|
Greenland
|
In 1979 Denmark granted home rule to Greenland, in a relationship known in Danish as Rigsfællesskabet (Commonwealth of the Realm), and in 2008 Greenland voted to transfer more powers to the local government. This became effective the following year, with the Danish royal government in charge only of foreign affairs, security and financial policy, and providing a subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion (US$633m), or approximately $11,300 per Greenlander, annually.
Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island that is not a continent. With a population of 56,452 (January, 2010 estimate) it is the least densely populated dependency or country in the world.
The name Greenland comes from the early Scandinavian settlers. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that Norwegian-born Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his extended family and thralls, set out in ships to find a land rumoured to lie to the northwest. After settling there, he named the land Grœnland ("Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.
|
|