Kiviaq (or Auk Bird) - seal skin stuffed w/ auk birds, fermented buried w/ rocks††
Seal Lung - served warm cut straight from the carcass just after its kill ∞ Turbot (Greenland Halibut)
Ptarmigan or Eider Duck (wild seabirds) - roasted or in soup ∞ Free-range Greenlandic Lamb
Angelica & Crowberry (wild Arctic herbs & berries) - used in ice cream, cakes, or as syrup.
➿➰➿
† 9 week fermentation period †† It can take up to 500 birds to fill the seal, plus a 3 month fermentation period
Must Try Local Cuisine:
SEE
DO TRY
&
VISIT
What to Where to Why . . .
My Favorite Spots:
📍 Uunartoq Wild Hot Springs - crystal-clear geothermal pools, (a healing sanctuary for Norsemen)
Secluded down a 'hidden' path, among mountains & icebergs, on uninhabited Uunartoq Is.
(meaning "warming island" - where legend claims it's home to spirits visible only in the island's mist.)
📍 Southern Fjord Camping - in stunning South Greenlandic pastoral landscapes, like:
Igaliku Cabins in a valley village on the Igaliko Fjord (Einarsfjord) tucked between snow-
capped mountains. With only ~30 residents, a long farming history dating back to the
Norse, and grazing sheep & chickens wandering among the Norse ruins still on site.
(The hotel has some of the most delicious Greenlandic inspired food I had on my trip!)
OR
Camp Kangiusaq a 'glamping' site in the Nuuk Fjord, with hikes, kayaking, SUP boarding
& fishing. [When I visited, they were also in the process of building an on site sauna]
📍 Tunuliarfik/ Qooroq Fjord Glaciers - Southern Fjords are packed with thousands of icebergs calved off the massive
glacier at the head of the Fjords (200,000 tons of ice every day!) Unlike the northern glaciers in more frozen
landscapes, the contrast of the icebergs & glacier with surrounding lush green mountains is otherworldly.
📍 Disko Island | Disko Bay - Greenland's 2nd largest island,†† with glacier fields, sea-birds on hexagonal basalt cliffs
(unique for Greenland), black sand beaches, sheltered pebble beach coves & sea caves. Scattered around the island
are colorful fishing villages & old seasonal Inuit camp sites with fish drying racks.
It's one real settlement, Qeqertarsuaq (Godhavn), is known for it's iconic red church & amazing views of icebergs
drifting down Ilulissat Icefjord in a quieter, more intimate setting than the popular mainland iceberg destinations.
(Anecdotally, the island was the #1 recommendation of where to visit from locals on my trip)
📍 Qilakitsoq Mummies @ Greenland National Museum | Nuuk - famous 550-year-old accidental mummies, created by
the cold climate, rather than intentional mummification (oldest North American mummies & best-preserved
ancient Inuit clothing in the world)
† Possibly variety of Isserkat (island spirits) that look mostly human only they blink sideways instead of up and down. or maybe
†† Also in the top 100 largest island of the world
Surprises:
📍 Kaffeklubben Island's 🪻 Flowers - the world's northernmost flowers clinging to life on a cold desolate island.
📍 The Oldest Ophiolite 🪨 Rocks in the World† - the oldest found segments of the earth’s crust, 3.8 billion yrs old.
A layer of ophiolite (a rock created when one tectonic plate is forced underneath another.) that indicates plate tectonics
were happening 3.8 billion yrs ago, (~billion+ years longer than originally hypothesized)
📍 Great Greenland Furhouse - offering tours, the tannery prepares sealskins 🦭 into unique, high end designer leather
goods (mostly fur intact) with trading stations / skin centers, in Maniitsoq, Nuuk, Tasiilaq, & Upernavik e.g.
(Be aware; import & sale of seal fur is illegal in the United States, since 1972)
📍 Santa's 🎅 House | Uummannaq - Danish children believe Santa lives in Greenland, & specifically in this traditional
Greenlandic cabin based on it's use as a filming location for Santa's house in the 1989 Danish children's show, "The
Elf Gang In Greenland" (Nissebanden I Grønland)†. Only the exterior was used for the show, but the interior has
now been done up to accommodate visitors
📍 Babies Alone on the Street - Iceland is such a high trust society it's common to see babies left outside stores etc. in
strollers, even when the temperature's as low as 20-30ªF. (Common in Iceland as well)
† Smaller chucks of zircon rock, estimated @ 4.4 billion yrs old have also been found
†† The show's Danish producer was briefly a schoolteacher in Greenland. The show has exactly 24 episodes, one for each day from December 1st to Christmas Eve
Most Known For:
Ice 🧊 like;
♦️ Jakobshavn Glacier (Sermeq Kujalleq) & Ilulissat Icefjord / Kangia Fjord | Ilulissat, (which
means "icebergs" in Greenlandic) - the glacier is the most productive calving glacier in the
N. Hemisphere / world's fastest, with millions of tons of ice, (as giant icebergs,) flows
from the glacier through Kangia and into Disko Bay daily.
At the mouth of the ice fjord is the Kangiata Illorsua - The Icefjord Center dedicated to
glaciology, nature conservation & cultural history.†
[Also of note are Eqi “calving" Glacier; less productive than Jakobshavn, due to iceburgs being
smaller, (though still building sized!) but calving more frequently, and turquoise Russell Glacier]
🔸 The Greenland Ice Sheet, (some times called an Ice Cap††) one of the two major ice sheets on
Earth (& 2nd largest.) the other being the Antarctic Ice Sheet
~
👍🏽 ♦️ Arctic Whale 🐳 Watching, Fjord Cruises, Kayaking 🛶 , Glacier camping & Dog-Sledding 🛷 multi-day
wilderness tours & Hikes on the Arctic Circle Trail (160 km of wild trail with no roads, and only huts)
🔸 Viking Ruins like Erik the Red's Brattahlíð | Qassiarsuk, the 1st Norse Greenlandic settlement, c. ~1000 AD, nearby
Garðar Cathedral (St Nicholas') red sandstone foundations of largest medieval church in Greenland (~1126 AD) OR
Hvalsey Church 🔍: site of the last recorded Norse wedding in Greenland in 1408, (marking the last record of Vikings
in Greenland before the Norse 'disappear' from Greenland's history)
♦️ Abandoned Inuit Settlements - like Sermermiut; remains of an old Inuit settlement from ~4,400 yrs ago,
Kangeq; once a hub for hunters & traders, now known for weathered wooden houses OR
Qoornoq; that, despite being "abandoned," is still a popular seasonal destination for fishing etc.
🔸 The Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis & the Midnight ☀️ Sun (May–July)
[Interestingly in Inuit tradition the positions of Greenlandic 'heaven' & 'hell' are reversed with 'heaven" being the underworld where it's
a warm paradise a 'hell' being above the sky where it's even colder than the arctic. Those who go to the underworld are called
Arsissut = the fortunate souls, but those in the upper world are known as Arssartut = ball players; they're said to play a sport
with a walrus head, that creates the Aurora Borealis.]
♦️ Qaqortoq - capital of South Greenlandl classic colored wooden houses, Mindebrønden (Greenland's oldest, fountain,)
Frelserens Kirke (Saviours Church), Stone & Man sculptures & headstone of Hans Egede (Norwegian, Lutheran priest +
missionary "Apostle of Greenland," responsible for the 'modern' European re-settlement)
† In addition to needing a ticket to visit the Icefjord Center, you also need a seperate ticket just to enter the UNESCO area, for either hikes or boat trips.
†† Technically an "ice cap" is less than 50,000 square kilometers (20,000 square miles) and the Greenlandic sheet is 1.7 million square kilometers (about
660,000 square miles), much larger than the typical ice cap.
📽️ NOTABLE FILMS SHOT IN GREENLAND:
⭐ Dr. Strangelove† | 1964 ⭐ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | 2013 ⭐ The Last Airbender | 2010
⭐ Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | 2007
† or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb": the arctic base shots were Greenland
🍿
Inuit mythology is filled with fantastical creatures. Most famous is the Mother of the Sea,† who control all life in the ocean. It's said when an Inuit breaks a taboo her hair gets filthy, entangling the animals, preventing hunters from catching food.
But my personal favorite is the onomatopoeic Mahaha; Tickling Demon, thin & sinewy with ice-blue skin & long, stringy hair. He sneaks up on victims, with a creepy, high-pitched laugh, and tickles them with long, sharp nails until they die because they can't breathe, and are left with twisted joker grins on their faces.
There's also Erdlaveersissok; the Entrail-Seizer who takes the entrails of anyone she can make laugh. (I have no idea why the concept of laughter is so associated with danger!)
† There is a statue of the Mother, (also known as Sassuma Aarna, the "Old Woman”, or “Lady Down Under”) in the bay in Nuuk
🌀 Nuuk Snow Festival (Feb) - international snow-sculpture ⛄ competition.
🌀 Return of the Sun ☀️ (Jan. / Feb.) - north 🔍 of the Arctic Circle, 1st day the sun rises after polar night. People
climb hills at dawn, sing the national anthem and celebrate with fireworks and bonfires
🌀 Ullortuneq (June 21st) - National Day; parades in national costumes, kaffemik ☕ parties†, kayak dances, & feasts
🌀 Qooqqut Festival | near Nuuk - weekend seafood & lamb festival in an old sheep station
🌀 Aasivissuit Nipaatiaq (Arctic Games) - every 2 years in rotating towns, a mini “Arctic Olympics” with traditional
Inuit sports: one-foot high kick, knuckle hop, sledge jumping, etc.
🌀 Christmas Stars 🌟 (1st Sunday of Advent) - giant stars are hoisted on hills above towns with switching-on
ceremonies; choirs, gløgg, & fireworks
🌀 Arctic 🔍 Races including Avannaata Qimussersua (Feb. / March) - world’s toughest dog-sled race; ~160 km,
Arctic Circle Race | Sisimiut (April) - “world’s toughest cross-country ski race;” 160 km over 3 days on unmarked
tundra with tents at night &
Polar Circle Marathon | Kangerlussuaq (Oct.) - one of the coldest marathons on Earth, partly run on the ice cap
† The famous Greenlandic open-house coffee parties with endless cakes and mattak. Visitors might get invited to several in one day
Site Key:
Five Star Recommend
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