Greenland might be the world’s biggest island, yet it still feels like a blank spot on many people’s mental map. From the outside, it’s easy to picture it as nothing but ice and silence. Look closer, though, and you find a place layered with culture, history, and scenery that shifts dramatically from one coastline to the next. It’s an Arctic destination with far more personality than its frosty reputation suggests.
By the numbers alone, Greenland is staggering. It covers around 2.16 million square kilometres, and close to 80 percent of its land is buried beneath a massive ice sheet that can reach roughly 3,500 metres in thickness. Even so, the ice free portion is said to be about the size of Sweden, which helps explain why the island can feel both immense and strangely empty at the same time. Beneath that stark beauty sits geological wealth too, including rare minerals and estimates that have put oil and gas reserves in the tens of billions of barrels, though extracting them is another story in such harsh conditions.
Nature is never just background here. Greenland is home to what’s often described as the largest national park on Earth, spanning the island’s northeast. One of the Northern Hemisphere’s most active glaciers, Sermeq Kujalleq, feeds the Ilulissat Icefjord, a celebrated UNESCO site and a reminder that the landscape is constantly in motion. There are also unexpected comforts like hot springs, including the famous spot on Uunartoq where you can soak outdoors in naturally warmed water while the air stays crisp. Trees are scarce, and any real “forest” feeling is mostly limited to the south.
@handluggageonly A day in Illulissat in Greenland around the most gigantic icebergs you ever did see #Illulissat #Greenland #Travel #Icebergs #Glacier ♬ original sound – Hand Luggage Only
The island’s name has its own twist. Greenland translates to “Green land,” and it’s commonly linked to Erik the Red, who reportedly used an appealing name to draw settlers. Today the local identity is rooted in Inuit heritage, and you’ll often hear Kalaallit used as well, while “Eskimo” is widely viewed as outdated. Historians place the first arrivals around 2500 BCE, with Viking settlements appearing in the 10th century before fading by the end of the 15th, leaving ruins that can still be visited in the south.
Modern Greenland is also shaped by geography and politics. It’s an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with home rule granted in 1979 and expanded in 2009. Its strategic location has long attracted outside attention, including a well known US offer in 1946 and later curiosity revived in the Trump era, tied to defence, shipping routes, and resources. With a population of about 56,000 and around a quarter living in Nuuk, it has one of the lowest population densities anywhere.
Daily life is practical and coastal, because nearly every settlement sits by the sea. There are no roads linking towns, and the longest road is only about 35 kilometres, so travel happens by plane, boat, helicopter, snowmobile, or dog sled. The main international airport is in Kangerlussuaq rather than Nuuk, thanks to steadier weather, and access is typically via flights from Denmark or Iceland. Culture fills in the rest, from the Kalaallisut language, which gave the world words like kayak and igloo, to carved tupilak figures and lively music festivals in Nuuk and Sisimiut.
If Greenland is on your radar, tell me what fascinates you most about it in the comments.
