Greenland has the right to leave Denmark. It's written into Danish law. So how did a small European country end up with the world's biggest island, and why does Greenland keep choosing to stay?

0:00 Greenland can leave
1:01 Norway's island
2:33 Holding on
3:15 The way out
4:07 Three reasons it stays
6:13 The answer

Sources:
- Act on Greenland Self-Government (2009), chapter 8, via International IDEA: https://www.idea.int/node/107705
- Denmark's 2009 notification to the UN on the Self-Government Act: https://stm.dk/media/zbalffp3/10-notifikation-af-7-oktober-2009-til-fn-s-generalsekretaer-om-selvstyreloven.pdf
- Greenland (Wikipedia; area, population, 1953, home rule): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland
- History of Greenland (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Greenland
- Treaty of Kiel (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kiel
- Permanent Court of International Justice, Legal Status of Eastern Greenland (1933): https://www.worldcourts.com/pcij/eng/decisions/1933.04.05_greenland.htm
- The 1946 US offer (AP via WRAL): https://www.wral.com/the-us-has-tried-to-acquire-greenland-before-and-failed/22297183/
- Block grant (Altinget): https://www.altinget.dk/arktis/artikel/296182-groenland-faar-ny-bonus-til-bloktilskuddet-paa-finansloven-faa-overblikket-over-de-mange-pengestroemme-her
- US State Department, 2025 Investment Climate Statement, Kingdom of Denmark: https://www.state.gov/reports/2025-investment-climate-statements/denmark
- European Parliament, EU-Greenland relations in fisheries (2025): https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2025)769534
- Verian opinion poll, Greenland, January 2025: https://www.veriangroup.com/news-and-insights/opinion-poll-greenland-2025
- Al Jazeera, "We choose Denmark" (13 Jan 2026): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/13/we-choose-denmark-over-joining-us-says-greenland-pm-nielsen
- Greenland crisis (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_crisis
- 2026 in Greenland (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_Greenland
- AP via Africanews, "Hands off Greenland" protests (17 Jan 2026): https://www.africanews.com/amp/2026/01/17/thousands-join-anti-trump-hands-off-greenland-protests-in-denmark/
- ITV, the US-Denmark-Greenland deal (Sep 2026): https://www.itv.com/news/2026-09-19/us-and-denmark-reach-deal-over-security-in-greenland-after-annexation-threats
- NBC News, the US-Denmark-Greenland security deal (Oct 2026): https://www.nbcnews.com/world/greenland/us-denmark-greenland-security-deal-trump-threats-buy-nato-europe-cfr-rcna601574
- Distances: great-circle calculation. Per-person figure: 4.5 billion kroner / 56,831 people / 7.46 kroner per euro.

Earth imagery: NASA Earth Observatory (Blue Marble). Map data: Natural Earth. Flags: Wikimedia Commons (public domain).