2 hours ago
2
US President Donald Trump is successful Davos, Switzerland, to attend the yearly gathering of the World Economic Forum (WEF), wherever the contented of Greenland volition beryllium beforehand and centre.
Trump’s long-running fixation connected acquiring Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO subordinate Denmark, has escalated into a transatlantic imbroglio, with threats of sweeping caller tariffs and adjacent taking Greenland by subject unit rattling banal markets.
Speaking astatine a White House media briefing connected Tuesday to people 1 twelvemonth since his second-term inauguration, helium said Greenland was “imperative for nationalist and satellite security”.
He warned the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland that they volition look 10 percent tariffs connected each goods from February 1, rising to 25 percent by June, unless they backmost his projected takeover of the Danish autonomous territory. It comes arsenic European leaders gathering successful Davos pass the quality risks a trade war and a rupture successful the NATO alliance.
Where is Greenland?
Greenland is the world’s largest island, located mostly wrong the Arctic Circle betwixt the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. Geographically, it is portion of North America, lying northeast of Canada and westbound of Iceland, but politically it is an autonomous territory wrong the Kingdom of Denmark.
Approximately 80 percent of Greenland is covered by the Greenland crystal sheet, the second-largest assemblage of crystal connected Earth. Because the interior is mostly uninhabitable, astir of Greenland’s colonisation lives on the coastline. The superior city, Nuuk, located connected the southwest coast, is Greenland’s largest city, location to astir one-third of the island’s astir 56,000 residents.
(Al Jazeera)Countries successful the Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is an imaginary enactment astatine 66.5 degrees northbound that includes the North Pole, the northernmost constituent connected Earth.
Eight countries, including Canada, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, person onshore lying wrong this region.
Some Arctic countries are person to each different than galore radical realise.
Greenland’s closest neighbour is Canada, and astatine its narrowest point, betwixt the Nares Strait, the 2 countries are lone 26km (16 miles) apart. Canada and Greenland besides technically stock a onshore border, having settled a decades-long quality implicit Hans Island, a tiny stone successful the strait, by dividing it successful half.
Russia and the US are besides neighbours, with Alaska and Russia separated by the Bering Strait, which is astir 85km (53 miles) astatine its narrowest constituent – a region akin to that betwixt New York City and New Jersey.
In fact, erstwhile you number the Diomede Islands located wrong the Bering Strait, Russia and the United States are little than 4km (2.4 miles) apart. These small, rocky islands dwell of Big Diomede, which belongs to Russia and hosts a upwind station, and Little Diomede, portion of Alaska. The islands are separated by the International Date Line, creating a 21-hour clip quality and marking the bound betwixt North America and Asia.
How large is Greenland?
On immoderate representation projections, which enlarge landmasses adjacent the poles, Greenland appears overmuch bigger than it truly is.
In reality, the Arctic land covers 2.17 cardinal quadrate kilometres (836,330 quadrate miles), making it astir 3 times the size of the US authorities of Texas, oregon astir the aforesaid size arsenic Saudi Arabia, Mexico oregon the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(Al Jazeera)Arctic shipping routes
Most of the Arctic is divided into exclusive economical zones (EEZ) extending 200 nautical miles (370km) from the territorial waters of states and wherever they person jurisdiction implicit earthy resources.
According to information from Arctic Ship Traffic Data, the fig of ships operating successful the Arctic has accrued 37 percent betwixt 2013 and 2023, driven by melting crystal and expanding economical opportunities successful the region.
There are 3 main shipping routes successful the Arctic, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific:
- The Northern Sea Route (NSR)/Northeast Passage runs on the Arctic seashore of Russia and could chopped maritime question betwixt East Asia and Western Europe by 10-15 days compared with travelling via the Suez Canal. In Soviet Russia, the way was utilized for subject supplies and extraction of resources successful the Arctic. Now Russia uses it to transport liquified earthy state (LNG).
- The Northwest Passage (NWP) crosses Canada’s Arctic Ocean and could chopped maritime vas journeys betwixt East Asia and Europe by 10 days compared with vessels travelling via the Panama Canal.
- The Transpolar Sea Route (TSR) goes from the centre of the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and is simply a nonstop way via the North Pole. While this way avoids the territorial waters of Arctic states, it is seldom utilized owed to the beingness of imperishable oversea ice. Due to melting crystal caps, it is predicted that this oversea way whitethorn beryllium afloat unfastened to vessels by the 2050s, perchance adjacent sooner with high-strength icebreakers.
What is the subject beingness successful the Arctic?
Greenland has 1 large imperishable US base, the Pituffik Space Base, and respective smaller Danish subject facilities.
Pituffik Space Base, formerly known arsenic Thule Air Base, is located successful the northwest country of the island. It supports rocket warning, rocket defence and abstraction surveillance missions and outer bid and control. It is strategically positioned to antagonistic Russian activities successful the Arctic.
About 650 unit are stationed astatine the base, including US Air Force and Space Force members, arsenic good arsenic Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic civilian contractors. Under a 1951 statement with Denmark, the US is permitted to found and support subject facilities successful Greenland arsenic portion of communal defence wrong the NATO framework.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a US-Canadian associated subject organisation, besides operates systems from Pituffik successful the signifier of a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) for the organisation’s abstraction surveillance.
In Alaska, NORAD controls the Clear Space Force Station, equipped with rocket warning, defence and abstraction consciousness capabilities. The US besides implements guardant operating locations – impermanent subject airfields and radar stations – successful Alaska, which are utilized to widen US defence and response.
Denmark manages the defence of Greenland done the Joint Arctic Command (JAC) with its office successful the capital, Nuuk. The base’s main tasks are surveillance and hunt and rescue operations, and the “assertion of sovereignty and subject defence of Greenland and the Faroe Islands”, according to Danish Defence.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Northern Sea way is cardinal to Russia’s information posture successful the Arctic. Control of the way sits with Rosatom, giving Moscow the quality to restrict overseas subject postulation without nonstop authorities approval. In the eastbound Arctic, entree done the Bering Strait has pushed Russia to grow radar coverage, hunt and rescue capableness and airfields, including the Sopka-2 radar installations connected Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt.
In the cardinal Arctic, Russia has hardened its subject footprint. Bastion-P and Pantsir-S1 systems – mobile defence systems – are deployed connected Novaya Zemlya and Kotelny Island, extending area-denial crossed aerial and oversea approaches.
In the occidental Arctic, the Northern Fleet, which oversees Russia’s second-strike capability, is based successful Severomorsk. CSIS says Moscow has besides reactivated dozens of Soviet-era facilities, reopening airbases, radar stations and borderline posts crossed the region.
Chinese investments successful the Arctic
China has emerged arsenic a cardinal subordinate successful the Arctic, stating its tendency to make a “Polar Silk Road”, akin to the Belt and Road Initiative, wherever caller shipping routes would look arsenic crystal sheets recede.
According to the Carnegie Endowment, China views the Arctic arsenic a aboriginal transport and concern corridor. A fig of Chinese companies besides person mining projects successful Greenland, including for robust ore, uncommon earths and uranium. China besides has projects focused connected Arctic vigor via Russia’s LNG sector.
Chinese state-owned firms person stakes successful Novatek’s LNG projects and are a large purchaser of Arctic gas. The Chinese person besides supplied cardinal instrumentality to Russia’s Arctic LNG projects, particularly aft Western sanctions connected Russia.
What are Greenland’s resources?
Greenland is affluent successful natural resources, including zinc, lead, gold, robust ore, uncommon world elements (REEs), copper and oil.
It is location to immoderate of the world’s largest deposits of uncommon earths utilized successful high-tech industries. These resources person attracted important attention, including from President Trump.
Gold pockets beryllium successful areas similar Nanortalik and South Greenland. Greenland besides has deposits of diamonds successful the Maniitsoq region, conscionable northbound of Nuuk.
Copper deposits are mostly unexplored successful Greenland, according to the Mineral Resources Authority, with areas successful the northeast and cardinal eastbound mostly untapped. Iron ore deposits are dotted astir West Greenland, portion nickel traces person been recovered astir the island’s southwest coast.
Graphite, utilized mostly successful EV batteries and steel-making, is besides reported to beryllium successful Greenland, with exploration astir Amitsoq. While zinc has been recovered successful the northbound of Greenland, titanium and vanadium deposits are located successful the southwest, eastbound and southbound of the territory. Tungsten is besides recovered successful cardinal eastbound and Northeast Greenland with assessed deposits successful the southbound and west.
(Al Jazeera)A little past of Greenland
The archetypal Inuit radical settled successful Greenland successful astir 2500 BCE.
In the 10th century, Norse explorers arrived successful Greenland and established settlements. By 1721, Denmark had made Greenland a colony.
Though a Danish territory, Greenland became self-governing successful 1979 aft much than 2 centuries nether Danish control. It is 1 of Denmark’s 2 autonomous territories, with the Faroe Islands being the other.
In 1941, during World War II, the US and Denmark agreed to let American forces to support Greenland. Its strategical determination was captious for countering German submarines and securing shipping routes. The US maintained a subject beingness passim the Cold War, utilizing Greenland for early-warning radar and monitoring Soviet activity.
In 2009, Greenland gained self-rule implicit astir of its interior affairs, including power implicit earthy resources and governance. However, Denmark inactive handles overseas policy, defence and funding.
English (US) ·