Does anyone actually LIVE in Greenland?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

just wondering, apart from a few small fishing villages (which i still dont understand, i mean, there are fish in WARM places too ya know) and scinetific posts, is there any real point to Greenland, aside from the whole glacier thing?

 

[The Yankee]

Why does this belong in History?

And according to the CIA Factbook, 56,361 people lived in Greenland, July 2006 (?) estimate.

So it's covered by ice...what of it?

 

[Verbose]

The Inuit certainly consider it Home.

 

[Stefan Haertel]

It's not exclusively ice. Big parts of the coastal area are ice-free and have their share of vegetation in the summer. There's more than just fish to get there too. It may not be the most hospitable land out there, but it certainly allows some settling. There's also a pretty flourishing Inuit culture on Greenland.
And to make it somewhat historical now, it's been colonised by Vikings for a while (I even think there are still descendants of them living there, but I'm not sure about that).

 

[luiz]

And to make it somewhat historical now, it's been colonised by Vikings for a while (I even think there are still descendants of them living there, but I'm not sure about that).

That's something I am curious about.
Are greenladers mostly scandinavian or inuit? Or mixed?

 

[Stefan Haertel]

The majority of the Greenlanders are Inuit. According to the Fischer World Almanach 2003, 11,2% of the population was European in 2001. What I don't know is if these Europeans are descendants of the Viking settlers or of people who arrived later on. My guess is that it's a little bit of both.

 

[mrtn]

The European greenlanders are not descenants of the vikings that settled Greenland, but rather descendants of the Danish colonials who came there later.
The viking descendants died out sometime during the middle ages, cause unknown.

 

[Kafka2]

The original Viking settlers died out due to climatic change which caused temperatures to fall. Their agricultural cultures, and wollen clothes, weren't well-suited to the increasingly harsh climate. The Inuit moved in and took over.

 

[Verbose]

The original Viking settlers died out due to climatic change which caused temperatures to fall. Their agricultural cultures, and wollen clothes, weren't well-suited to the increasingly harsh climate. The Inuit moved in and took over.

There's a pirate-raids-theory as well. The climatic one certainly has more followers tody though.

 

[mrtn]

I seem to remember something about a archeological digging in an old Greenland church, where they found traces of violence, a "last stand".

BTW, Kafka, did you give up on your blog?

 

[Xanikk999]

just wondering, apart from a few small fishing villages (which i still dont understand, i mean, there are fish in WARM places too ya know) and scinetific posts, is there any real point to Greenland, aside from the whole glacier thing?

The question is what ever would compel you to WANT to live in greenland. Get out and visit the world. I wouldnt want to be some nomadic ice fisher my whole life.

 

[History_Buff]

Some people go North to fish because the oceans in warm places have been out fished Inuit have also lived in the far North for centuries.

And all save a handful of Viking Greenlanders died in the High Middle Ages, mostly from a cooling trend eliminating thier pasture land. While it's concievable they could have fished like Norsemen of Europe, Sheltand or Orkney, they didn't. That, on top of the fact that they were so far from home, which they still felt cultural ties to, caused them to either die or leave the Island.

 

[Urederra]

The other question is "why is it called Greenland?"

And about fishing. Gases are more soluble in cold solvents than in hot solvents, therefore cold waters have more oxygen than warm waters, so most kinds of fishes, specially big ones, prefer cold waters.

 

[Mongoloid Cow]

The other question is "why is it called Greenland?"

Because when the Viking chief first settled on Greenland wanted colonists, he gave it a name which would be irresistable to Viking settlers.

BTW: Am I the only person who thinks this thread was started as a bit of a joke? I mean look at the OP.

 

[Verbose]

The other question is "why is it called Greenland?"

And about fishing. Gases are more soluble in cold solvents than in hot solvents, therefore cold waters have more oxygen than warm waters, so most kinds of fishes, specially big ones, prefer cold waters.

PR.

Erik the Red (father of Leif Eriksson) after having been outlawed on Iceland settled there in 962. (He went there as it had been discovered by a man named Gunnbjörn around 930.)

In order to attract prospective settlers for his new community he gave it a nice name.

Iceland is the opposite; first Scandinavian to find it thought it as a real hell-hole, hence the name.

 

[Snow]

Didn't Greenland have a warmer climate around the time Erik the Red settled there? I remember reading somthing about a Medieval warm period. Might that account for why Erik labled it Greenland? My memories failing me here, I can't remember the web address of the article.

EDIT:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period I'll just use the info WIKI has on it for now. I know I read a more in depth article about it somwhere though. I believe it was cited as an example to dismiss the theory of human activity producing global warming or somthing of that sort.

 

[Andu Indorin]

Let's not forget Thule Air Force Base, part of the "first line" of defense in the Cold War ...

 

[History_Buff]

Didn't Greenland have a warmer climate around the time Erik the Red settled there? I remember reading somthing about a Medieval warm period. Might that account for why Erik labled it Greenland? My memories failing me here, I can't remember the web address of the article.

EDIT:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period I'll just use the info WIKI has on it for now. I know I read a more in depth article about it somwhere though. I believe it was cited as an example to dismiss the theory of human activity producing global warming or somthing of that sort.

Yeah, there were several arable sections of land that were farmed and ranched by Viking Settlers. That's not possible today, due to both climatic change, and environmental damage by the Settlers.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

No this wasnt a joke, people. You see all this stuff on here i didnt know, hence why i asked in hte first place. Im rather surprised to find there is vegetation in Greenland, I obviously had the impression it was a big ice cube. Being a history major, i think its rather important i know these things. I appreciate the feedback too, people.

 

[bombshoo]

The Vikings didnt completley die out..I remember reading that a DNA test on the Inuits showed some mixing, particuarly in a certian town I cant remember which, I have to see if I can find it.