Greenland is located at the northern edge of the Arctic Circle and occupies a highly strategic geographic location. Its high latitude provides for early warning of missile launches from adversaries like Russia. Greenland forms the western component of the Greenland-Iceland-United-Kingdom (GUIK) Gap, a critical maritime chokepoint for monitoring surface and sub-surface naval activities in the North Atlantic. Its position in the Arctic Circle gives it access to the Arctic passages of commercial shipping and military vessels. With the continued change in the earth’s climate the Arctic region is providing more access to potential natural resources – minerals, natural gas, and oil. These geographic and environmental factors contribute to Greenland’s strategic relevance in the competition involving the major powers of the United States, Russia, and China.
About Greenland. The world’s largest island, Greenland covers more than 836,000 square miles. Located off the northeastern coast of Canada, Greenland lies between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. 80% of Greenland lies above the Arctic Circle. Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It gained home rule in 1979 and expanded self-government in 2009. There are about 56,000 inhabitants of Greenland; mostly Inuit people (Wikipedia).
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