Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is the largest island in the world, located in the North Atlantic Ocean and known for its vast tundra and huge glaciers. Greenland is an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark in North America, the largest country in the Kingdom and one of the three countries that make up the Kingdom. The country's capital and largest city is Nuuk. Although it is part of the North American continent, Greenland has been politically and culturally linked to Europe, especially the colonial powers of Norway and Denmark, for more than a millennium, since 986. Greenland has two ecoregions, the Kalaallit Nunaat High Arctic Tundra and the Kalaallit Nunaat Low Arctic Tundra. The island is home to some 700 species of insects, and the sea is rich in fish and invertebrates, particularly in the milder West Greenland Current. Much of Greenland's fauna is linked to marine food chains, including huge seabird colonies. Greenland's few native land mammals include the Polar Bear, the reindeer which was introduced by Europeans, the Arctic Fox, the Arctic Hare, the Musk Ox, the Collared Lemming, the European Hermit and the Arctic Wolf. Having migrated from Ellesmere Island, the last four species only occur naturally only in East Greenland. Dozens of species of seals and whales live along the coasts, and the terrestrial fauna is dominated by animals that have spread from North America and, for many birds and insects, from Europe. Birds, especially seabirds, are an important part of Greenland's fauna, with breeding populations of auks, puffins, skuas and kittiwakes on the steep mountainsides.