GREENLAND: TRUMP’S TREASURE ISLAND

Greenland holds some of the world’s largest untapped deposits of minerals like neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium. Significant reserves of nickel, copper, zinc, and cobalt have also been identified.

- ANURAG AWASTHI

Post Venezuela, Donald Trump has revived his controversial territorial ambitions for bringing Greenland into US territorial control. While it has rattled many in Europe, the overall aim could be prepositioning for the “Arctic Passage”.

Greenland lies strategically on the Arctic Circle and its importance to the overall security matrix is indisputable. It is located like a wedge between North America and Europe, straddling the GIUK gap—the maritime corridor linking the Arctic to the Atlantic.

Its history is defined by successive waves of Paleo-Inuit migrations from North America, beginning around 2500 BCE, and the medieval arrival of Norse settlers from Iceland led by Erik the Red in 982 CE. “Thule”, ancestors of today’s Inuit successfully established themselves across the island, but Norse colonies vanished in the 15th century due to shifting climates and economic isolation.

Danish influence began in 1721 with the missionary Hans Egede, making the island a formal Danish colony in 1814 and eventually an integral part of Denmark in 1953. Greenland eventually adopted Home Rule in 1979 and expanded self-government in 2009. The indigenous Inuit constitute approximately 90% of Greenland’s total population of roughly 57,000 people. The indigenous population, who generally refer to themselves as Kalaallit, is divided into three distinct ethnographic groups based on geography and dialects.