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t0p
August 17th, 2010, 02:36 AM
I put up on the wall a big map of the world, and was surprised at the size of Greenland. I never realised it was so big - according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland) it's the world's biggest island that isn't a continent. And I never thought before about how little I know about the place.

So I decided to find out a little about the place. As my reference to Wikipedia makes clear, I had a look at the online encyclopedia's Greenland article. And it seems to be a rather unique place. It's very big, yet has a very small population - which means it is the least densely populated country in the world. Its capital city, Nuuk, has a population of just 15,489. The country's name is apparently a deliberate lie. And... Well, if you want to know more, go read the Wikipedia article. It won't take very long, believe me.

So I was wondering: are any forum members in or from Greenland? Has anyone been there? What's the internet infrastructure like? What's its internet culture like? Does Greenland even have an internet culture?

I'm sorry if I've come across as ignorant, condescending or in anyway offensive - that is certainly not my intent. I just want to know more about the country; and rather than just read published articles, I thought it'd be better to hear it from someone who actually knows Greenland.

standingwave
August 17th, 2010, 03:19 AM
I realize you looked it up but those big wall maps get burned into our subconscious...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Mercator-projection.jpg/773px-Mercator-projection.jpg

In this projection, Greenland is presented as having roughly as much land area as Africa, when in fact Africa's area is approximately fourteen times greater.

t0p
August 17th, 2010, 04:00 AM
Yes, it was Greenland's apparently massive size on my map that first drew my attention - that and the fact it is coloured white, which gives the impression that it's a huge blank space, which could be a metaphor for my ignorance of the place. But even though Greenland isn't really the size of Africa, it's still a big place.

Sporkman
August 17th, 2010, 04:09 AM
It was originally inhabited by the Inuit, then settled by Norwegians I believe. The climate was marginally suitable to agriculturally support the colonist population. It was argued in the book "Collapse" (written by the Guns Germs Steel guy) that that marginally suitable climate changed for the worse. That plus the settlers inability to strike up a synergy with the successful indigenous Inuit population resulted in their downfall...

standingwave
August 17th, 2010, 05:03 AM
But even though Greenland isn't really the size of Africa, it's still a big place.A globe provides a more accurate representation of its size.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Greenland_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg/500px-Greenland_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg.png

The Norse settled it around 1000 AD. (I highly recommend Farley Mowat's 'Westviking' for a highly entertaining read of Norse history in North America. From an author well aware of the arctic climate and matters nautical.) The Norse settled during a period of moderately warmer climate: the Medieval Warm Period. They settled on western side which provided fjords to their liking and avoided the brutal arctic current that blasts the east side. Even still, with a favorable climate, they were apparently barely able to eke out a living relying on subsistence farming.

Anyway, climate is probably the real reason for its low population today. There is some industry, mostly associated with fishing.

NightwishFan
August 17th, 2010, 08:40 AM
I remember as a child looking at such a projection and thinking how large Canada and Greenland must be. Though I know better now such size baffles me. :)

earthpigg
August 17th, 2010, 09:11 AM
looking at the various pictures of various towns on wikipedia.

i see many wooden buildings.

i see very few trees.

is all that wood really shipped from denmark!?

ps: i do think the pastel paint jobs are kind of great.

earthpigg
August 17th, 2010, 09:14 AM
PSS: this country must have the highest per capita rate of wikipedia articles on the planet.

NCLI
August 17th, 2010, 09:34 AM
looking at the various pictures of various towns on wikipedia.

i see many wooden buildings.

i see very few trees.

is all that wood really shipped from denmark!?

ps: i do think the pastel paint jobs are kind of great.
Greenland is still largely dependent on Denmark to sustain its economy. I've never been there myself, but from what I've heard from friends and teachers who have been there, it's a very beautiful country, but one with many big issues. Their long winters and lonely surroundings means that there's a lot of alcohol abuse going on, because many people get very depressed.
It's fairly rich, but so far it's all thanks to being a colony under Denmark. They've recently become even more independent, although we still have joint foreign and defense ministries.

They hope to be able to free themselves from dependence on Denmark through their natural resources, control of which Denmark is slowly handing over, although I'm personally worried that they plan to push fishing and oil very hard, and in unsustainable ways.

I THINK that the tree has largely been shipped from Denmark when Greenland was first colonized. I don't think they had tree huts prior to that.

HermanAB
August 17th, 2010, 10:14 AM
The problem is that Greenland is ice and Iceland is green. There is practically no habitable ground in Greenland.

NCLI
August 17th, 2010, 10:33 AM
The problem is that Greenland is ice and Iceland is green. There is practically no habitable ground in Greenland.

Not entirely true. Thanks to global warming, the southern part of Greenland is now fit for growing crops.

If you don't believe in Global Warming, just go to Greenland and ask :p

mips
August 17th, 2010, 02:28 PM
All I know and care about is that Greenland is way to cold for my liking :D

The USA offered to buy Greenland from Denmark after WWII for something like $100mil. If the Danes accepted it could now have been the 51st state. The USA does however have military bases there.

For those wondering about Internet & communications they only have one government controlled communications company called TELE Greenland. Use google translate from Danish to English http://www.tele.gl/da-DK/Privat/Sider/Forside.aspx

t0p
August 18th, 2010, 02:24 PM
All I know and care about is that Greenland is way to cold for my liking :D

The USA offered to buy Greenland from Denmark after WWII for something like $100mil. If the Danes accepted it could now have been the 51st state. The USA does however have military bases there.

For those wondering about Internet & communications they only have one government controlled communications company called TELE Greenland. Use google translate from Danish to English http://www.tele.gl/da-DK/Privat/Sider/Forside.aspx

That link, translated by Google, is quite interesting. Mobile broadband is available, but only in Nuuk. Which is a real bummer, I'd have thought it would be people in more remote spots who really needed mobile broadband.

As for the ADSL service available over landlines... how many landlines are there to remote spots? I bet it costs a lot of money to get a landline installed if you live in a remote area.

One day satellite phones will be as ubiquitous as the cellphone is to day. Until then: tough luck Greenlanders.

Oh, and I'm still after first-hand acounts of the place. Can there really be no Greenlanders/visitors to Greenland who frequent these forums?

aeiah
August 18th, 2010, 03:16 PM
i was in a game on xbox live one time and one of the guys was from greenland. that's probably the only time ive come into contact with anyone from greenland.

its always struck me as quite a fascinating place too, and somewhere id love to visit one day. whenever we have spare cash for travelling we're always drawn to warm places though.

this quote from wikipedia stuck in my mind from the last time i read it:

"The weight of the massive Greenland ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level."

so lets hope it doesnt all melt, else it won't be a very large island anymore, just a big ring.

mips
August 18th, 2010, 04:03 PM
"The weight of the massive Greenland ice sheet has depressed the central land area to form a basin lying more than 300 m (984 ft) below sea level."

so lets hope it doesnt all melt, else it won't be a very large island anymore, just a big ring.

Looks like Greenland is already rising, dunno if it will be enough though http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/49824-greenland-rises-as-ice-cap-melts

mips
August 18th, 2010, 04:05 PM
That link, translated by Google, is quite interesting. Mobile broadband is available, but only in Nuuk. Which is a real bummer, I'd have thought it would be people in more remote spots who really needed mobile broadband.


The rest have GPRS access but I would not call that broadband.

grahammechanical
August 18th, 2010, 04:59 PM
Lots of posts on Greenland but do we have an answer to this question? Are there forum members from Greenland? Do they have snow scenes for the desktop or desert views?

regards

NCLI
August 18th, 2010, 05:19 PM
Lots of posts on Greenland but do we have an answer to this question? Are there forum members from Greenland? Do they have snow scenes for the desktop or desert views?

regards

Apparently not. Internet isn't very good up there either, due to the low population density, so that probably figures in.

I think they have desktops with pictures of lush green terrain and rainforests ;)

mips
August 18th, 2010, 05:31 PM
Apparently not. Internet isn't very good up there either, due to the low population density, so that probably figures in.

I think they have desktops with pictures of lush green terrain and rainforests ;)

Maybe they are hibernating :D

I'm sure Greenland has Ubuntu users though as Tele Greenland hosts the local Ubuntu mirror.