Location: Northern North America, island between the Arctic
Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
Geographic coordinates: 72 00 N, 40 00 W
Map references: Arctic Region
Area:
total: 2,175,600 sq km
land: 2,175,600 sq km (341,700 sq km ice-free, 1,833,900
sq km ice-covered) (est.)
Area - comparative: slightly more than three times the size
of Texas
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 44,087 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters
Terrain: flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but
a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m
Natural resources: zinc, lead, iron ore, coal, molybdenum,
gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales
Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 99% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds
of the island
Environment - current issues: protection of the arctic environment;
preservation of the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling;
note - Greenland participates actively in Inuit Circumpolar Conference
(ICC)
Geography - note: dominates North Atlantic Ocean between
North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements
along coast; world's second largest ice cap
Background: The world's largest island, about 84% ice-capped,
Greenland was granted self-government in 1978 by the Danish parliament.
The law went into effect the following year.
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