“Discover the Astonishing Secrets of Greenland: 11 Surprising Facts That Will Change Your View of This Hidden Gem!”

Ever stared at a map and thought, “Wow, Greenland is HUGE!”? Well, hold onto your snow boots because that perception is about as misleading as a soggy cereal box with a crowned king proclaiming it the best breakfast choice. Greenland, indeed the world’s largest island, is often misrepresented on maps, thanks to the notorious Mercator map, which suggests it’s almost the same size as Africa—when, in reality, Africa is nearly **14 times** larger. Picture this: the breathtaking, ice-covered expanse of Greenland measures around a third of Australia, or about a quarter of the U.S.! It’s a vast landscape cloaked in mystery, icebergs, and tales of Viking adventurers, but one footstep inside this Arctic wonderland reveals a treasure chest of captivating contrasts and stunning features. Ready to dive in? LEARN MORE.

Greenland is the world’s largest island, but it’s not as big the Mercator map would have us believe. The widely reproduced map, created in 1569, suggests Greenland is roughly the same size as Africa when that continent is nearly 14 times larger. The ice-covered island is actually about a third of the size of Australia and a quarter of the size of the United States.

Greenland lies north and south of the Arctic Circle and about 500 miles from the North Pole. Its closest neighboring country is Canada (it’s 16 miles from Canada’s Ellesmere Island). Currently, you can fly to Greenland only from Iceland (its nearest European neighbor) and Denmark—but that will change as Greenland’s second international airport, which opened in November 2024 in Nuuk, begins accepting flights from Canada and the U.S. 

Read on for more about Greenland’s captivating contrasts and fascinating features.

1. Greenland is the world’s least densely populated place.
2. Ice covers 80 percent of the land.
3. It’s part of North America.
4. It’s fraught with fjords.
5. A murderous Viking founded Greenland’s first European settlement.
6. Greenland experiences midnight sun and polar night.
7. Humans arrived in Greenland about 4500 years ago.
8. It’s illegal to import dogs to some areas of Greenland.
9. Greenland’s political status is complicated.
10. It’s ground zero for climate change research.
11. Greenland has played a key role in defense strategy since the Cold War.

Greenland is the world’s least densely populated place.

In the Greenlandic language, the name for Greenland is Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning “the land of the people.” In fact, fewer than 60,000 people call this large land mass home, earning Greenland the distinction of being the least densely populated place on our planet. 

Most residents live on the west coast in one of the major towns, with the rest residing in remote settlements such as Qassimiut, population 20. Nearly 17,000 Greenlanders make their home in Nuuk, the country’s capital, which has the only two traffic lights in the entire territory. The rugged, icy landscape means Greenland’s towns aren’t connected to each other by road, making air and sea the main modes of travel. 

Ice covers 80 percent of the land.

With an ice sheet second only to Antarctica’s in size, Greenland’s glacial land ice covers more than 700,000 square miles or approximately 80 percent of the island. The Greenland Ice Sheet has an average thickness of 5000 feet and a maximum of 10,000 feet, with most of the land underneath lying at or below sea level. The ice is constantly moving outward to outlying glaciers, such as Sermeq Kujalleq (also known as Illulissat Icefjord and Jakobshavn Isbrae), Greenland’s biggest and one of the world’s fastest-moving glaciers. Scientists have clocked its flow at up to 150 feet per day in summer. 

Much of the ice-free portion consists of mountainous coastal highlands, and agriculture is possible on roughly 1 percent of Greenland’s total area. Greenlanders and visitors can view the scenic, icy peaks from natural hot springs, which aren’t produced by volcanic activity, but rather by the friction between deep sections of the earth’s crust as they collide.

It’s part of North America.

Because Greenland shares tectonic ties with North America, it isn’t considered a continent. It’s an extension of the Canadian Shield, the above-sea portion of the continental plate under North America, and connected to it by a submarine ridge approximately 600 feet beneath the sea. Most of the Canadian Shield is composed of Precambrian rocks at least 1 billion years old.

It’s fraught with fjords.

If laid out in a straight line, Greenland’s coastline would run nearly 24,500 miles long, which is almost equivalent to Earth’s circumference. Its shores are deeply indented by hundreds of fjords on both sides of the island. The largest fjord system in the world is found at Scoresby Sund (Kangertittivaq) on the east coast, which features the world’s longest fjord, the Nordvest Fjord (Kangersik Kiattek [PDF]), extending inland for almost 200 miles.