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LAST UPDATE | 49 mins ago
GREENLAND HAS BEEN catapulted into the public attention in recent weeks after US President Donald Trump announced that he plans to acquire the Danish territory.
During a lengthy address to world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump repeatedly returned to his plans to annex Greenland – a nation he referred to seven times as a “piece of ice”.
“[Greenland is a] big, beautiful piece of ice. It’s hard to call it land,” Trump said.
“It’s a big piece of ice. We saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere. And then after the war, which we won. We won it big. Without us right now, you’d all be speaking German and little Japanese, perhaps.
“After the war, we gave Greenland to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? We did it. We gave it back. How ungrateful are they now?”
He said he would not take over the territory by force.
Later, he said, “Now what I’m asking for is a piece of ice, cold and poorly located, that can play a vital role in world peace and world protection. It’s a very small ask compared to what we have given them [Europe] for many, many decades.”
Trump’s insistence that the US needs to take control of Greenland is partially due to the US Space Force base, Pituffik Space Base, that is located on the northwest coast of Greenland.
The space base supports missile warning, missile defence, and space surveillance missions. Greenland’s location between North America and the Arctic means it is advantageously positioned, militarily.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that if the US does not act to takeover Greenland, it will be under threat by Russia and China.
There is also increased interest in Greenland’s uncovered mineral reserves.
It’s not the first time Trump’s expressed an interest in the land – he brought up the potential purchase in 2019 during his first term, an idea that was then labelled “absurd” – but he has been much more forceful this term.
But despite Trump’s assertions, Greenland is not actually a “piece of ice”.
The Danish territory spans 2,166m square km – about the size of western Europe, or six times the size of Germany. Its proximity to the Arctic means that much of it is covered in ice.
Approximately 80% is covered in ice and most of its 56,000 people live on the south-western coast, around the capital of Nuuk. Most of the Greenlandic population is made up of indigenous Inuit people. The country’s official language is Greenlandic.
Its main industry is fishing and it is supported financially by Denmark.
Greenland handles most of its domestic affairs, but uses the Danish kroner and Denmark handles its defence and foreign affairs.
Geographically, Greenland is located in the continent of North America. It is not part of the US nor is it part of the EU or Europe, but its citizens are Danish, meaning that despite the territory’s positioning, its citizens are EU citizens.
Europe has pledged allegiance to Greenland and said it will support the territory amid Trump’s planned takeover, leading Trump to say he would be levying tariffs against eight European nations.
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