Greenland
Written by Sam H.
Introduction
Surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland
is the largest island in the world. It is more then three times bigger then Texas. It's capital is
Nuuk (pronounced Nook) and is one of the smallest capitals in the world, having
a population of 16,583 people (2013 count).
The current population of Greenland is 56,928 people which is a very
small amount considering Kentucky alone has 4,339,367 people and isn't even
half the size! Greenland means Land
Of People. The
inhabitants originated from Central Asia. Greenland is the land of sealing, whaling, hunting, and
fishing.
History
In the tenth century, Erick the Red discovered Greenland
after being banished from Iceland
for three years for murder. He then went back to Iceland to tell about this new land.
Erick and 25 other ships sailed to Greenland;
only 14 ships made it. In the 11th century Leif Erickson, Erick the Red's son,
came to Greenland, and brought Christianity to Greenland.
The first church was built soon after; it was called Tjodhilde's Church. You
can still see the church today for a reconstruction of it was built. The
Vikings lived in Greenland for 500 years then,
mysteriously they disappeared for reasons unknown to people. Qaqortoq town has
been inhabited for 4,300 years. Dog sleds and kayaks were the way of
transportation in Greenland back then. Their
kayaks would be made by stretching seal skins over the bottom to make it water
proof. This job was for both men and women. In 1946 America
offered to buy Greenland, but they refused to
sell it.
Culture
The
people of Greenland are very peaceful and
friendly people, always open to visitors, and they have never been to war. They
are also very relaxed and don't make a big fuss over problems, but just find
out how to solve them. Adventure is their specialty. They love the outdoors and
swimming. Their main religion is Evangelical Lutheran. The official language is
Greenlandic and Danish, but English is also widely known. They use Danish
money. The traditional clothes of the Greenlanders are not very stylish but are
very bright and colorful with lots of design. Their clothing is made out of thick
animal furs to keep them warm in the frigid weather. They can make a gown out of animal skins. Now days
their clothing is a lot like ours, except with extra warmth. The traditional
main ingredients in Greenland are any meat
that they get from hunting. If you were a guest at a Greenlander's home, you
would most likely get some traditional food and lots of it. Ingredients from Greenland are usually organic. Coffee is one of their
favorite drinks. Hunting and fishing are a big thing in Greenland.
When a kid gets his or her first catch, it is celebrated like a birthday.
Kayaks were always used for hunting, but now they will use more efficient
boats. Kids learn at a young age to kayak. Some of the things you can hunt are
reindeer (Caribou), musk ox, seals, wild pigs, birds, and many other animals.
For fishing, there are lots of different fish and many kinds of whales. People
hunt in the Greenland
National Park. The Greenland National Park
is the largest park in the world, being about the size of France and Spain together. It is mostly
hunters that travel the park, for it is all ice and snow and glaciers. It is
also full of animals, which is why hunters hunt there. The world ice golf
championships is a really cool event in March. The championships have been
going on since 1999. The golfers will go through a course cut into the ice and
snow. On the first day the golfers get some time to get familiar with the
course. It is a 36 hole course that is played over the time of two days. They
have to use red or green balls so that they will not get lost in the white
snow. Another sport played in East Greenland
is the Football (soccer) Championship. The game starts in the middle of summer
and is played over 2 weeks. People all over Greenland
come to watch. It is a social event. Football (soccer) is very important to the
people in Greenland. The most celebrated
festivals in Greenland are Christmas, New Year,
and National Day. Christmas: December 25, the people of Greenland
have thousands of candles lit and Red stars. You can see them in every home and
building. Families will cut out decorations and eat good food. Children will
sing in front of houses and receive treats. On Christmas Eve the children will
dance around the Christmas tree. All the decoration and trees cannot be taken
down until January 6, the 12 night. New Years: New Years is celebrated twice in
Greenland, first on December 31st at 8pm, the
Danish celebration. Then at midnight for the Greenland
celebration. There is food, drinks, fireworks, and singing. The ground will be
covered in snow. The Return Of The Sun: In Greenland the winters are long and
the sun does not come back into the sky for months. So on January 13th, when
the sun finally comes up, families and students on dogsleds go out and
celebrate the return of the sun with singing, cake, and coffee. National Day:
National Day on June 21st is the most celebrated festival in summer. It was
founded in 1983. All the towns in Greenland
celebrate it. There are many things going on in the celebration. There is dancing,
singing, kayaking, speeches, and a church service. The flag is hoisted up.
Museums and other places host special events for National Day. Their only TV
channel, KNR, play reports from other towns. The people wear traditional
clothes, and sing the national anthem.
Geography
Greenland has a very
interesting landscape. It is about 836,330 square miles. The highest point in
Greenland is Gunnbjorn
Peak, which is 12,139 feet
high. Greenland is mostly flat, but has a
narrow mountain coast. 80% of Greenland is covered in ice and snow; and a chunk
about the size of Sweden
is ice free. All the cities are built on the coast where it is ice free. The
climate is sub arctic; cool summers of a high of 50 degrees in July, and
freezing winters with the normal temperature in February of -20 degrees. In
south Greenland, summer is really lush and
green; the temperature in summer can rise to 68 degrees. There is hot springs that have a
temperature of 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit! So when you are really cold in the
winter, just jump into a nearby hot spring. Because of the cold temperature in Greenland, gardens do not grow well, so greenhouses are
used to grow food. Greenland has some of the
best air, but it is dry so you need to drink more water. Greenland
has the fourth lowest temperature in the world of -87 degrees Fahrenheit! That
is VERY cold! In the month of May day 25, the sun does not set until July 25, a
very long day. Besides stars and planets, the sky in Greenland
is filled with the northern lights.
Animals
Land Animals: There are many cool animals in Greenland. Some of them are polar bears, arctic fox,
mountain hares, musk ox, reindeer, and arctic wolves. The arctic wolf is a
white color and is rare. You can find them in northern Greenland
in a small area in ice and snow with little to no vegetation. Other animals are
more widely spread over Greenland. The polar
bear is the national animal of Greenland, and
is very cool. They are not seen in populated areas, and are the biggest
predators in Greenland. Their fur is white,
and they eat seals, birds, and summer vegetation. They do not hibernate. Reindeer (Caribou) are hunted in Greenland a lot.
The musk ox is also hunted. Birds: There are around 235 different species of
birds. Some are white-tailed eagles (they are the largest bird of prey), sea
eagles, fulmars, eider (which is a sea duck), and the ptarmigan. Sea animals:
Whales are very common in Greenland, having 15
species of them. Some of the species of whales in Greenland
are the humpback, beluga, narwhal, and bowhead. Blue whales and killer whales
also are seen but very rarely. The humpback whale is really big, weighing up to
30 tons, but they are still very graceful. Five species of seals live in Greenland and you can see them anywhere on the shores.
There are ringed seal, harp seal, hooded seal, bearded seal, and the common
seal. The bearded and common seals are somewhat rare, but none of them are
going extinct. The ringed seal is the smallest and weighs up to 220 pounds!
Walrus also live there, they can weigh up to a ton and have tusks that grow up
to 50 centimeters long. There are also many fish, such as the arctic salmon.
Plants
Greenland is an icy land, but is a lot greener than you would
think. Many flowers, herbs, mosses, and such grow during the short summer.
There are not very many trees because they do not have much time to grow. But
there are some small trees. One of them is a grey leaf willow, it grows to the
height of a man. The grass is lush and growing all over the land are 500
different kinds of flowering plants. Some are: Greenlandic blue bell, poppies,
buttercups, and cotton flowers. They also have bog blueberries and
blackberries, a special ingredient for pies and desserts. They have a lot of
flowers that we have here in America.
The national flower in Greenland is the
Niviavsiaq flower. It's name means young woman, and is also called The Dwarf
Fireweed.
Conclusion
So, all in all, Greenland
is an awesome country that I would like to visit someday. When you think of Greenland, you probably think of cold and terrible, but
it is not all that, it is lush and green and beautiful.
