Thoughts about the conference to follow shortly, but since Greenland is such a unique place, it deserves some comments first. Greenland is actually part of the Kingdom of Denmark and is the world’s largest island — about 80% ice-capped. The history is a bit complicated but it is certain that the the culture started with the Eskimo people who inhabited the high arctic tundra from Siberia across to Alaska and Canada to Greenland after the Ice Age.
Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland and Danish colonization began in the 18th century. Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953 and joined the EU in 1973, but withdrew in 1985 in a dispute over fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 although Denmark continues to exercise control of Greenland’s foreign affairs in consultation with Greenland’s Home Rule Government. A vote by the people is coming up shortly to determine if Greenland should become a fully independent country. It would be presumptuous of me to say I know the Greenlandic people, but I can say from what I saw on the flight from Iceland and around the area of downtown Nuuk, that the Inuit people are attractive, hopeful, and very self-sufficient. Like all counties there are those that are dependent on the government but in Greenland it seems most people can live happily from the bounty of the land.
Greenland is slightly more than three times the size of Texas and is very rich in natural resources including coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds, gold, platinum, niobium, tantalite, uranium and, of course, fish, seals, and whales. Hydropower is also natural and there is the possibility of oil and gas. A priority is the protection of the arctic environment and the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling and seal hunting.
Internet connectivity in Greenland is via satellite. It works but is not very fast and not always reliable. The new submarine cable, currently being laid at the bottom of the ocean, will include four strands of glass, well protected in a multi-layer set of metal and petrol based materials to allow it to buried three feet below the bottom of the ocean — in some areas as deep as 10,000 feet below the surface. The four glass fibers will have a capacity of 2 terabits per second. Compared to what the country of Greenland has today this will be a nearly infinite jump. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the potential that the increased bandwidth will offer. More on that to come.
There are some pictures in the photo gallery. As usual, I have to confess that I am not a very good photographer. The iPhone takes pretty good pictures in good sunlight but unfortunately we did not have any of that during the trip. Greenland is a beautiful place and hopefully some of the pictures will at least give a clue.