The political status of Greenland in the 21st Century: The Path from the Colony of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Possible 51st State of the USA

Abstract

The political map of the modern world is not static and tends to change its familiar appearance. There are a number of noticeable examples of regional irredentist separatism on the map of Europe, like Catalonia, Scotland, Wallonia. It seems that in the countries of Northern Europe, traditionally identified by calm and moderation in their political life, it is difficult to imagine the presence of such sentiments. However, there is a potentially new country on the political map of the world that is, nowadays, a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is currently an autonomous province of Denmark, Greenland. Greenland is the largest island in the world with an area of 2 166 086 km2, which makes Denmark the largest state in the EU. However, Greenland, even by the standards of the Northern European states, is an area with an extremely low population density. It has a population of 55,877 (1st of January 2018 Estimate), which recently has been decreasing. Nowadays, Greenland has the lowest population density worldwide (0.027 people per square kilometer). Thus, Greenland is 50 times larger than Denmark, but Denmark has 100 times as many people. According to some experts, China’s investment activity in Greenland has gone so far that without decisive steps to reintegrate Greenland’s economy into the EU, this strategic de jure Danish territory may eventually turn out to be a de facto Chinese province. As authors, we hope that this article will set in motion a series of research papers dedicated to the struggle for the North.