Talk:Greenland

For future reference the Project:CIA World Factbook 2002 import can be found at Talk:Greenland/CIA World Factbook 2002 import.

eskimo
Actually, eskimo is a cree indian word for "eaters of raw flesh"


 * Incorrect. -- (WT-en) Colin 12:46, 9 Feb 2006 (EST)


 * It seems that is one theory, but one that is disputed. See w:Eskimo for a discussion. –LPfi (talk) 08:46, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Supermarkets
Where should the general info on Supermarkets (see buy) go? It is nice info to know, but it would be terrible to write on each city page. Then again, it doesn't look nice on the country page either.

(WT-en) Clcow 14:37, 6 April 2007 (EDT)


 * The country page is a good place for it. Any general information that applies to places throughout the country should be on that page. - (WT-en) Todd VerBeek 21:26, 6 April 2007 (EDT)

Divition of Greenland
Tourist organisations and officials have different ways of dividing Greenland:

greenland.com: East as usual. South stops between Iviituut and Paamiut. West stops above Sisimiut, and North is from the Disco bay and all the way to Thule.

greenland-guide.gl: East and South as above, West stops above Sisimiut, North is Disco bay and uummannaq bay and then Qaanaaq is a region by itself.

Official divitions (only in inuit and danish):

Old: 18 small spread over the country, one for each of the major cities.

New (from 2009): only 4: South: Stops 'before' Iviituut. West/East: the West coast from the border of region south to Nuuk. Middle: Only Sisimiut and Maniitsoq. North: as greenland.com.

What is the usual way to divide regions? I would say by coherence and possibility of describing the region as a whole insted of having to always say: in the north we have ... and in the south we have...

Therefore I vote for greenland-guide's division. (WT-en) Clcow 14:36, 6 April 2007 (EDT)


 * The main guideline is to do what makes the most sense for the benefit of the typical traveler. We prefer natural geographic divisions that make it easy to describe each region, rather than official government ones. - (WT-en) Todd VerBeek 21:26, 6 April 2007 (EDT)

Work Section
It would be nice if we could add something to this section. I wonder how easy or hard it is for a foreigner to find work in Greenland. What kind of jobs are available? English teaching? (WT-en) Daniel32708 04:09, 3 April 2010 (EDT)

Another region division
I believe major changes should be discuused before implementing. User:MadsLumholt proposed using 5 official tourist-regions, I'm not sure, we are not bound to use the official divisions. Jjtkk (talk) 08:14, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

For reference:

Visit Greenland is the official tourist council of Greenland. There are 5 official tourist-regions in Greenland:

Destination North Greenland This region is characterized by huge icebergs, midnight sun and whales in summer, dogsledding and northern lights in winter. Here, in the town of Ilulissat, you will find the famous Ilulissat Ice Fjord that is on Unesco's World Heritage List and numerous small authentic settlements that has preserved the old hunter/fisherman way of life.

The official visitor website is northgreenland.com

Destination Arctic Circle This region is located close around the Arctic Circle on the West coast of Greenland. Sisimiut, the biggest town here is also Greenland's second largest town. This is the only place in Greenland where you can travel far into the land before meeting the ice cap. Dog sledding trips between Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq (where the international airport is located) is a popular adventure trip, and in summer the trip can be done as a hiking trip. Kangerlussuaq has the most stable weather in Greenland (the only place with continental climate) and it is one of the best places in the World to watch the northern lights.

The official visitor website is arcticcircle.gl

Destination Capital Region In this region you find Greenland's growing capital Nuuk with 16,500 inhabitants (2013). Nuuk is an arctic metropol with shopping centres, museums, culture centres and good restaurants. The Nuuk Fjord is one of the World's largest fjord systems. In the fjord, surrounded by steep mountains, there are several former settlements that are now used as summerhouse areas.

The official visitor website is sermersooq.com

Destination South Greenland South Greenland is more lush with a milder climate than the rest of Greenland. It's the only region with sheep-farming and agriculture in small scale (growing vegetables for the domestic market). It's also the place to see old ruins from the Viking colonies that was there from around 1000 AD to around 1400 AD. You can also bathe in a hot spring surrounded by drifting icebergs.

The official visitor website is southgreenland.gl

Destination East Greenland East Greenland is one of the World's most isolated places. Only two towns are located here on an almost 3,000 km long stretch of coast. Tasiilaq, the main town, is known for it's dramatic and beautiful landscape, dog sledding, hiking and other adventure activities. The local settlements represent the most authentic hunter/fisherman lifestyle. The other town, Ittoqqortoormiit, is located in the outskirts of the World's largest National Reserve, and this is the area in Greenland where you have the biggest chance of seing polar bears and walruses.

The official visitor website is eastgreenland.com

PartOf: North America or Nordic countries
Greenland is geographically part of North America, so having the breadcrumb go there seems natural, but politically Greenland is part of the Nordic countries and I now notice that Get in mentions no possibility to get here from Canada or USA. Round the world overland gives Canada/US to Greenland as one of the problematic passages.

Should we change the PartOf?

--LPfi (talk) 09:59, 29 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes it does. A large portion of Greenland addresses this. From "By plane":


 * June through September, two weekly returns from Keflavik Airport in Iceland (Icelandair's hub) to both Nuuk and Narsarsuaq. With plentiful flights between the United States and Iceland, this is by far the easiest way to get to Greenland from North America. It's also the most affordable as it's the only route Air Greenland has any competition on.
 * Also June through September, there is twice weekly service between Iqaluit in Canada and Nuuk. Through codeshare agreements with FirstAir, it is possible to purchase a ticket originating in Ottawa (YOW) from around kr 10,000 ($2,500 return).

There are also numerous charter outfits serving Greenland from Europe and North America, and if you're on a package tour to Greenland from North America, a chartered flight is frequently included. Scientific and technical personnel travelling from North America for research purposes typically fly into Kangerlussuaq aboard New York Air National Guard C-130s.

Greenland's airports are very private aviation-friendly if the weather is right. The name of Greenland's airport service is Mittarfeqarfiit.

From "By boat":

Realistically, there is no ferry service from Europe or North America. Royal Arctic Line is the national freight operator, but they don't take passengers to or from Greenland.

There are cruise ships from both continents that visit Greenland. [end of quoting]

I recall reading somewhere that Greenland is on a path toward independence. Will you still want to consider it part of Europe then? I don't see the point, really. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:40, 29 May 2017 (UTC)


 * OK. I seem to have read the paragraphs carelessly (and to have been less alert, not to think twice). I just stumbled upon Greenland while figuring out how autonomous regions of the Nordic countries were handled (Åland was breadcrumbed directly, bypassing Finland, which seemed strange). Greenland also is the only member of the Nordic council not treated as a region of the Nordic countries, and is listed together with the Baltic countries, which have not been part of the cooperation. It is true that Greenland is getting more and more independence, but I think Greenland is keen to keep the ties to the Nordic countries regardless (I do not know about cooperation with the natives in America, although I suppose that must be going on also). At the moment I have no strong opinion on the matter. --LPfi (talk) 18:19, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

Coronavirus
I’m not too familiar with this media outlet, but it has an article about the coronavirus situation in Greenland that may be useful: https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/147980. --Comment by Selfie City  ( talk  |  contributions ) 10:32, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Formatting box
I noticed that we don't have a formatting box. Here's one that I propose:

Any objections before I add this? (also, there's a reason for the Canadian spelling as opposed to British English which is what mainland Denmark uses). ? -- SHB2000 (talk &#124; contribs &#124; meta.wikimedia) 01:14, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I really cannot imagine that Greenland varies from the Denmark/EU statandard, which is British English. I think that Greenland is far more in Denmark's orbit than in Canada's, because of the tremendous Danish subsidy of the Greenland government. Ground Zero (talk) 02:23, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * The reason why I thought of using Canadian spelling is because of Northeast Greenland National Park, which Greenland used British spelling, it would be called "North East Greenland National Park". However, on second thought, I think that page can be an except, just like how we have Southwest National Park in Tasmania (which would be called "South-west National Park" if it used Australian spelling). I'll change it to British per your comment. SHB2000 (talk &#124; contribs &#124; meta.wikimedia) 02:36, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Actually, doing more research, it seems per List of national parks of Denmark, the "Official English name unknown. A WCMC web page uses “North-east Greenland National Park”." So I guess we don't even need to have an exception if Wikipedia just assumed it would be the American spelling. SHB2000 (talk &#124; contribs &#124; meta.wikimedia) 02:40, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

You need a passport!?
I am a bit baffled about our needing to tell people that you need a passport to visit Greenland. In the previous paragraph (i.e. as lead of Get in) we tell that Greenland is not part of Schengen. We go on telling that your passport must be valid for three months after your visit. Do we additionally need to tell that you need a passport? Do we do that for other places? I would think it rather belongs in Travel basics. (I am changing the structure a bit, to more clearly separate the Nordics, and hope that's enough) –LPfi (talk) 13:54, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * If you're not a citizen of an EU or Schengen country, then it's obvious you need a passport. But I think there's a chance citizens of non-Nordic EU and Schengen countries might not be aware that they need a passport to visit Greenland, because they do not need one to visit Denmark proper or the Faroe Islands. The dog2 (talk) 14:42, 26 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I think Greenland is an adventure for nearly anyone, not somewhere you go just grabbing your suitcase. But OK, I moved the Schengen statement to the lead of the section and added the note there. I think it fits better there. Do you think this is sufficient? LPfi (talk) 07:52, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The note can be good to have, because I believe normally possessions of EU countries that are outside Europe such as French Guyana and the Azores can be visited with an ID card. --Ypsilon (talk) 11:05, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that works for me. The dog2 (talk) 11:28, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Also works for me. -- SHB2000  (talk &#124; contribs &#124; meta) 13:46, 27 April 2024 (UTC)