Travel Info: Greenland

» The Atlantic Ocean and Iceland lie to Greenland's Southeast; the Greenland Sea to the East; the Arctic Ocean to the North; Baffin Bay and Canada to the West. Greenland is the world's largest island, and is the largest dependent territory by area in the world. About 81 percent of its surface is covered by ice, known as the Greenlandic ice cap. Icelandic settlers found the land uninhabited when they arrived ca. 982 CE. They established three settlements near the very Southwestern tip of the island, where they thrived for the next few centuries. All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. At least two scientific expedition stations had been established in the ice-covered central part of Greenland, on the ice cap: Eismitte and North Ice.

The extreme North of Greenland is not covered by an ice cap (indicated as pale blue in the map to the right), because the air there is too dry to produce snow, which is essential in the production and maintenance of an ice cap. The culture of Greenland began with its settling by Inuit and Viking explorers. Inuits still go ice-fishing. There are annual dog-sled races in which everyone with a team participates. However, Greenland has now become somewhat of a tourist attraction. It holds contests to attract tourists such as dog racing, ice fishing, hiking, and cross country racing. Greenland joined the European Community (now the European Union [EU]) with Denmark in 1972 but withdrew in 1985 after a controversy over stringent fishing quotas.

» Greenlandic Greenland music, Inuit and Danish, mixed with influences from the United States and United Kingdom . The biggest record label is ULO from the town of Sisimut ; it was created by Malik Hoegh and Karsten Sommer. ULO releases both Greenlandic rock bands like Sume, pop singers like Rasmus Lyberth and hip hop music crews like Nuuk Posse as well as Inuit folk music .Some composers of European classical music have Greenlandic themes in their music, including Poul Rovsing Olsen and Adrian Vernon Fish.