Greenland: Geography#

LocationNorthern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada
Geographic Coordinates72 00 N, 40 00 W 72.0,-40.0
Land boundaries0 km
Coastline44,087 km
Elevation Extremeslowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn Fjeld 3,700 m
Highest Mountains
Terrainflat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast
Natural Hazardscontinuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island
Natural Resourcecoal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, diamonds, gold, platinum, niobium, tantalite, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas
Land Usearable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (2011)
Climatearctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters
Irrigated LandNA
Renewable Water ResourcesNA
Environment_CurrentIssuesprotection of the arctic environment; preservation of the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling and seal hunting
Environment - international agreementsNA
Large Cities
Geography-notedominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast; close to one-quarter of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk; world's second largest ice cap