A mini-explainer about Greenland’s status as a part of Denmark

There is a famous quotation apocryphally attributed to the California writer Ambrose Bierce: “Wars are God’s way of teaching Americans geography.” (With various versions of itself.)

I was reminded of that in the various media discussions about Greenland. “By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland?” asked Trump’s Joseph Goebbels clone Stephen Miller recently. (1)

In the Miller-Goebbels world, reality including history is whatever cult leader Trump says it is at any given moment.

Actual information about Greenland is not that hard to find. Chatham House’s Marc Weller gives a brief historical sketch of Greenland’s affiliation to Denmark, which claims to have administered the island since 1721. Norway disputed Denmark’s claim to colonial control over Greenland early in the last century. As Weller notes, “the Permanent Court of International Justice ruled in 1933 that Norway’s Foreign Minister Nils Claus Ihlen had given up any claim to Greenland. He had declared in 1919 that the Danish claim ‘would be met with no difficulties on the part of Norway’.” (2)

The UN recognized in 1954 that Greenland had “become an integral part of the Danish Realm with a constitutional status equal to that of other parts of Denmark” based on changes put in place the previous year. (3) And, as Weller writes:

Denmark ... has progressively increased the level of self-government for Greenland, first in the Home Rule Act of 1979 and then in the Self-Government Act of 2009. This latter instrument was approved in a Greenland referendum by a majority of 75.5 per cent.

The Self-Government Act transfers virtually all powers of governance to the Greenland local authorities, with the exception of defence, monetary policy and external relations. In fact, Greenland can even conclude treaties independently of Denmark. However, this does not extend to agreements affecting its status within Denmark. [my emphasis]

Miller-Goebbel‘s view, of course, is: Trump don’t need no stinking international law. Trump want Greenland so Trump take it!! (The Incredible Hulk theory of international law.)

Encyclopedia Britannica provides a brief quick history of Greenland, though Stephen Miller probably assumes Britannica is just some woke commie propaganda outlet: (4)

The particular status of Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark is a little odd compared to how most people are used to thinking about sovereign countries. But it also doesn’t take a PhD in international law to understand the quirks, either.

Denmark is a kingdom, a monarchy ruled by King Frederik X since January of 2024. Greenland is a self-governing province. Its population is small, just under 57,000 people, a number which Goebbels-Miller in the clip above cites as 30,000. (Math, apparently is nothing but some “DEI” obsession in his eyes.

Greenland is a self-governing autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, which has a parliamentary government. The Danish parliament is called the Folketag, which has 179 member including two members elected by Greenlanders and one from the Faroe Islands.

The Nordic Co-operation website provides this bullet-point summary:

Greenland is not a member of the EU but has a special fisheries agreement and was accepted as one of the overseas countries and territories with special association with the EU.

• National day: 21 June (longest day of the year)
• Form of government: Self-government, within the kingdom of Denmark
• [Provincial] Parliament: Inatsisartut (31 seats)
• EU membership: From 1 January 1973 to 1 February 1985
• NATO membership: Since 1949 (as part of Denmark’s membership)
• Head of state: King Frederik X
• Head of government (since April 2025): Jens-Frederik Nielsen (5)

But, as noted above, Norway’s king and Folketag are in charge of defense, foreign relations, and currency policy. One oddity is that Greenland can conclude treaties with other countries on its own as long as they don’t affect its legal relationship with Denmark. Although that could be seen as analogous to a US state making a pact with a foreign government, which would not formally and legally be a treaty.

The Self-Government Act of 2009 mentioned above allows Greenland to declare itself an independent nation on the basis of an independence referendum. If a majority votes for such a referendum, the Danish Folketag would have final say on whether Greenland’s independence would be recognized.

Greenland is specifically covered by the NATO mutual-defense treaty, which means any forcible occupation of the island by the US or any other nation would be formal grounds for invoking the collective self-defense clause against the invader. Since Denmark is not technically part of the EU, such an invasion would not necessarily trigger the EU mutual-defense clause.

Huw Paige has a useful summary of the Trump regime’s recent posturing over Greenland:

Arguments [from the Trump Administration] of security threats around Greenland from Russia and China are illogical. Russia has no great presence in the vicinity of Greenland, and China’s motivations in the Arctic center around the reduction in shipping time and costs offered by the Northern Sea Route along the Russian coast. In any case, China has backed off far more in Greenland in recent years than it has in, for example, Alaska. (6)

Notes:

(1) Miller asserts Trump administration’s position is Green should be part of the US. ABC Chicago YouTube channel, n/d, <https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SdhZ9vKGNq0> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).

(2) Weller, Marc (2026): Who owns Greenland? Chatham House 01/09/2026. <https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/who-owns-greenland> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).

(3) UN Resolution 849 (IX)m 1954. <https://docs.un.org/en/a/res/849(IX)> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).

(4) Who Governs Greenland? Encyclopaedia Britannica YouTube channel 04/04/2025. <https://youtu.be/u1Q6PZDe9II?si=ygRdK5kWK8pIGUYs> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).

(5) Facts about Greenland, n/d. <https://www.norden.org/en/information/facts-about-greenland> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).

(6) Paige, Huw (2026): Donald Trump’s Greenland Obsession Is Growing More Dangerous. Jacobin 01/09/2026. <https://jacobin.com/2026/01/trump-greenland-denmark-nato-imperialism> (Accessed: 2026-12-01).