is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium.In 2008, the people of Greenland passed a referendum supporting greater autonomy; 75% of votes cast were in favour. Greenland is the world's largest island,over three-quarters of which is covered by the only contemporary ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480(2013), it is the least densely populated country in the world.
It was the early Norwegian settlers who gave the country the name Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, it is said that the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for manslaughter. Along with his extended family and his thralls, he set out in ships to explore icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding a habitable area and settling there, he named it Grœnland (translated as "Greenland"), supposedly in the hope that the pleasant name would attract settlers.
The name of the country in Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) is Kalaallit Nunaat ("land of the Kalaallit").The Kalaallit are the indigenous Greenlandic Inuit people who inhabit the country's western region.