Word: greenlands
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Motzfeldt, who led "Greenland for Greenlanders" demonstrations in Copenhagen in the 1960s, demanded full control of all resources, known and undiscovered. The Danes were shocked, but eventually agreed in principle, although the exact scope of the resource rights remains to be spelled out. "We are satisfied so far," Motzfeldt told TIME Correspondent Lee Griggs in Godthaab. "But we will not be pushovers for outsiders, Danes included. It is an exciting time. We must develop a modern society without ruining our environment and way of life...
Denmark will retain control of defense and foreign affairs but trade, taxation and control of the fishing industry will be turned over to Greenland in stages by 1982. Full independence is not an issue, because one thing Greenlanders do not want to part with is their Danish subsidy, which now totals $250 million annually. This far exceeds the $100 million a year that the Greenlanders earn from fishing and mining (mainly zinc), and from such specialty exports as the ice cubes that are chopped from glaciers and sold in Denmark for status use in mixed drinks...
...Greenland is beautiful but barren. Fifty times as big as Denmark, which has ruled it since 1721, it is 85% covered by an icecap up to two miles thick. The rest is rocky terrain virtually devoid of vegetation. On the shores, steep granite and basalt cliffs plunge into ice-choked fjords. Polar bears prowl the far north, reindeer roam the western coastal mountains, and a few hardy sheep are herded in the far south...
...Greenlanders, mostly of Eskimo descent and a few colonial Danes, live on the coastal fringes by hunting seals, fishing and shrimping, herding reindeer, or raising sheep. Uranium has been found in the south, and zinc is being mined at a site 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle. But Prime Minister Jonathan Motzfeldt, 40, a Lutheran pastor turned politician, says that sealing and fishing will remain the core of Greenland's economy. Says he: "We must look to the sea more than the land for our salvation...
...Norse explorer Eric the Red, who landed on the island in the 10th century, named the grim, gray island Greenland in hopes of luring settlers from Scandinavia and Iceland. By 1500 the climate had killed off Eric's heirs, leaving only the Eskimos who had migrated through the Arctic from Asia. Denmark colonized the island in the 18th century, and made it a Danish county in 1953; discussions on home rule began...