دیکشنری

GREENLAND

Greenland is the largest island in the world. It covers over 2,000,000 ( two million ) square kilometers. Most of it lies inside the arctic Circle, and a huge sheet of ice covers 85% (85percent) of it. Imagine that a map of Greenland is on top of a map of Europe. Greenland stretches from London to the middle of the Sahara Desert

The ice sheet is more than 1.6 kilometers thick, and it never melts. There is probably only rock under the ice, but no one knows for sure

Along the sea coast, mountains rise from the sea. There are a few low trees in the southwest, but no forests. Snow covers everything in winter, but in summer very low plants cover the ground between the sea and the ice sheet

Norwegian Vikings were the first Europeans to see the island in A.D. 875, but no one visited it until 982. Three years later a few Vikings went to live there. In 1261 the people in Greenland decided to join Norway. Norway and Denmark united in 1380. This union ended in 1814, and Greenland stayed with Denmark. Greenland is fifty times larger than Denmark, but it is still a part of this small country

about 62,000 people live in Greenland. Most of them are part Eskimo and part Danish. Almost all of them live in towns and villages on the southwestern coast because that is the warmest part of the island. A few pure Eskimos live in the far north and some Danes live in the towns. Life in Greenland is difficult because the weather is very cold. In January it is -29.5 C ( minus 29 point 5 degrees Celsius ) and in July it is 4 C ( 4 degrees Celsius ). It is dark twenty-four hours a day during winter. In summer it is always daylight

The island has very few natural resources. The people raise a few vegetables and sheep. They used to fish and hunt, but now they usually buy food at stores

Greenland is important to the world because scientists study the weather there. They can tell when storms are developing over the North Atlantic Ocean. It is important to know when storms are developing there because it is an important shipping area

Life in Greenland is changing very fast. People lived a traditional life for centuries, but now they are moving into the modern world very quickly. They are losing their old traditions, but there is nothing to take their place. There are a lot of problems among the people. It is difficult for any country to move from a traditional life to a modern life. It is especially hard for Greenland because the people spent centuries with very little communication with the rest of the world. These problems will probably continue into the future

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