Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)

Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)

Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), Canada's northeasterly neighbour, is the world's largest island. It is under Danish sovereignty. Vikings from Greenland were among those who explored and settled Vinland c1000 AD (see NORSE VOYAGES). During the 1920s Canadian authorities became alarmed as Greenlandic Inuit hunted muskoxen on Ellesmere I, and consequently they were hesitant about allowing Knud Rasmussen, nowadays Greenland's foremost hero, to make his fact-finding trip across the Canadian Arctic lest he threaten Canadian sovereignty. In WWII, when Nazi Germany overran Denmark, Canada established a consulate in Greenland. Canadian and US suppliers replaced traditional Danish ones, and the Aluminium Co of Canada purchased cryolite from Ivigtut for production of Allied aircraft. Since Greenland attained internal self-government in 1979, commercial airlines have linked its capital, Nuuk [Godthaab], with IQALUIT [Frobisher Bay], thereby facilitating trade and tourism. Greenlanders have protested Canadian plans to transport fossil fuels from the Beaufort Sea through the Davis Strait, and Canada and Greenland dispute ownership of Hans I.