Why is Greenland part of Denmark? Greenland (2,166,086 square kilometres, Statistics Greenland) is about 50 times the size of Denmark (about 43,600 square kilometres). On July 3, 1721, the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, backed by the king of Denmark-Norway, arrived to start a mission and a trading colony among the Inuit already living there; in 1728 the colony moved to the mainland, where Nuuk (then Godthåb) stands today. When Denmark had to cede Norway to Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel (January 14, 1814), it kept Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. In 1931 Norway proclaimed sovereignty over part of East Greenland, which it called Eirik Raudes Land; on April 5, 1933 the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague ruled that Denmark held sovereignty over all of Greenland. On December 14, 1946, US Secretary of State James Byrnes offered Denmark $100 million in gold for Greenland. Denmark did not want to sell, and the offer stayed secret until a Danish newspaper reported it in 1991. In 1953 Denmark's constitution ended Greenland's status as a colony and made it a Danish county. Greenland got home rule in 1979 and self-government in 2009. It is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the 2009 Self-Government Act sets out how it can become independent if Greenlanders decide to. In 2025 and 2026 US President Donald Trump said again that the United States should own Greenland (CNN, January 7, 2026); Greenland's prime minister said on January 13, 2026 that Greenland is not for sale. On September 22, 2026 the United States, Denmark and Greenland signed a new defence agreement in New York; Denmark's prime minister said it respects the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenland's right to self-determination.

Graphics: original map animations (our own drawings; the area Norway claimed in 1931 is approximate, and size comparisons use an equal-area view). Map data: Natural Earth.

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Script researched and fact-checked against the sources below. Narration: AI voice (ElevenLabs).

Sources:
Statistics Greenland: Geography, Greenland's area (checked October 13, 2026)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark: Denmark in brief (checked October 13, 2026)
Visit Greenland (2021): 300 Years: Hans Egede's Mission and Legacy in Greenland
Britannica: Treaty of Kiel (checked October 12, 2026)
Permanent Court of International Justice: Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (Denmark v. Norway), judgment of April 5, 1933
CNN (January 7, 2026): The US has tried to acquire Greenland before
nordics.info, Aarhus University (Simon Mølholm Olesen, 2020): The Danish decolonisation of Greenland, 1945-54
Prime Minister's Office of Denmark: Greenland and the Act on Greenland Self-Government (checked October 12, 2026)
The World (January 14, 2026): 'Greenland is not for sale,' says territory's prime minister
Al Jazeera (September 22, 2026): US signs 'tremendous' security deal with Denmark and Greenland
CBS News (September 22, 2026): Trump signs Greenland deal giving U.S. broad military authority on the island