Greenland title history. Missing Vikings of Greenland. Discovery of Greenland and America

The history of Greenland is the history of survival in the extreme conditions of the Arctic climate. About 84% of the island's surface is occupied by a glacier, which limits the area of \u200b\u200bhuman settlement to narrow coastal stripes. The climate is arctic.

Greenland was unknown to Europeans until the discovery inX century Norwegian Vikings, who had recently settled in Iceland. Arctic peoples inhabited Greenland long before the discovery of the island by Europeans, although the island was depopulated before the arrival of the Vikings - the ancestors of modern Inuit began to settle in the north of Greenland only inXIII century. Inuit are the only people who have continuously inhabited Greenland for centuries; however inXVIII century Denmark, taking advantage of the priority of the Vikings, declared the island its possession and began its colonization.

During World War II, Greenland was de facto separated from the kingdom and became close to the United States and Canada. At the end of the war, Denmark regained control of the island, but abolished its colonial status; Greenland was proclaimed an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and in 1979 received wide autonomy in internal affairs. Greenland is the only state entity that has withdrawn from the European Union, although it retains the status of an associated state.

The history of ancient Greenland is the history of the repeated migration of the Paleo-Eskimos from the Arctic islands of North America. A common feature of all these cultures was the need to survive in extremely adverse conditions of the most remote edge of the Arctic at the very border of a range suitable for human existence. Even small climate fluctuations turned hardly favorable conditions into incompatible with human life and led to the disappearance of inadequate cultures and the devastation of entire regions as a result of migration and extinction.

Viking settlements

Around 980, the Viking Eric Rauda (Red) was sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland for the murder of a neighbor. He decided to sail west and get to the land, which in clear weather can be seen from the tops of the mountains of western Iceland. She lay at a distance of 280 km from the Icelandic coast; according to the sagas, earlier in the 900s the Norwegian Gunbjörn sailed there. Eric sailed west in 982 with his family, servants, and cattle, but floating ice prevented him from landing; he was forced to go around the southern limb of the island and landed in a place near Julianshob (Kakortok). During the three years of his exile, Eric did not meet a single person on the island, although during his travels along the coast he reached the island of Disco, far to the northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.

At the end of his exile, Eric Red returned to Iceland in 986 and began to encourage local Vikings to relocate to new lands. He called the island Greenland (Nor. Grønland), which literally means "Green Land". Controversy continues around the appropriateness of the name; some people think that in those days the climate in these places was mild due to the medieval climatic optimum, and the coastal areas of the south-west of the island were indeed covered with dense grassy vegetation; others believe that this name was chosen for the sole purpose of attracting more settlers to the island.

According to the sagas, Eric the Red sailed from Iceland with 25 ships, of which only 14 with 350 settlers reached Greenland, and founded the first European settlement Eystribyggd (Eastern settlement) on the island. The evidence of the sagas is confirmed by the results of a radiocarbon analysis of archaeological finds that were found on the site of the former Brattalid (now Kassiarsuk), the residence of Eric the Red near modern Narssarssacu (?), And date back to about 1000 A.D. e.

During its heyday, the colony numbered from 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, who first inhabited two settlements: East (Eystribyggd) on the site of modern Kakortok at the southern end of the island, where the estate of Eric Red Brattaglid was located, and West (Vestribyggd) on the site of modern Gothob. The territory was divided between dwellings, of which over 400 are known. It was a fairly large colony (for comparison, now the population of all of Greenland is about 56,000 people).

Its economic basis was trade with walrus tusks with Europe; hemp, twine, sheep, cattle skin and seals were also exported; it is possible that stockfish (cod), which forms the basis of the economy of modern Greenland, was also exported. In Greenland there are no forests at all, and therefore the colony was completely dependent on the supply of timber, which was especially needed for shipbuilding, from Norway and Iceland. Also, iron products and some food products were imported from Europe. Merchant ships from Iceland visited the colony every year, sometimes staying here for the winter, Norwegian ships from the continent appeared less often.

At the beginning of the XI century, Christianity began to penetrate into Greenland. According to the sagas, he was brought here by Leif Erickson, the second son of Eric the Red, who visited Norway and was converted to Christianity by the Norwegian king Olaf I, and then was sent back to Greenland to spread Christianity among the local Vikings. On the way back, Leif Erickson lost his course and got to Vinland (most experts identify him with the island of Newfoundland). Returning to Greenland, Leif began to preach Christianity and converted his mother to him, who built the first church on the island in the estate of Eric the Red Brattaglidi.

The Greenland colony was an independent republic until 1261, when its population swore allegiance to the Norwegian king: in exchange for paying taxes, Norway pledged to provide the colony with the necessary materials, sending a commercial expedition to the island every year; even after that, Greenland continued to enjoy considerable internal autonomy and live by its own laws. In 1380, Norway entered into a personal union with the Danish kingdom, creating the basis for Danish claims on the island in the 18th century.

The deterioration of the climate, which began in the fourteenth century, impeded agriculture and animal husbandry on the island and contributed to accelerating the decline of the Greenland colony. The plague epidemic ("Black Death") in the middle of the XIV century. devastated the island, reducing its population by half. When Norway, together with Iceland and Greenland, became part of Denmark, the conditions worsened even more: now only pirate ships visited the island. Around 1350, a Western settlement was abandoned; this may have contributed to the appearance of Inuit in these places - carriers of the Thule culture, which in 1379 had already approached the outskirts of the Eastern Settlement. In 1378, the bishopric of Gardari was abolished. The last written evidence of Greenland settlers — the church record of marriage — dates from 1408; from this date, no direct evidence exists. Apparently, the Scandinavian settlers completely disappeared from the island over the next 150 years. Danish missionaries who arrived in Greenland in the 18th century, hoping to find the descendants of former European settlers, met only Inuit here.

Alternative name - Kalaallit Nunaat (as the Inuit of Greenland call their country)

origin of name

The first inhabitants of Greenland were the descendants of modern Inuit (Eskimos). They called their country Kalaalit Nunaat, which means “land of people”. Greenland called this land the Norwegian explorer Eirikur Torvaldsson (also known as Eric the Red).

He sailed from the shores of Iceland in 982 AD. For the next three years he worked on agricultural land on the southern coast of Greenland. He returned to Iceland in 986, and began to agitate his compatriots to establish a settlement on the island. Subsequently, several colonies were founded in Greenland, but they did not last long. In 1605, Danish King Christian IV declared Greenland a part of his kingdom.

Until 1953, the island remained a colony of Denmark, then all the inhabitants of Greenland received Danish citizenship. In 1979, after a popular referendum, Greenland acquired the status of an autonomous unit. still continues to manage the island’s foreign policy.

The territory of Greenland consists of three administrative districts: Western Greenland (Chinaa in Greenlandic), East Greenland (Tuna) and Northern Greenland (Aubanna, or Tule district).

80% of the population of Greenland are Inuit and people of mixed Danish-Inuit origin. The modern culture of Greenland is based on European values, but, nevertheless, unique Inuit traditions are preserved in it.

Differences between cultures lead to tensions between people, but all Greenlanders are united by love for their native land, cold climate and isolation of the island from the rest of the world.

Country education

It is generally accepted that the first settlers landed on the shores of Greenland about 4,500-5,000 years ago (they probably came from Ellesmere Island). For unknown reasons, the first Greenlanders disappeared from the face of the Earth about 3,000 years ago.

After them, representatives of the excimos culture of Dorset settled on the island. They were hunters leading a nomadic lifestyle. They inhabited Greenland from 600 BC to 200 AD, and then they suffered the fate of their predecessors.

In the 10th century, the settlements of Thule spread on the territory of Greenland. As part of this culture, the first kayaks, harpoons, and sledges with sleds were invented. Anthropologists believe that the modern Eskimos of Greenland came from the Thule people.

The influence of the Thule culture spread throughout the island. At the same time, the Norwegians began exploring the coastline of Greenland. In 900, the Norwegian Gunnbjörn Ulfson became the first European to set foot on this harsh land. 80 years later, Eirikur Torvaldsson (Eric Red) founded the first settlements here. Around 1000, Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, began to spread the Christian faith among the population of Greenland.

Greenland National Identity

The culture of Greenland is a synthesis of Inuit and Danish traditions. Many Greenlanders are concerned about the increased influence of the West on their lives, which has been outlined in recent years. Work is underway to preserve the national identity of the Eskimo culture, which is an integral part of the identity of the Greenlandic culture as a whole.

Long-term relations between the island and Denmark led to a significant improvement in the material base, health care, and education. Most of the Greenlanders with European roots are very respectful towards maintaining the traditions of the Inuit culture.

Viking robbery and military campaigns in England and France, as well as expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea, during one of which, for example, 62 ships led by the legendary Haashtein in 895 reached Byzantium, do not fully characterize their achievements as sailors. The navigational art of the Vikings and the seaworthiness of their ships are evidenced by voyages ending in the settlement of Iceland and Greenland and the discovery of America.

The first Norwegians appeared on the Hebrides around 620. Almost 200 years later, in 800, they settled on the Faroe (“Sheep”) islands, and in 802 on the Orkney and Shetland. In 820 in Ireland they created a state, which was located in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Dublin, and lasted until 1170.

Information about Iceland to the Vikings was delivered by the Swede Gardar Swafarsson, who in 861 carried the inheritance of his wife from the Hebrides. During the transition, his ship carried by storm to the northern coast of Iceland, where he wintered with the crew. When in 872 Harald the Fair-haired by force created a great kingdom in Norway, Iceland became the goal for those Norwegians who did not want to submit to the king. It is believed that before 930, Iceland moved from 20,000 to 30,000 Norwegians. They brought household items, seeds, and pets with them. Fishing, farming and stockbreeding were the main occupations of the Vikings in Iceland.

Icelandic sagas that have come down to us, handed down from generation to generation and recorded only in the 13th and 14th centuries, are the most important sources of information about the Vikings. The sagas inform us of the Viking settlements in Greenland and the discovery of America, which they named Vinland.

So, in the saga about Eirik Raud (Ginger), recorded about 1200 by Howck Erlandsson, it says that in 983, Eirik, expelled from Iceland for three years for the murder, sailed in search of the country that Gunbjörn saw when he sailed in " West Sea. " Eirik the Red reached Greenland and settled there with a group of Icelanders. The settlement was called Brattalid. Bard Herulfsson also lived there. In 986, his son Bjarni sailed from Iceland with the intention of going to Greenland. During the voyage, he came across an unfamiliar land three times, until he finally found his father, who lived on the southern tip of Greenland. On his return to Norway, Bjarni spoke about his voyage at the court of King Eirik. The son of Eirik the Red - Leif Eriksson - bought a ship from Bjarni and sailed on it with 35 people to Brattalid. After careful preparation, they first repeated the journey of Bjarni to the Labrador Peninsula. Having reached it, they turned south and proceeded along the coast. According to the Greenlandic saga, recorded in 1387 by Jon Todarsson of Flateybuk, they reached the area that they named Vinland - Country of grapes. Wild grapes and maize grew rapidly there, salmon were found in rivers. The southern boundary of salmon distribution approximately corresponded to 41 ° latitude. The northern border of wild grapes passed around the 42nd parallel. Thus, in about 1000, Leif and his team reached the places where Boston is currently located (Fig. 1).

Leif's brother, Torvald, after his story on the same ship with 30 people, also reached Vinland, where he lived for two years. During one of the clashes with the locals, Torvald was mortally wounded, and the Vikings left the settlement. Later, Leif's second brother, Thorstein, on the same ship wanted to reach Vinland, but could not find this land.

On the coast of Greenland in a number of places there were settlements of Icelanders, up to 300 yards in total. Great difficulties for living there arose due to lack of forest. The forest grew on Labrador, which is closer to Greenland than Iceland, but sailing to Labrador Peninsula due to the harsh climate was dangerous. Therefore, the Vikings living in Greenland had to carry everything they needed from Europe on ships that looked like ships from Skullelev. This is confirmed by excavations of burials in Greenland, in which the remains of ships are also found. In the XIV century. Viking settlements in Greenland ceased to exist.

Notes:
In the XI century. Normans in addition to England captured Sicily and Southern Italy, having founded here at the beginning of the XII century. "Kingdom of both Sicilies." The author mentions exclusively the invasive and military campaigns of the Danes and Norwegians and says nothing about the Swedes, whose expansion was mainly aimed at Eastern Europe, including Russia.

The decisive battle between Harald and his opponents in Hafrsfjord occurred shortly before 900, and therefore there was no direct connection between the resettlement in Iceland and the political events in Norway.

There are currently about forty hypotheses about the location of Vinland. Equally indisputable is the hypothesis of the Norwegian ethnologist X. Ingstad, who in 1964 discovered the ruins of a settlement in Newfoundland that he defined as Vinland Normans. A number of scholars believe that this settlement belongs to the Eskimo Dorset culture. Moreover, in the sagas, Vinland’s climate is rated mild, which does not correspond to the harsh subarctic climate of Newfoundland.

Plan
Introduction
1 Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures
2 Viking settlements
2.1 The decline of the first colonies
2.1.1 Environmental degradation
2.1.2 Climate change
2.1.3 Feuds with neighbors
2.1.4 Contacts with Europe
2.1.5 Inability to adapt

3 Thule culture in Greenland
4 Danish colonization
5 Strategic Importance
6 Self-government
List of references

Introduction

History of Greenland. Currently, 84% of the island’s surface is occupied by a glacier, which limits the area of \u200b\u200bhuman settlement to narrow coastal stripes. The climate is arctic.

Greenland was unknown to Europeans until the discovery in the 10th century by Norwegian Vikings, who had recently settled in Iceland.

Arctic peoples inhabited Greenland long before the discovery of the island by Europeans, although the island was depopulated before the arrival of the Vikings - the ancestors of modern Inuit began to settle in the north of Greenland only in the 13th century. Inuit are the only people who have continuously inhabited Greenland for centuries; however, in the XVIII century, Denmark, taking advantage of the priority of the Vikings, declared the island its possession and began its colonization. During World War II, Greenland was separated from the kingdom and became close to the United States and Canada. At the end of the war, Denmark regained control of the island, but abolished its colonial status; Greenland was proclaimed an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and in 1979 received wide autonomy in internal affairs. Greenland is the only state entity that has withdrawn from the European Union, although it retains the status of an associated state.

1. Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures

Archaeologists distinguish four Paleo-Eskimo cultures in Greenland that existed before the Vikings discovered the island, but the terms of their existence are determined very approximately:

Sakkak culture: 2500 BC e. - 800 BC e. in the south of Greenland;

· Culture Independence I: 2400 BC e. - 1300 BC e. in the north of Greenland;

· Culture Independence II: 800 BC e. - 1 BC e. mainly in the north of Greenland;

· Early Dorset culture, Dorset I: 700 BC e. - 200 n. e. in the south of Greenland.

These cultures were not unique to Greenland. As a rule, they arose and developed in the territories of Arctic Canada and Alaska long before their penetration into Greenland, and could persist in other places in the Arctic after they disappeared from the island.

After the decline of culture, the island remained uninhabited for centuries. Bearers of the Inuit Tule culture, the ancestors of modern indigenous inhabitants of Greenland, began to penetrate the north of the island at the beginning of the XIII century.

2. Viking settlements

Around 980, the Viking Eric Rauda (Red) was sentenced to three years of exile from Iceland for the murder of a neighbor. He decided to sail west and get to the land, which in clear weather can be seen from the tops of the mountains of western Iceland. She lay at a distance of 280 km from the Icelandic coast; according to the sagas, earlier in the 900s the Norwegian Gunbjörn sailed there. Eric sailed west in 982 with his family, servants, and cattle, but floating ice prevented him from landing; he was forced to go around the southern limb of the island and landed in a place near Yulianehob (Kakortok). During the three years of his exile, Eric did not meet a single person on the island, although during his travels along the coast he reached the island of Disco, far to the northwest of the southern tip of Greenland.

During its heyday, the colony totaled from 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, who first inhabited two settlements: Vostochny ( Eystribyggd) on the site of modern Kakortok at the southern end of the island, where the estate of Eric the Red Brattalid was located, and Western ( Vestribyggd) on the site of modern Gothob. The territory was divided between dwellings, of which over 400 are known. It was a fairly large colony (for comparison, now the population of all of Greenland is about 56,000 people). Its economic basis was trade with walrus tusks with Europe; hemp, twine, sheep, cattle skin and seals were also exported; it is possible that stockfish (cod), which forms the basis of the economy of modern Greenland, was also exported. In Greenland there are no forests at all, and therefore the colony was completely dependent on the supply of timber, which was especially needed for shipbuilding, from Norway and Iceland. Also, iron products and some food products were imported from Europe. Merchant ships from Iceland visited the colony every year, sometimes staying here for the winter, Norwegian ships from the continent appeared less often.

At the beginning of the XI century, Christianity began to penetrate into Greenland. According to the sagas, he was brought here by Leif Erickson, the second son of Eric the Red, who visited Norway and was converted to Christianity by the Norwegian king Olaf I, and then was sent back to Greenland with the aim of spreading Christianity among the locals. Returning to Greenland, Leif began to preach Christianity and converted his mother to him, who built the first church on the island in the estate of Eric the Red Brattalid. In 1126, a bishopric was founded in Greenland in Gardar (modern Igaliku), subordinate to the archbishop of Nidaros (modern Trondheim) in Norway; archaeologists have found the remains of at least five Greenland churches.

The Greenlanders undertook expeditions further west, with the result that they discovered North America long before Columbus. In about 1000, the same Leif Ericsson with a team of 35 people discovered three regions of the American coast: Helluland (probably Baffin Island), Markland (presumably the Labrador Peninsula) and Vinland, which got its name for the large number of vines grown there (possibly , it was the coast of Newfoundland near the modern town of Lance Meadows). Several settlements were also founded there. The Scandinavians even came into contact with the "skrilling" - the North American Indians. At first, the relationship was peaceful, but after a few years they deteriorated, and the constant scrolling raids forced the Vikings to leave their settlements.

2.1. The decline of the first colonies

The deterioration of the climate, which began in the fourteenth century, impeded agriculture and animal husbandry on the island and contributed to accelerating the decline of the Greenland colony. The plague epidemic ("Black Death") in the middle of the XIV century. devastated the island, reducing its population by half. When Norway, together with Iceland and Greenland, became part of Denmark, the conditions worsened even more: now only pirate ships visited the island. Around 1350, a Western settlement was abandoned; this may have contributed to the appearance of Inuit in these places - carriers of the Thule culture, which in 1379 had already approached the outskirts of the Eastern Settlement. In 1378, the bishopric of Gardari was abolished. The last written evidence of Greenland settlers — the church record of marriage — dates from 1408; from this date, no direct evidence exists. Apparently, the Scandinavian settlers completely disappeared from the island over the next 150 years. Danish missionaries who arrived in Greenland in the 18th century, hoping to find descendants of former European settlers, met only Inuit here.

The last written certificate of the Greenland Vikings - the wedding record in the Hwalsi church dates back to 1408. The ruins of this church are one of the best preserved Viking culture monuments.

There are many theories regarding the causes of the disappearance of Norwegian settlements in Greenland. Jared Diamond, author of Collapse: Why Some Societies Survive and Others Die, lists five factors that could have contributed to the disappearance of the Greenland colony: environmental degradation, climate change, hostility to neighboring nations, isolation from Europe, and inability to adapt. A large number of scientific studies and publications are devoted to the study of these factors.

Early Paleo-Eskimo cultures

Archaeologists distinguish four Paleo-Eskimo cultures in Greenland that existed before the Vikings discovered the island, but the terms of their existence are determined very approximately:

Sakkak culture: 2500 BC e. - 800 BC e. in the south of Greenland;
Culture Independence I: 2400 BC e. - 1300 BC e. in the north of Greenland;
Culture Independence II: 800 BC e. - 1 BC e. mainly in the north of Greenland;
Early Dorset Culture, Dorset I: 700 BC e. - 200 n. e. in the south of Greenland.

Viking settlements

The last written certificate of the Greenland Vikings - the wedding record in the Hwalsi church dates back to 1408. The ruins of this church are one of the best preserved Viking culture monuments.

Environmental degradation

Greenland vegetation belongs to the tundra type and consists mainly of sedge, cotton grass and lichens; trees are almost completely absent, with the exception of dwarf birch, willow and alder, which grow in some places. There are very few fertile lands that, as a result of the lack of forests, suffer from erosion; in addition, short and cold summers make farming almost impossible, therefore, Norwegian settlers were forced to mainly engage in cattle breeding. Excessive use of pastures in an extremely sensitive tundra environment with unstable soils could increase erosion, lead to deterioration of pastures and a decrease in their productivity.

Climate change

The results of drilling glacial ice allow us to learn about the climatic situation in Greenland for centuries. They show that during the medieval climatic optimum there was indeed some softening of the local climate from 800 to 1200, but at the beginning of the 14th century a cooling began; The “Little Ice Age" peaked in Greenland around the 1420s. The lower layers of garbage bins near the oldest Norwegian settlements contain significantly more bones of sheep and goats than pigs and cattle; however, in the sediments of the middle of the XIV century. near the rich dwellings there are only bones of cattle and deer, and near the poor there are almost continuous seal bones. The version of the decline in cattle breeding as a result of the cooling and changes in the nature of the feeding of the Greenland Vikings is also confirmed by studies of skeletons from cemeteries near Norwegian settlements. Most of these skeletons bear traces of pronounced rickets, are characterized by deformation of the spine and chest, in women - pelvic bones.

Feud with neighbors

During the foundation of the Norwegian settlements, Greenland was completely deprived of the local population, but subsequently the Vikings were forced to make contact with the Inuit. Inuit Thule culture began to arrive in Greenland from the island of Ellesmere at the end of XII - beginning of XIII century. Researchers know that the Vikings called the Inuit, as well as the Wingland aborigines, scleros (Nor. Skræling). The “Iceland Annals” is one of the few sources that indicate the existence of contacts between Norwegians and Inuit. They talk about the Inuit attack on the Norwegians, during which eighteen Norwegians died and two children were captured. There is archaeological evidence that the Inuit conducted trade with the Norwegians, since when excavating the Inuit sites, they find many products of Norwegian work; however, the Norwegians were apparently not very interested in the Inuit, at least the findings of the Inuit artifacts in the Viking settlements are unknown. Norwegians also did not adopt the kayak construction technology and ringed seal hunting techniques from Inuit. In general, it is believed that the relationship between the Norwegians and the Inuit was quite hostile. From archaeological evidence it is known that by 1300 the Inuit winter camps already existed along the shores of the fjords near the Western settlement. Somewhere between 1325 and 1350 Norwegians completely abandoned the Western settlement and its environs, possibly due to the failure to resist the Inuit attacks.

Kirsten Siver, in his book Frozen Echo, tries to make it clear that the Greenlanders had much better health and better nutrition than was thought, and therefore denies the version of the extinction of the Greenland colony from starvation. More likely, she argues, the colony died as a result of an attack by Indians, pirates, or a European military expedition, about which history has not retained information; it is also likely that the Greenlanders are moving back to Iceland or to Vinland in search of a more favorable home.

Contacts with Europe

In calm winter weather, the ship made a 1400-kilometer journey from Iceland to the south of Greenland in two weeks. Greenlanders had to maintain relations with Iceland and Norway in order to trade with them. The Greenlanders could not build ships themselves, because they did not have a forest, and depended on the supply of Icelandic merchants and on expeditions for wood to Vinland. The sagas tell of Icelandic merchants who sailed to trade in Greenland, but the trade was in the hands of the owners of large estates. It was they who traded with the merchants who arrived, and then resold the goods to small landowners. The main article of Greenlandic exports was walrus tusks. In Europe, they were used in decorative art as a replacement for ivory, the trade of which fell into decay during the feud with the Islamic world in the era of the Crusades. It is believed likely that as a result of improved relations between Europe and the Islamic world and the start of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in ivory, demand for walrus tusks fell significantly, and this could contribute to the loss of interest of merchants in Greenland, reduced contacts and the final decline of the Norwegian colony on the island.

However, the cultural influence of Christian Europe was felt quite well in Greenland. In 1921, Danish historian Paul Norland unearthed a Viking burial site in a church cemetery near the Eastern settlement. The bodies were dressed in European medieval clothing of the 15th century and had no signs of rickets and genetic degeneration. Most had a crucifix on their necks and hands composed in a prayer gesture.

From the records of the papal archives, it is known that in 1345 the Greenlanders were exempted from paying church tithe due to the fact that the colony was seriously suffering from poverty.

The last ship to visit Greenland sometime in the 1510s was an Icelandic ship that was blown west by storm. His team did not make contact with any inhabitants of the island.

Around the same time, around 1501, a Portuguese expedition visited the Greenland region. The Europeans re-discovered Greenland, as it is believed, was accomplished around 1500 by the Portuguese expedition of the Cortirial brothers. They are usually attributed to the re-discovery of Greenland by Europeans.

Danish expeditions to Greenland in the 15th century

Since that time, Greenland has become a fairly well-known territory throughout the world. Various English expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage explored its shores to at least 75 ° north latitude.

Strategic importance

Autonomous Greenland proclaimed itself a state of the Inuit people. Danish place names have been changed to local. The country began to be called Calaallith Nunaat. The administrative center of the island, Gothob, became Nuuk, the capital of an almost sovereign country, and in 1985 the Greenland flag was adopted. However, the island’s independence movement is still weak.

Thanks to the progress of the latest technologies, especially the development of aviation, Greenland has now become much more accessible to the outside world. In 1982, broadcasts of local television began.

In 2008, a referendum was held in Greenland on the issue of self-government, following which on May 20, 2009, the Danish Parliament passed a law on the extended autonomy of Greenland. The extended autonomy of Greenland was proclaimed on June 21 of that year. Both inside and outside Greenland, there are people who see the expansion of autonomy as a step towards Greenland’s independence from Denmark