Interesting facts about Greenland & Greenlandic language

Interesting Greenland facts:

• Greenland is the largest island in the world and one of the least populated areas in the world.
• Almost 80 percent of the country is covered by an ice cap, yet the ice-free area is about the size of Sweden.
• It is estimated that only about 60,000 people live there.
• The first settlers in Greenland probably died out, but there then followed several waves of immigration from North America.
• In the 13th century the Inuit immigrated from Asia and their descendants keep the centuries-old traditions of their ancestors alive.
• In the translation from Old Norse, the name Greenland sounds confusing at first, because Erik the Red, who was sent into exile in Greenland, called his new home grassland to attract new settlers.
• There is actually earth under the almost 3,000 metres of ice, so Greenland must have been green a few million years ago.

Greenlanders love to fly and love languages

The midnight sun is a major visitor attraction and people come from all over the world to see the sun, which never quite sets in Greenland, between 25 May and 25 July.

The capital of Greenland, Nuuk, is worth a visit, as the many cafés, museums and boutiques are a pleasant and unexpected find, given its relatively small size. In addition, it is picturesquely located at the foot of a mountain and at the mouth of a fjord system, and day trips attract a lot of visitors. Nuuk, like all towns in Greenland, has roads in the city centre, but, as with everywhere in Greenland they stop at the end of the town and do not connect to other locations.

Air travel is the preferred method of travel and transport in Greenland. In the summer months there are approximately six international flights a week into Greenland compared to in winter when there are only four flights a week. There are more than 14 airports in Greenland, the largest of which is Kangerlussuaq.

Although West Greenlandic is generally accepted as the official language, children in Greenland also learn Danish and English. As a result, they grow up trilingual and this benefits tourism. In recent years, more and more visitors have come to the world's largest island.

The terms kayak and igloo originate from Greenlandic and have been adopted by many other languages.

We offer translations from and into Greenlandic. Please contact us if you have any questions!