Maina wa Njuguna
There’s some silent gleeful undertones of favorability among many Americans I bet as US president Trump moves to make good on his long held quest to make GREENLAND part of the United States of America (USA).
Denmark gained the largest island as a colony in 1721. Greenland is no longer a Danish colony, but it has formal, and informal ties with Denmark.
Greenland gives little Denmark some sort of prestige despite the fact that Greenlanders have mixed attitudes towards their former European colonizers, partly because of historical discrimination.
They are not European, but Greenlandic Inuit, who are Indigenous to the Arctic and North America – closely related to native Alaskans, and indigenous Canadians in the arctic.
As global warning melts the vast ice sheets of the island, home to vast deposits of natural resources such as oil, gas, and the very sought of rare earth minerals, the island once a dot on the map can no longer be ignored as major economic, and political powers vie to have strategic locations near the new frontier – the NORTH POLE.
HISTORY OF US INTEREST IN GREENLAND
The expansionist president Andrew Johnson’s administration had its eyes 👀on GREENLAND, and ICELAND after the deriled purchase at the time of the ALASKA colony from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. Andrew Johnson is also widely considered as the worst US president.
Andrew Johnson’s political troubles, and eventual impeachment derailed discussions to purchase both islands noted above.
In 1951 president Harry Truman concerned about the growing threat of the Soviet Union offer to purchase GREENLAND was rejected by Denmark. The two countries settled for a security treaty that allowed US military assets on the island, the reason why the US has military presence today.
INHABITANTS OF GREENLAND
The indigenous Inuit, known as Kalaallit, compose about 88-90% of the island’s population, with distinct groups like the West (Kalaallit), East (Tunumiit), and Thule (Inughuit) people. The reat of the 11 – 12% of the population consists mainly of Danish people and others, with most residents living along the coast in small towns due to the vast ice sheet. (Wikipedia)
FACTS ABOUT GREENLAND
- It is the world’s largest island 840,003.856 sq.miles or 217, 5600 sq.km.
- Greenland is about one-and-half times larger than Alaska
- Greenland is roughly three to three-and-a-half times larger than Texas
- Greenland is larger than the following countries combined – France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, and Belgium
- The island’s populations is composed of only 56,500 people. The population growth is stagnant
- Approximately 80% of Greenland is permanently covered in ice
- It’s the world’s largest glacier
- The Greenlandic Ice Sheet holds approximately 7% of all the fresh water reserves on Earth
- At its thickest point, The Greenlandic Ice Sheet is 3,500 meters
- Greenland’s capital, NUUK, is located in West Greenland and the largest town with its 16,500 residents. The other major towns are SISIMIUT, IIULLSSAT, and QAQORTOQ. The rest of the towns have between 1,000 to 4,500 inhabitants
- Language – Greenlandic, Kalaallisut, is closely related to the language spoken by Inuit in Canada and in Alaska
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