Population pyramid of Greenland was highly impacted by involuntary birth control program conducted by Danish authorities in the 1960s and 70s.
Populations
As of 1 January 2024[update] the resident population of Greenland was estimated at 56,699, an increase of 90 (0.2%) compared to the corresponding figure the previous year.[1]
Values do not sum to 100% because there were 64 inhabitants living outside the five municipalities, which include residents in the unincorporatedNortheast Greenland National Park. Nuuk is the most populous locality in Greenland with 19,872 inhabitants, which is about 35% of Greenland's total population.
Structure of the population
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2013) (Population statistics are compiled from registers.):[2]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
29 867
26 616
56 483
100
0–4
2 142
1 930
4 072
7.21
5–9
2 004
1 942
3 946
6.99
10–14
2 088
2 022
4 110
7.28
15–19
2 130
2 111
4 241
7.51
20–24
2 350
2 283
4 633
8.20
25–29
2 159
2 081
4 240
7.51
30–34
1 954
1 864
3 818
6.76
35–39
1 730
1 440
3 170
5.61
40–44
2 008
1 690
3 698
6.55
45–49
2 980
2 537
5 517
9.77
50–54
2 599
2 123
4 722
8.36
55–59
2 092
1 546
3 638
6.44
60–64
1 425
1 036
2 461
4.36
65–69
1 071
731
1 802
3.19
70–74
629
594
1 223
2.17
75–79
319
365
684
1.21
80–84
143
229
372
0.66
85–89
39
80
119
0.21
90–94
4
10
14
0.02
95–99
1
2
3
<0.01
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
6 234
5 894
12 128
21.47
15–64
21 427
18 711
40 138
71.06
65+
2 206
2 011
4 217
7.47
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Population statistics are compiled from registers.): [3]
In recent years, Greenland experienced a significant increase in immigration from Asia, especially from the Philippines, Thailand, and China.
Languages
The only official language of Greenland is Greenlandic.[8] The number of speakers of Greenlandic is estimated at 50,000 (85–90% of the total population), divided in three main dialects, Kalaallisut (West-Greenlandic, 44,000 speakers and the dialect that is used as official language), Tunumiit (East-Greenlandic, 3,000 speakers) and Inuktun (North-Greenlandic, 800 speakers). The remainder of the population mainly speaks Danish; Inuit Sign Language is the language of the deaf community.
The first Norse colonists were pagan, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Catholic Christianity by KingOlaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 990 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.
Rediscovering these colonists and spreading the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements and began converting the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.[11]
In the 1960s and 70s, Greenland was subject to one of the most impactful eugenics programs ever implemented. At least 4,500 Inuit women were involuntarily implanted with IUD's without their knowledge or consent - about half the fertile population at the time. Within a generation, the birthrate declined by 50%, which led to multigenerational demographic effects. Public officials at the time blamed the decline in birthrate on poverty and cultural trends, but the extent of the involuntary program became public only in 2022 in an investigation known as the spiral case.[15]
