Greenland is the world’s largest island and about 81 per cent of it is ice-capped. It is a land of fantastical and semi-mythical proportions with glittering columns of ice, monstrous glaciers that carve icebergs into the sea. Greenlanders believed that humans were shades more of the dead than of the living. Any error in judgement would mean falling back into the earlier animal world. Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953.

The major event held in the country is the end of the polar night. It is the biggest celebration and takes place sometime in January or February. The other events and festivals are the international snow-sculpture festival in March, the World Ice Golf Championships, Festival of art and music, Nuuk Marathon and Inuit Circumpolar Conference. The World Ice Golf Championships are the wackiest events held in the country. Greenland hosts the Inuit Circumpolar Conference every three to four years. It is a weeklong forum for the discussion of cultural and social issues. Aasivik is also a large festival. It is a cultural and political forum that usually takes place around mid-July and displays traditional theatre, drum dances, folk music and rock music. One of the major attractions of the country is Kolonihavnen. It is a picturesque 18th-century fishing village in the heart of Nuuk city. It gives an idea of what the town looked like before the industrial harbour was built. The other attractions are Disko Bay, Ilulissat, Kulusuk and Qaqortoq. Disko Bay is an iceberg-studded expanse 300 km north of the Arctic Circle. Its five major towns experience true arctic days and stunning midnight suns. Ilulissat (meaning icebergs) is a town that gazes out on a mirrored sea crammed with icebergs and floes. It is the major settlement areas of the ancient Saggag and Dorset tribes who they depend on traditional fishing and hunting. Kulusuk is a small rocky island. A small village is located on this island above a glittering sea of icebergs with dramatic mountain peaks as a backdrop. Qaqortoq is a pleasant harbour town built on the site of Hans Egede’s search for the lost colonists.

Greenland cuisine mainly includes meat of walrus, seal and whale. Every part of the animal is used. The parts like the eyes, kidney and heart were traditionally set aside for the head hunter and the other sections distributed according to a very strict hierarchy.

Location: Northern North America

Highest point: Gunnbjorn, 3,700 m

Climate: Arctic to sub arctic

Full country Name: Greenland

Government: Self-governing

overseas administrative division of Denmark

head of the state: Queen Margrethe II

Major industries: Fish processing, handicrafts, furs, shipyards and tourism

Major Trading Partners: Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Norway and USA

Major Imports: Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and petroleum products

Major Exports: Fish and Prawns

Currency: Danish Krone (DKK)

Population: 56,384

Language: Greenlandic, Danish and English

REligion: Evangelical Lutheran