Saturday, October 11, 2008

Greenland - Largest Island in the World - Land of Floating Ices

Greenland is the largest island on Earth. The country forms part of the North American continent. From Cape Farewell in the south to the world's northernmost landmass, Odak Island, there is a distance of 2,670 kilometers.Measured across, the island stretches 1,050 kilometers at its widest point. Out of Greenland's 2,175,600 square kilometers, 1,833,900 are covered by inland ice, corresponding to 85% of the country – the ice-free area only covers a total of 341,700 square kilometers. The northern location and extensive width of the northernmost part of Greenland places it in four time zones. For practical reasons, however, GMT -3 is used as the country's official time. Summer time (daylight saving time) and winter time follow the European Union system. The Inuit, Greenland's indigenous people, share a common language and culture with the Inuit in Canada and Alaska. Eighty percent of Greenland's 55,000 residents are Inuit; the rest are primarily Danes. The population is distributed among 120 localities, 65 of which have less than 100 residents each. Nuuk, the capital and largest town, has a population of 13,000.



















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