Greenland ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlandic_language - Greenlandic : Kalaallit Nunaat, pronounced  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Greenlandic - [kalaːɬːitGrønland, pronounced  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Danish - [ˈkʁɶnˌlænˀ] ) is an  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_administrative_division - autonomous territory ^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-17 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-18 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-worldfactbook-19 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-worldfactbook-19 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-21 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-22 - Though a part of the continent of  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America - North America , Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe - Europe  (specifically  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway - Norway  and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark - Denmark , the colonial powers) for more than a millennium, beginning in 986. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-Brown2000-23 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-natmus-24 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-25 - In 2021, Greenland had a population of 56,421. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-191 -  That year, 18,800 people resided in the capital city  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuuk - Nuuk . Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which has a relatively mild climate, especially considering the high latitude upon which it lies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-192 -  Whereas the majority of the population lives north of 64°N in colder coastal climates, Greenland's warmest climates such as the vegetated area around  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narsarsuaq - Narsarsuaq  are sparsely populated.}

Greenland's connection to Denmark was severed on 9 April 1940, early in  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Greenland_during_World_War_II - World War II , after Denmark was occupied by  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany - Nazi Germany . On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany. ^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-66 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluie - Bluie  as a code name for Greenland, where they kept several bases named "Bluie (East or West) (sequential numeral)". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-sem-67 - During this war, the system of government changed:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Greenland - Governor   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eske_Brun - Eske Brun  ruled the island under a law of 1925 that allowed governors to take control under extreme circumstances; Governor Aksel Svane was transferred to the United States to lead the commission to supply Greenland. The Danish  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sl%C3%A6depatruljen_Sirius - Sirius Patrol  guarded the northeastern shores of Greenland in 1942 using dog sleds. They detected several German  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_station - weather stations  and alerted American troops, who destroyed the facilities. After the collapse of the Third Reich,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Speer - Albert Speer  briefly considered escaping in a small aeroplane to hide out in Greenland, but changed his mind and decided to surrender to the  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Armed_Forces - United States Armed Forces . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-68 - In 1867,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States - United States   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State - Secretary of State   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Seward - William H. Seward  worked with former senator  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Walker - Robert J. Walker  to explore the possibility of buying Greenland and, perhaps,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland - Iceland . Opposition in Congress ended this project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-69 -  Following World War II, the United States developed a  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopolitics - geopolitical  interest in Greenland and in 1946 offered to  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_United_States_purchase_of_Greenland - buy the island from Denmark  for $100,000,000; the Danish rejected the offer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-70 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-71 - In 1951 Denmark and the United States signed the Greenland Defense Agreement, which allowed the United States to keep its military bases in Greenland, and to establish new bases or "defense areas" if deemed necessary by  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO - NATO . The U.S. military could freely use and move between these defense areas, but was not to infringe upon Danish sovereignty in Greenland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-72 -  The United States greatly expanded  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base - Thule Air Base  between 1951 and 1953 as part of a unified NATO defence strategy. The local population of three nearby villages was moved more than 100 km (62 miles) away in the winter. The United States tried to construct a subterranean network of secret  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_launch_facility - nuclear missile launch sites  in the Greenlandic ice cap, named  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Iceworm - Project Iceworm . According to documents declassified in 1996, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-73 -  this project was managed from  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Century - Camp Century  from 1960 to 1966 before abandonment as unworkable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-74 -  The missiles were never fielded, and necessary consent from the Danish Government to do so was never sought. The Danish government did not become aware of the programme's mission until 1997, when they discovered it while looking, in the declassified documents, for records related to the  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash - crash of a nuclear-equipped B-52 bomber  near the Thule air base in 1968. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland#cite_note-h-bomb-75 -}

While Greenland is an  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_administrative_division - autonomous territory  within the  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Realm - Kingdom of Denmark , Greenlandic and Danish authorities have publicly asserted Greenland's right to  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination - self-determination  and stated that Greenland is "not for sale". Many Greenlanders support  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenlandic_independence - independence , and many Danes see the historical ties with Greenland as an integral part of Danish national identity.

The United States has long viewed Greenland as vital to national security. In the early 20th century, it included Greenland among several European possessions in the Western Hemisphere to preemptively seize and fortify in the event of a threatened attack on the US. During World War II, the US invoked its  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine - Monroe Doctrine  and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_in_World_War_II - occupied Greenland  to prevent use by Germany following the  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Denmark_%281940%29 - German occupation of Denmark . The US military remained in Greenland after the war and, by 1948, Denmark abandoned attempts to persuade the U.S. to remove them. The following year, both countries became members of the  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO - NATO  military alliance. A 1951 treaty gave the US a significant role in Greenland's defense. Today it has one military base there:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituffik_Space_Base - Pituffik Space Base .