Greenland is an autonomous territory within the
Danish Realm and the world'
s largest island, located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers) for more than a millennium, beginning in 986, The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors migrated from
Alaska through Northern
Canada, gradually settling across the island by the 13th century. In the early 17th century,
Danish explorers reached Greenland again. To strengthen trading and power, Denmark–Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Because of Norway's weak status, it lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became
Danish in 1814 and was fully integrated in the
Danish state in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark. With the Constitution of 1953, the people in Greenland became citizens of Denmark.
