Greenland

American  

[green-luhnd, -land] / ˈgrin lənd, -ˌlænd /

noun

1. a self-governing island belonging to Denmark, located NE of North America: the largest island in the world. About 844,000 sq. mi. (2,186,000 sq. km); about 700,000 sq. mi. (1,800,000 sq. km) icecapped. Godthåb.

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Greenland British  

/ ˈɡriːnlənd /

noun

1. Danish name: Grønland.  Greenlandic name: Kalaallit Nunaat.  a large island, lying mostly within the Arctic Circle off the NE coast of North America: first settled by Icelanders in 986; resettled by Danes from 1721 onwards; integral part of Denmark (1953–79); granted internal autonomy 1979; mostly covered by an icecap up to 3300 m (11 000 ft) thick, with ice-free coastal strips and coastal mountains; the population is largely Inuit, with a European minority; fishing, hunting, and mining. Capital: Nuuk (Godthåb). Pop: 57 714 (2013 est). Area: 175 600 sq km (840 000 sq miles)

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Greenland Cultural  

1. Island lying largely within the Arctic Circle; owned by Denmark but governed locally since 1978. Its native name is Kaballit Nunaat.

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Discover More

Greenland is the largest island in the world. (Australia is larger but is officially a continent, not an island.)

Other Word Forms

• Greenlander
  noun
• Greenlandish
  adjective

Example Sentences

These included updated corrections to satellite measurements that had gradually shifted after 2015, improved methods for measuring land movement at coastal tide gauges, and more accurate estimates of ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2026

Earlier in the week, Nielsen held talks with Trump's special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry, who made his first visit -- uninvited -- to the island since his appointment in December.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

"We get this fear from the United States. People were just recovering from last time, when it all began again in January," she said, referring to Trump's declarations for the US to "own" Greenland.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

Landry said Trump sent him to Greenland this week to “listen and learn” and “make a bunch of friends.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

While those questions of proximate cause remain unanswered, the ultimate reasons why Norse colonization of Greenland and America failed are abundantly clear.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond