Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)

Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) - Is officially known as Greenland. Greenland is a North American island nation sharing borders with the Arctic Ocean, the Greenland Sea, the Denmark Strait, the North Atlantic Ocean, the Labrador Sea, the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island that is not a continent in its own right and is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the European Union) with Denmark in 1973, but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Greenland's Economy depends mainly on the fishing industry and exports. Several interesting hydrocarbon and mineral exploration activities are ongoing and in 2007 a US firm signed an agreement with the Greenland Home Rule government to study the feasibility of building a multi-billion dollar aluminum smelter and hydro power plant.
Greenland was occupied by Germany during World War II, which had built several German weather stations and these were destroyed by American troops after being alerted to their positions which gave Denmark a better position in the postwar turmoil.
In prehistoric times, Greenland was home to a number of Paleo-Eskimo cultures. From AD 984, it was colonized by Icelanders in two settlements on fjords near the southwestern most tip of the island. The settlements, such as Brattahlid, thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 1400s, at the time of one given date for the outbreak of the Little Ice Age.