The Greenlanders House Social counselling, social projects Administration and counselling for greenlandic students Students home with 20 rooms Cultural and informational services Greenlanders associations, meetings, festivals etc. Services for Danish & Greenlandic organizations and companies
University International Club Aarhus Greenland An arctic society. March 19. 2014 By director of The Greenlanders House Svend Kolte, M.A.
Facts # 1: Northernmost land area, 740 km from the North Pole 2.670 km long, 1.050 km max wide 2.2 million sq. km, equivalent to the area of Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany and Poland together!) 81% Ice Cap 410.400 sq km icefree land, x 10 area of Denmark SW coast is center of population Arctic climate, no forests, almost no agriculture. North of Arctic Circle midnigth sun in summer, total darkness in winter
Facts # 2: Population and languages 56.000 inhabitants. 7.000 of them are Danes and a few hundreds are foreigners. About 15.000 greenlanders live in Dennmark Almost all Greenlanders speak Greenlandic, some also Danish and English Very few Danes speak Greenlandic
Facts # 3: Constitutional situation Greenland is still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenlanders are legally Danes But Home Rule since 1979 And semi-independent Government since 2009 All internal matters exclusively under Greenland Government and Parliament Greenlandic ownership of minerals and oil 1979 Foreign Policy and Defence in cooperation with Danish Government Annual grant-in-aid from Denmark to Greenland of 3,5 bill. Dkr (half a billion, or approx. 8.000 per person) Full independence is possible after a referendum in Greenland. 2009
A travel through the country of to-day
Travelling to and from Greenland, the Airbus from Copenhagen
Kangerlussuaq int n l airport airbus Norsaq
Local airports
Nuuk the Capital
Downtown Nuuk
Nuuk, old part of town
New apartment blocks
Nuuk, Tele Greenland tower
The new government building
Teachers Training College, from 1847
Ilisimatusarfik, university of Greenland, 400+ students. Also additionally ca. 700 studying abroad. Also about 3.000 apprentices in Greenland
National Museum of Greenland
The coop supermarket
Selling lumpfish in the street
Children playing
A very different Greenland outside the capital: Tasiilaq on the East Coast
Often very beautiful in the small villages, - but not much to do!
The former fish industry in Kulusuk
Some villages are without any resources at all, Tiniteqilaaq on the East Coast
But some villages have production, here qullukkat (dried halibut)
Trades Fishing is the primary export trade Tourism a growing trade Agriculture supports 200 people Mining is a coming trade with a great potential Most people work in public services
Traditional winter fishing
Sealhunters
Kalaalimineerniarfik local market
Tourism
A northern hotel around midnight
Sailing along the coast
Dog sledges are widely used for hunting, sport and tourism
Agriculture: primarily sheep-raising
The modern farms often use the old Norse sites
Mining - great potential, but no working mines yet. Gold Diamonds Rare minerals and metals Oil
Nalunaq Gold Mine, recently closed down
Aluminium smelter in Iceland, planned also for Greenland
Rare Earths Elements and uranium Narsaq, South-West Greenland
Other potential mining sites Iron W. Greenland Eudialyte, S-Greenland Iron West Greenland molybdenum, E-Greenland Rubies W. Greenland
The possible oil adventure
Contending military forces in the Arctic Canadian navy US sub at the North Pole Danish Patrolboat Russian Arctic Navy Chinese Navy
Nature and Global Warming
trees and driftwood
Muskoxes and reindeer
Walrus
Bowhead and other big whales - a conservational succes
Bears & seals
Global Warming in Greenland Apart from significant less ice cover at sea, and warmer winters, there are few clear and dramatic changes as yet. Global warming will cause the arctic ecology to be substituted with sub-arctic ecological systems. An economical advantage, but culturally a set-back Unstable and unpredictable weather will, however, be a major problem
Arctic Global Warming internationally. If the Ice Cap disappears? The Water and Sea Current Problems! About 2 million years ago there was a period with almost no ice cap If this happens again general sea level will rise with approx. 6 meters. If all ice caps melt (including the South Pole) sea level will rise with approx. 70 meters! More fresh water in the Atlantic may cause a much colder North Europe if the Gulf Stream ceases to exist. 2,300,000 years before now, there was no ice-cap To-day: the ice-cap contains 3 mill. km 3 of ice/water
Short term weather tendencies are different from long term tendencies. Nuuk April 13.th 2012
Light and darkness midday in december
First sunrise, 10th of february
Midnight sun the sun s travel across the northern sky
Autumn is near, the sun is now setting in the night
Northern Light (Aurora borealis)
The Greenlandic Language one of several languages in the Eskimo Language Family
Verbal paradigm: akivaa = he answers him in principle one verb has 382 different combinations of tense and persons.
Greenlandic for beginners! qujanarsuaq (Thank you) Aap, ilaana (yes) Naak Qalasersuaq? (where is the North Pole?) Asavinga? (do you love me?) Ataaseq, marluk, pingasut (one, two, three) illillu (you re welcome) Naamik (nej) Qalasersuaq pikaniippoq (the North Pole is up there) Asavakkit! (I love you!) Sisamat, tallimat, arfinillit (four, five, six)