US President Donald Trump is visiting Davos, Switzerland, to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), where the Greenland issue will be at the center of attention.
President Trump’s long-standing obsession with acquiring Greenland, an autonomous territory from NATO member Denmark, has escalated to a transatlantic imbroglio, with threats to impose sweeping new tariffs and possibly seize Greenland by military force, rattling stock markets.
Greenland is “essential to our national and global security,” he said Tuesday at a White House press conference marking the one-year anniversary of his second term in office.
He warned Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland that unless they supported his plan to take over Denmark, they would face a 10% tariff on all goods from February 1, rising to 25% by June. It comes as European leaders meeting in Davos warned that the conflict risks leading to a trade war and a rupture in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance.
Where is Greenland?
Greenland is the world’s largest island, located mostly within the Arctic Circle between the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Geographically it is part of North America, northeast of Canada and west of Iceland, but politically it is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.
Approximately 80 percent of Greenland is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second largest ice mass on Earth. Most of Greenland’s population lives along the coastline, as the interior is largely uninhabitable. The capital Nuuk, located on the southwestern coast, is Greenland’s largest city and home to about a third of the island’s approximately 56,000 inhabitants.
countries in the arctic
The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line at 66.5 degrees north latitude that includes Earth’s northernmost point, the North Pole.
Eight countries own land within the region, including Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
Some countries in the Arctic are closer to each other than many people realize.
Greenland’s closest neighbor is Canada, and at its narrowest point, the Nares Strait, the two countries are only 26 kilometers (16 miles) apart. Canada and Greenland also technically share a land border, and the two countries settled a decades-old dispute over Hans Island, a small rock in the strait, by splitting the two countries in half.
Russia and the United States are also neighbors, and Alaska and Russia are separated by the Bering Strait, which is about 85 kilometers (53 miles) at its narrowest point, comparable to the distance between New York City and New Jersey.
In fact, including the Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait, Russia and the United States are less than 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) apart. These small rocky islands consist of Big Diomede, which belongs to Russia and has a weather station, and Little Diomede, which is part of Alaska. These islands are separated by the International Date Line, creating a 21-hour time difference and forming the border between North America and Asia.
How big is Greenland?
In some map projections that zoom in on landmass near the poles, Greenland appears much larger than it actually is.
In fact, at 2.17 million square kilometers (836,330 square miles), the Arctic island is about three times the size of the U.S. state of Texas, or about the same size as Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Northern Sea Route
Most of the Arctic is divided into exclusive economic zones (EEZs) extending 200 nautical miles (370 km) from each country’s territorial waters, and each country has jurisdiction over its natural resources.
The number of ships operating in the Arctic increased by 37% between 2013 and 2023 due to melting ice and expanding economic opportunities in the region, according to data from Arctic Ship Traffic Data.
The Arctic has three major shipping routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The Northern Sea Route (NSR)/Northeast Passage runs along Russia’s Arctic coast, potentially cutting maritime travel between East Asia and Western Europe by 10 to 15 days compared to via the Suez Canal. In Soviet Russia, this route was used for supplying military supplies and mining resources in the Arctic. Russia currently uses it to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Northwest Passage (NWP) crosses Canada’s Arctic Ocean and has the potential to save 10 days of passage for maritime ships between East Asia and Europe compared to ships navigating through the Panama Canal. The Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) is a direct route from the center of the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, via the North Pole. This route avoids the territorial waters of Arctic countries, but is rarely used due to the presence of permanent sea ice. Due to melting ice sheets, it is predicted that this route could be fully open to shipping by the 2050s, and potentially even sooner with high-strength icebreakers.
What is a military presence in the Arctic?
Greenland is home to one major permanent US military base, Pitufik Cosmodrome, and several smaller Danish military installations.
Pitufik Cosmodrome, formerly known as Thule Air Base, is located in the northwest corner of the island. Supports missile warning, missile defense, space surveillance missions, and satellite command and control. It is strategically located to counter Russian activities in the Arctic.
The base is home to about 650 people, including members of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, as well as private contractors from Canada, Denmark and Greenland. Under a 1951 agreement with Denmark, the United States is allowed to establish and maintain military facilities in Greenland as part of mutual defense within the framework of NATO.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint US-Canadian military organization, also operates Pitafic’s system in the form of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) for its space surveillance.
In Alaska, NORAD manages the Clear Space Force Station, which has missile warning, defense, and space awareness capabilities. The United States has also established forward operating bases (temporary military airfields and radar stations) in Alaska that are used to expand U.S. defense and response.
Denmark manages Greenland’s defense through the Joint Arctic Command (JAC), headquartered in the capital Nuuk. According to Denmark’s Ministry of Defense, the base’s main mission is surveillance and search-and-rescue operations, as well as “the assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.”
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Northern Sea Route is central to Russia’s Arctic security posture. Control of the route rests with Rosatom, and Moscow can restrict foreign military traffic without direct government approval. In the eastern Arctic, access through the Bering Strait has forced Russia to expand its radar coverage, search and rescue capabilities, and airfields, including the Sopka 2 radar facility on Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt.
In the central Arctic, Russia is strengthening its military base. Bastion-P and Pantsir-S1 systems (mobile defense systems) will be deployed on Novaya Zemlya and Kotelny Island, extending area denial across air and sea approaches.
In the western Arctic, the Northern Fleet, which oversees Russia’s second-strike capabilities, is based in Severomorsk. The Russian government has also restarted dozens of Soviet-era facilities and reopened air bases, radar stations and border crossings across the region, according to CSIS.
China’s investments in the Arctic
China has emerged as a major player in the Arctic and has expressed a desire to create a “Polar Silk Road” similar to the Belt and Road Initiative, in which new shipping routes emerge as ice sheets recede.
According to the Carnegie Endowment, China sees the Arctic as a future transportation and industrial corridor. A number of Chinese companies are also developing iron ore, rare earth and uranium mining projects in Greenland. China is also pursuing projects focused on Arctic energy through Russia’s LNG sector.
The Chinese state-owned company has a stake in Novatek’s LNG project and is also a major buyer of Arctic gas. China is also supplying key equipment to Russia’s Arctic LNG project, especially after Western sanctions against Russia.
What are Greenland’s resources?
Greenland is rich in natural resources such as zinc, lead, gold, iron ore, rare earth elements (REEs), copper, and petroleum.
It is home to one of the world’s largest deposits of rare earths, which are used in high-tech industries. These resources have received significant attention, including from President Trump.
Gold deposits exist in areas such as Nanoltalik and South Greenland. Greenland also has diamond deposits in the Manitsog region, just north of Nuuk.
According to the Department of Mineral Resources, few copper deposits have been explored in Greenland, and the northeastern and central-eastern regions are largely undeveloped. Iron ore deposits are scattered around West Greenland, and traces of nickel have been found around the island’s southwest coast.
Graphite, which is primarily used in EV batteries and steel manufacturing, is also reported to exist in Greenland, and exploration is underway around Amitsok. Zinc is found in northern Greenland, while titanium and vanadium deposits are located in southwestern, eastern and southern Greenland. Tungsten is also found in east-central and northeast Greenland, with deposits being evaluated in the south and west.
A brief history of Greenland
The first Inuit people settled in Greenland around 2500 BC.
In the 10th century, Norse explorers arrived in Greenland and established settlements. By 1721, Denmark had colonized Greenland.
Although Greenland was a territory of Denmark, it gained autonomy in 1979 after being under Danish administration for more than two centuries. It is one of Denmark’s two autonomous territories, the other being the Faroe Islands.
In 1941, during World War II, the United States and Denmark agreed to allow U.S. forces to defend Greenland. Its strategic location was important for countering German submarines and securing shipping routes. The United States maintained a military presence throughout the Cold War, using Greenland for early warning radar and monitoring Soviet activity.
In 2009, Greenland gained autonomy over most of its internal affairs, including control of its natural resources and governance. However, Denmark is still in charge of foreign policy, defense, and financing.
