Greenland (2005) | Reunion (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 3 districts (landsdele); Avannaa (Nordgronland), Tunu (Ostgronland), Kitaa (Vestgronland)
note: there are 18 municipalities in Greenland |
none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25% (male 7,216/female 6,888)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 20,897/female 17,823) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 1,672/female 1,879) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 30.4% (male 120,698/female 115,108)
15-64 years: 63.6% (male 243,668/female 250,143) 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 19,234/female 28,097) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | forage crops, garden and greenhouse vegetables; sheep, reindeer; fish | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn |
Airports | 14 (2004 est.) | 2 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
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Area | total: 2,166,086 sq km
land: 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km ice-covered) (2000 est.) |
total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than three times the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Rhode Island |
Background | The world's largest island, Greenland is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the European Union) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute over stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament. The law went into effect the following year. Denmark continues to exercise control of Greenland's foreign affairs. | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. |
Birth rate | 15.93 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 19.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $646 million
expenditures: $629 million, including capital expenditures of $85 million (1999) |
revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998) |
Capital | Nuuk (Godthab) | Saint-Denis |
Climate | arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April |
Coastline | 44,087 km | 207 km |
Constitution | 5 June 1953 (Danish constitution) | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Greenland local long form: none local short form: Kalaallit Nunaat |
conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
Death rate | 7.77 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $25 million (1999) | $NA |
Dependency status | part of the Kingdom of Denmark; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark since 1979 | overseas department of France |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) | none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) | none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | uncontested dispute between Canada and Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $380 million subsidy from Denmark (1997) | NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | The economy remains critically dependent on exports of fish and substantial support from the Danish Government, which supplies about half of government revenues. The public sector, including publicly-owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the dominant role in the economy. Despite several interesting hydrocarbon and minerals exploration activities, it will take several years before production can materialize. Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential, and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. |
Electricity - consumption | 227.9 million kWh (2002) | 1.084 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 245 million kWh (2002) | 1.166 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
Environment - current issues | protection of the arctic environment; preservation of the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling and seal hunting | NA |
Ethnic groups | Greenlander 88% (Inuit and Greenland-born whites), Danish and others 12% (January 2000) | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian |
Exchange rates | Danish kroner per US dollar - 5.9911 (2004), 6.5877 (2003), 7.8947 (2002), 8.3228 (2001), 8.0831 (2000) | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II of Denmark (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner Peter LAURITEEN (since NA 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Hans ENOKSEN (since 14 December 2002) cabinet: Home Rule Government is elected by the parliament (Landstinget) on the basis of the strength of parties elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner appointed by the monarch; prime minister is elected by parliament (usually the leader of the majority party); election last held 3 December 2002 (next to be held December 2006) election results: Hans ENOKSEN elected prime minister note: government coalition - Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit |
chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Laurent CAYREL (since 16 July 2005)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
Exports | NA | NA |
Exports - commodities | fish and fish products 94% (prawns 63%) | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) |
Exports - partners | Denmark 63.8%, Japan 12.6%, China 3.9% (2004) | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a large disk slightly to the hoist side of center - the top half of the disk is red, the bottom half is white | the flag of France is used |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $20,000 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,000 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.8% (2001 est.) | 2.5% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 72 00 N, 40 00 W | 21 06 S, 55 36 E |
Geography - note | dominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast, but close to one-quarter of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk; world's second largest ice cap | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean |
Highways | total: NA (there are no roads between towns) (2003) | total: 1,214 km (including 88 km of four-lane roads) (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA | NA |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, petroleum products | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products |
Imports - partners | Denmark 78.7%, Sweden 11.9%, Norway 2.7% (2004) | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) |
Independence | none (part of the Kingdom of Denmark; foreign affairs is the responsibility of Denmark, but Greenland actively participates in international agreements relating to Greenland) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | fish processing (mainly shrimp and Greenland halibut); gold, niobium, tantalite, uranium, iron and diamond mining; handicrafts, hides and skins, small shipyards | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction |
Infant mortality rate | total: 15.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.15 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 7.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.6% (1999 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | NC, NIB, UPU | InOC, UPU, WFTU |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 120 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen) | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel |
Labor force | 24,500 (1999 est.) | 309,900 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 13.6%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.2% (2001) |
Languages | Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English | French (official), Creole widely used |
Legal system | Danish | French law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Landstinget (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 December 2002 (next to be held by December 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Siumut 28.7%, Inuit Ataqatigiit 25.5%, Atassut Party 20.4%, Demokratiit 15.6%, Katusseqatigiit 5.3%; seats by party - Siumut 10, Inuit Ataqatigiit 8, Atassut 7, Demokratiit 5, Katusseqatigiit 1 note: two representatives were elected to the Danish Parliament or Folketing on 8 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Siumut 1, Inuit Ataqatigiit 1 |
unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.65 years
male: 66.07 years female: 73.31 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 73.95 years
male: 70.55 years female: 77.52 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% note: similar to Denmark proper |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar |
Map references | Arctic Region | World |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,593 GRT/3,640 DWT
by type: cargo 1, passenger 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) |
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: 1 (France 1) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Denmark | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | - | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (includes Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) |
National holiday | June 21 (longest day) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Greenlander(s)
adjective: Greenlandic |
noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
Natural hazards | continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano |
Natural resources | coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas | fish, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -8.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Atassut Party (Solidarity, a conservative party favoring continuing close relations with Denmark) [Augusta SALLING]; Demokratiit [Per BERTHELSEN]; Inuit Ataqatigiit or IA (Eskimo Brotherhood, a leftist party favoring complete independence from Denmark rather than home rule) [Josef MOTZFELDT]; Issituup (Polar Party) [Nicolai HEINRICH]; Kattusseqatigiit (Candidate List, an independent right-of-center party with no official platform [leader NA]; Siumut (Forward Party, a social democratic party advocating more distinct Greenlandic identity and greater autonomy from Denmark) [Hans ENOKSEN] | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 56,375 (July 2005 est.) | 776,948 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | -0.02% (2005 est.) | 1.38% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Sisimiut | Le Port |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.17 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate domestic and international service provided by satellite, cables and microwave radio relay; totally digitalized in 1995
domestic: microwave radio relay and satellite international: country code - 299; satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 2 Americom GE-2 (all Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
Telephones - main lines in use | 26,000 (2001) | 300,000 est (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 16,747 (2001) | 489,800 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 publicly-owned station, some local low-power stations, and three AFRTS (US Air Force) stations (1997) | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast |
Total fertility rate | 2.41 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 2.47 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 10% (2000 est.) | 36% (1999 est.) |