Greenland is about 50 times the size of Denmark and sits right next to Canada, yet it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. We trace how that happened: Erik the Red and the vanished Norse, Hans Egede and Denmark-Norway in 1721, the 1814 Treaty of Kiel, Norway's 1931 claim and the 1933 world court ruling, World War Two, the secret 1946 US offer of $100 million in gold, and the road from colony to home rule (1979) and self-government (2009).

We also cover the recent period, from 2019 to the US-Denmark-Greenland defense agreement signed on 22 September 2026, and what is still unresolved as of mid-October 2026. All facts are sourced; map routes and the outline of Erik the Red's Land are approximate.

CHAPTERS
0:00 A tiny kingdom, a giant island
0:30 Mostly ice, people on the edge
1:02 Erik the Red and the lost Norse
1:42 Hans Egede and Denmark-Norway
2:09 1814, Norway and the world court
2:53 World War Two and the gold offer
3:42 Thule, then self-rule
4:27 Fish and the block grant
4:51 Washington comes back
5:46 What is still unresolved

SOURCES (links in the pinned comment)
• Statistics Greenland – Greenland in Figures 2026
• Statistics Greenland – Population estimates (Jan 2026)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Greenland (summary)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Denmark (summary)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Greenland
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Greenland: History
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Greenland Ice Sheet
• National Snow and Ice Data Center – Ice sheet quick facts
• Global Affairs Canada – Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark, together with Greenland, reach historic agreement (14 June 2022)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Erik the Red
• National Museum of Denmark – Prehistory of Greenland: The Norse
• National Museum of Denmark – Prehistory of Greenland: Thule culture
• Smithsonian Magazine (7 Apr 2022) – Why did the Vikings abandon their most successful settlement in Greenland?
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Hans Egede
• Encyclopaedia Britannica – Treaty of Kiel
• International Court of Justice – PCIJ Series A/B listing
• PCIJ – Legal Status of Eastern Greenland, Judgment (Series A/B No. 53, full text copy)
• US Department of State, Office of the Historian – FRUS 1941 vol. II, doc. 40 (Kauffmann to Hull, 13 Apr 1941)
• Department of State Bulletin (via ibiblio) – Agreement Relating to the Defense of Greenland, 9 April 1941
• US Department of State, Office of the Historian – FRUS 1947 vol. III, doc. 414
• NPR (via WLRN), 22 Aug 2019 – Fact check: did Harry Truman really try to buy Greenland?
• Anchorage Daily News (Washington Post), 16 Aug 2019 – Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland. So did the Truman administration
• UK House of Commons Library – The new US–Denmark–Greenland agreement (29 Sep 2026)
• US Air Force / Space Force – Thule Air Base gets new name
• Meddelelser om Grønland: Man & Society – Phasing out the colonial status of Greenland
• Library of Congress, In Custodia Legis (2019) – Greenland's National Day, the Home Rule Act 1979 and the Act on Self-Government 2009
• Prime Minister's Office of Denmark (Statsministeriet) – Greenland
• Reuters (via Ahram Online), 16 Aug 2019 – Greenland tells Trump it is open for business but not for sale
• Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour), 21 Aug 2019 – Trump cancels Denmark visit after prime minister dismisses Greenland talk
• Associated Press (via WTTW), 7 Jan 2025 – Trump refuses to rule out use of military force to take control of Greenland
• FOX Television Stations with AP, 28 Mar 2025 – Vance redirects visit to US military base in Greenland
• Al Jazeera, 21 Jan 2026 – Trump drops tariff threat, says he won't take Greenland by force
• AFP (via Newstalk ZB), 22 Jan 2026 – Trump announces Greenland 'framework', backing off force and tariffs
• ArcticToday, 26 May 2026 – Greenland talks with US and Denmark remain deadlocked
• Associated Press (via Action News Jax), 22 Sep 2026 – Trump signs US-Denmark-Greenland agreement
• Al Jazeera, 18 Sep 2026 – Trump says deal with Denmark gives US 'permanent control' over Greenland
• ArcticToday, 12 Oct 2026 – 'Our country has been under threat,' Greenland's foreign minister says as defense deal advances
• The Copenhagen Post, 13 Oct 2026 – Greenland opposition seeks referendum on new US defence agreement
• Reuters (via RCI Eye on the Arctic), 13 Oct 2026 – Greenland lawmakers signal support for Trump security deal
• Sjællandske Nyheder (Ritzau), 6 Oct 2026 – Regeringen tager fat på USA-aftale

Historical regions and physical zones drawn on the map are approximate.
Imagery: NASA Earth Observatory Blue Marble; Sentinel-2 cloudless (s2maps.eu) by EOX IT Services GmbH, contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016 (CC BY 4.0). Borders and lakes: Natural Earth. Music: original.

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