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

See Examples For:

Greenland

Unlike Greenland, no countries objected to their joining the U.S.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Greenland and Antarctica contain vast amounts of frozen water, and changes in their ice sheets can have major consequences for global sea levels.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Another image captured on September 30 shifts the focus far north to the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, located west of Greenland.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

That’s why news this week that Greenland was planning to cull 1,000 Greenland sharks was so alarming to many online.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026

The Greenland Norse population never exceeded a few thousand.

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