Greenland Facts

Welcome / Velkommen / Tikilluarit! This website serves as a trusted repository for factual, well-sourced information about Greenland and the shared history connecting Greenland, Denmark, and the United States.

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Friendship Matters

The Kingdom of Denmark has a history tied shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States. After 9/11, Denmark answered the US call. Denmark lost more soldiers in Afghanistan per capita than any other NATO ally.

Greenland has been a part of the Kingdom of Denmark for centuries. That relationship has been recognized by US administrations, the United Nations and international law for decades.

Only the people of Greenland should decide their future. A vast majority of Greenlanders voted in favor of self governing status inside the kingdom. All five parties in the Parliament of Greenland have repeatedly stated they don't want to become American.

For 80 years, Denmark, Greenland and the US have had a successful security partnership in the Arctic. Let's continue to address security challenges in the Arctic as partners and allies.

Historical Timeline

1721 - Danish missionary Hans Egede established a colony on Greenland and began Denmark's formal claim to controlling the island.
1776 - United States of America created when the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4.
1783 - Denmark signed its first commercial treaty with the United States.
1792 - Denmark officially recognized the United States as an independent nation.
1801 - Denmark and the United States established a diplomatic relationship, which has been the longest uninterrupted diplomatic contact between the US and any other nation.
1917 - United States purchased the Danish West Indies from Denmark, renaming them the U.S. Virgin Islands.
1940 - Nazi Germany invaded Denmark and occupied the country until the end of World War II. Danish Ambassador Henrik Kauffmann defied instructions from the Nazi-controlled government in Copenhagen and instead continued in Washington, DC, as an envoy of "the free Danish people."
1941 - United States signed a treaty with Ambassador Kauffmann to allow a US military presence on Greenland as a "stepping stone" in the North Atlantic for transportation and communication. Greenland remained an American protectorate through the remainder of the war.
1945 - Nazi Germany surrendered control of Denmark on May 5, ending five years of occupation. Denmark regained control of Greenland. The Danish government dropped the charges of treason made against Ambassador Kauffmann.
1949 - Denmark and the United States joined 10 other nations as founding members of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
1951 - The United States and Denmark signed a new treaty for military cooperation in Greenland, making Thule Air Base (now the Pituffik Space Base) in the northwest a permanent facility.
1968 - An American B-52 airplane carrying nuclear weapons crashed just outside of Thule Air Base on Greenland. The emergency response and clean-up efforts exposed the fact that the US was bringing nuclear materials to the territory in violation of the treaty.
1979 - Denmark awarded Greenland the right of Home Rule, creating its own government and parliament.
2001 - In response to the attacks on the United States on September 11, Denmark pledged military support of the NATO coalition in Afghanistan. Between 2002 and 2021, Denmark deployed over 18,000 troops to Afghanistan.
2003 - Denmark joined the US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom. Between 2003 and 2007 over 5000 Danish troops served in Iraq.
2008 - Referendum established Greenland as an autonomous territory with self-governance and the right to vote for full independence.
2019 - President Trump makes first public statements regarding the US acquiring Greenland, an idea firmly rejected by both Danish and Greenlandic governments.
2024 - President Trump expressed his belief that US ownership of Greenland is "essential" for national security. Denmark increased its defense spending, reaching the 2% of GDP expected of NATO member nations.
2025 - Donald Trump Jr. made a personal visit to Greenland in January, followed by Vice President Vance visiting the Pituffik Space Base in March. Greenland's national elections in March reflected a preference for slowing down the independence movement in light of perceived threats of American pressure. Denmark continued to increase its defense spending and committed to the new NATO target of 5% of GDP over the following decade.
2026 - Rising tensions over President Trump's stated goal to acquire Greenland for the US led to a meeting on January 14 between Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt. Also in January, seven NATO allies sent troops for joint military exercises in Greenland called "Operation Arctic Endurance." Several EU leaders signed statements of solidarity and support for national sovereignty, which prompted threats of tariffs from the White House. A poll found that 85% of Americans oppose using US troops taking military action against Greenland.

Resources

Website: Greenland's National Museum and Archive

The National Museum is Greenland’s largest museum of cultural history. It safeguards and promotes the history of Greenland, and its collections come from all over the country. The website provides a wealth of information about the history and cultures of Greenland’s people. Accessible in English, Danish, and Kalaallisut languages.

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Article: "Greenland at the Crossroads" by Gordon F. Sander

Article in the Fall 2025 edition of Scandinavian Review (American Scandinavian Foundation) by Gordon F. Sander, a journalist, historian and photographer who has been writing about the Nordic and Baltic region since 1990. A long-time contributor to the Scandinavian Review, he also writes for The New York Review of Books and The Washington Post. Sander is the author of nine books, including several works of Nordic history, including “The Finnish Front Line: Kekkonen, Kennedy, and Krushchev’s Cold War Showdown,” which was published in 2025 by Cornell University Press.

Article shared with permission from the American Scandinavian Foundation.

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Article: "'We choose Denmark' over the US, says Greenland's prime minister"

Article on January 13, 2026 reports that Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Prime Minister of Greenland, made a statement reaffirming alliance with Denmark, NATO, and the EU.

"Greenland does not want to be owned by the USA. Greenland does not want to be governed by the USA. Greenland will not be part of the USA. We choose the Greenland we know today, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Now we are faced with a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO, we choose the Kingdom of Denmark, we choose the EU. This is not the time for internal discussions and division. This is the time to stand together and build on the community we know and we want."

This article is available on the website MarketScreener.com.

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The USA-DK Alliance

The USA-DK Alliance is a network of organizations based in the US who are united in a shared mission of sustaining cross-cultural relations between the US and Denmark. Mutual respect has been the hallmark of our decades-long friendship. Our hope is that through respectful dialogue and fact based knowledge-exchange, we can withstand any pressure that tries to undermine our bilateral bond.