Location Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada

Geographic coordinates 72 00 N, 40 00 W

Map references Arctic Region

Area
total: 2,175,600 sq km
land: 2,175,600 sq km (341,600 sq km ice-free, 1,834,000 sq km ice-covered) (est.)

Area - comparative slightly more than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries 0 km

Coastline 44,087 km

Maritime claims
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters

Terrain flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m

Natural resources zinc, lead, iron ore, coal, molybdenum, gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales

Land use
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 99% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land NA sq km

Natural hazards continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island

Environment - current issues protection of the arctic environment; preservation of their traditional way of life, including whaling; note - Greenland participates actively in Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC)

Environment - international agreements
party to: Whaling (extended through Denmark)
signed, but not ratified: NA

Geography - note dominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast

NOTE: The information regarding Greenland on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greenland Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greenland Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.