Greenland is an island located in the North Atlantic. It is a former Danish colony, now an autonomous Danish territory. With its 2.2 million km2, Greenland is the world’s largest island. The provincial capital is Nuuk, in Godthåb, Denmark. The Greenlandic name of the country is Kalaallit Nunaat (land of the Inuit = “land of the people”)
| Capital: | Nuuk |
| Biggest city: | Nuuk |
| State: | Danish territory |
| Language: | Greenlandic, Danish |
| Religion: | Protestantism |
| Surface: | 2 166 086 km² |
| Population: | 57 700 (2013) |
| Population density: | 0.0026 residents per km² |
| Life expectancy: | 78 years |
| Currency: | Danish kroner (DKK) 1 kroner = 1.31 kr |
| Time difference: | -5 to -1 hour |
| Electricity: | 220 V AC, 50Hz |
| National Day: | 21 June |
| Country area code: | 299 |
| 2-Letter country abbreviation: | GL |
| Business: | fishing |
| Climate: | arctic with biting cold winters and cool to cold summers |
Typical of Greenland is the large area with inland ice. It is on average 1,500 meters thick, but at some points the thickness is 3,000 meters. The mountain peaks that protrude over the ice are called nunataks, they are only found at the edge areas of the ice sheet.
In southwest Greenland, there are some of the earth’s oldest rocks, in the form of the Isua Formation, which are about 3.8 billion years old. The rocks in the Isua Formation were formed, unlike other known rocks of the same age, on the earth’s surface and can therefore contribute to an increased knowledge of what the early earth looked like and the conditions for life during that period. Northern Greenland consists mostly of Paleozoic rocks.
Greenland has an Arctic climate with the exception of a few places that have a subarctic climate, such as Narsarsuaq. On the west coast, it is a little milder due to the Gulf Stream. The temperature on the ice sheet has a minimum of -70 °C and reaches zero degrees in summer. In the fjords of southwestern Greenland, however, the daytime temperature often reaches around + 20 °C during the summer, which allows a relatively rich meadow and shrub vegetation with low-growing birch forest in its places. Coastlines that are ice-free are covered by tundra. The wildlife is typical of the tundra with polar bear, reindeer, musk ox, mountain fox and barn owl.
WORLD HERITAGE
The following objects in Greenland are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The year in which the item was added to the list is indicated in parentheses.
- Ilulissatfjord, Greenland (2004)
ELECTRICAL OUTLET
Electricity and electrical outlets in Greenland
Voltage: 220 V
Frequency: 50 Hz
Type of plug: C, K
Need an adapter: No, you do not need an adapter.
CLIMATE AND WEATHER
Weather in Nuuk
| Climate | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Christmas | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Average temperature °C | -8 | -9 | -8 | -5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | -1 | -4 | -6 |
| Day °C | -6 | -7 | -6 | -3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 1 | -2 | -4 |
| Night °C | -10 | -10 | -10 | -6 | -1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | -2 | -5 | -7 |
| Rain (mm) | 40 | 50 | 40 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 90 | 90 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 60 |
| Rainy days | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 6 |
| Soltim / day | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
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