Demographics of Greenland

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Greenland, including population density, ethnicity, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Greenland population pyramid in 2020

Populations

On 1 July 2014, Greenland had 56,295 inhabitants. This represents an increase of 13 over 1 January but a decrease of 188 over 1 July 2013.[1] The decrease in Greenland's population is due to emigration, as natural growth is positive.

Age structure

0–6 years: 5,605 (male 2,893 ; female 2,712)

7–14 years: 6,531 (male 3,316 ; female 3,215)

15–17 years: 2,462 (male 1,243 ; female 1,219)

18–24 years: 6,491 (male 3,293 ; female 3,198)

25–64 years: 31,128 (male 16,960 ; female 14,168)

65- years: 4,153 (male 2,133 ; female 2,020)[2]

Vital statistics[3][4]
Year Average population Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rate Infant mortality rate
1900 12,000 416306110 35.626.29.4
1901 12,000 461301160 38.725.313.4
1902 12,000 426259167 35.521.613.9
1903 12,000 428327101 35.126.88.3
1904 12,000 535283252 43.523.020.5
1905 13,000 487292195 39.023.415.6
1906 13,000 493366127 39.129.010.1
1907 13,000 476362114 37.228.38.9
1908 13,000 543378165 42.129.312.8
1909 13,000 564448116 43.134.28.9
1910 13,000 44335489 33.626.86.7
1911 13,000 57756215 43.141.91.1
1912 14,000 48238993 35.728.86.9
1913 14,000 592390202 43.528.714.9
1914 14,000 53145873 38.833.45.3
1915 14,000 545428117 39.831.28.5
1916 14,000 54544798 39.532.47.1
1917 14,000 547312235 39.422.416.9
1918 14,000 550328222 39.323.415.9
1919 14,000 510614-104 36.243.5-7.4
1920 14,000 569429140 40.130.29.9
1921 14,000 61056545 42.739.53.1
1922 15,000 545396149 37.327.110.2
1923 15,000 563326237 38.022.016.0
1924 15,000 580426154 38.428.210.2
1925 15,000 66058278 42.937.85.1
1926 16,000 619340279 39.721.817.9
1927 16,000 615322293 38.720.318.4
1928 16,000 680366314 42.022.619.4
1929 17,000 743353390 45.021.423.6
1930 17,000 768383385 45.722.822.9
1931 17,000 779431348 46.125.520.6
1932 17,000 728625103 43.337.16.2
1933 17,000 776370406 45.621.823.8
1934 17,000 807503304 46.428.917.5
1935 18,000 813835-22 46.547.7-1.3
1936 18,000 740811-71 42.046.1-4.0
1937 18,000 767474293 43.126.616.5
1938 18,000 731375356 40.420.719.7
1939 18,000 76268082 41.637.24.5
1940 19,000 873356517 46.919.127.8
1941 19,000 815364451 42.719.123.6
1942 20,000 904448456 46.122.923.3
1943 20,000 796429367 39.821.518.4
1944 20,000 911491420 44.724.120.6
1945 21,000 818408410 39.519.719.8
1946 21,000 920416504 43.619.723.9
1947 22,000 953490463 44.122.721.4
1948 22,000 883499384 40.522.917.6
1949 22,000 98989891 44.740.64.1
1950 23,000 1,129539590 50.023.826.1
1951 23,000 999550449 42.923.619.3
1952 24,000 1,034475559 43.119.823.3
1953 25,000 1,109398711 44.916.128.8
1954 26,000 1,136388748 44.415.229.2
1955 27,000 1,234375859 46.414.132.3
1956 27,000 1,293351942 47.212.834.4
1957 29,000 1,3613371,024 47.611.835.8
1958 30,000 1,4102901,120 47.29.737.5
1959 31,000 1,4912851,206 47.69.138.5
1960 33,000 1,5862561,330 48.67.840.7
1961 34,000 1,6442921,352 48.88.740.1
1962 35,000 1,6103611,249 46.110.335.8
1963 36,000 1,6712791,392 46.27.738.5
1964 38,000 1,7973291,468 47.48.738.7
1965 39,000 1,7383371,401 44.38.635.7
1966 41,000 1,7813291,452 43.58.035.5
1967 43,000 1,6853141,371 39.37.332.0
1968 45,000 1,5763331,243 35.37.427.8
1969 46,000 1,310311999 28.56.821.7
1970 46,000 1,144283861 24.76.118.6 2.66
1971 47,000 1,028289739 21.86.115.7
1972 48,000 948295653 19.66.113.5
1973 49,000 940339601 19.26.912.3
1974 50,000 866332534 17.56.710.8
1975 50,000 815313502 17.56.311.2 2.26
1976 50,000 859348511 17.37.010.3
1977 49,000 918373545 18.67.211.4 2.359
1978 49,000 870309561 17.76.411.3 2.209
1979 50,000 900393507 18.28.110.0 2.201
1980 50,000 1,034380654 20.57.612.8 2.449
1981 51,000 1,056381675 20.67.513.1 2.346
1982 52,000 1,052408644 20.68.212.4 2.252
1983 52,000 994433561 18.98.310.6 2.067
1984 53,000 1,054439615 20.08.311.7 2.119
1985 53,000 1,152435717 21.48.213.2 2.253
1986 54,000 1,055445610 19.78.311.4 2.052
1987 54,000 1,104445659 20.48.212.2 2.090
1988 55,000 1,213432781 22.17.914.3 2.323
1989 55,000 1,210455755 21.98.213.7 2.309
1990 56,000 1,258467791 22.68.414.2 2.453 34.8
1991 56,000 1,192458734 21.58.313.2 2.430 34.7
1992 55,000 1,237441796 22.48.014.4 2.616 14.7
1993 55,000 1,180432748 21.37.813.5 2.584 27.7
1994 56,000 1,139445694 20.58.012.5 2.534 24.0
1995 56,000 1,101480621 19.78.611.1 2.518 21.2
1996 56,000 1,051444607 18.88.010.9 2.502 23.0
1997 56,000 1,095492603 19.68.810.8 2.697 19.2
1998 56,000 980457523 17.58.19.3 2.458 20.0
1999 56,000 945479466 16.88.58.3 2.419 17.7
2000 56,000 879450429 15.68.07.6 2.333 19.0
2001 56,000 942466476 16.78.38.4 2.513 12.2
2002 57,000 954446508 16.97.99.0 2.570 15.3
2003 57,000 879411468 15.57.28.2 2.378 8.4
2004 57,000 892479413 15.78.47.3 2.421 15.0
2005 57,000 886465421 15.68.27.4 2.380 9.7
2006 57,000 842440402 14.87.77.1 2.258 16.7
2007 57,000 853452401 15.18.07.1 2.302 11.0
2008 56,000 834428406 14.87.67.2 2.253 9.9
2009 56,000 895437458 15.97.88.1 2.364 4.8
2010 56,000 869504365 15.48.96.5 2.257 8.1
2011 57,000 821476345 14.58.46.1 2.099 10.9
2012 57,000 786459327 13.88.15.8 1.972 9.0
2013 56,000 820444376 14.57.96.7 2.040
2014 56,000 805461344 14.38.26.1 1.991
2015 56,000 854472382 15.28.46.8 2.112
2016 56,000 830487343 14.88.76.1 2.047
2017 56,000 853499354 15.28.96.3 2.096
2018 56,000 819487332 14.78.76.0 1.997
2019 56,000 849548301 15.19.75.4 2.054
2020 56,000

Structure of the population [5]

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates - Population statistics are compiled from registers) :

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

Life expectancy at birth


total population: 71.25 years
male: 68.6 years
female: 74.04 years (2012 est.)

Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups of Greenland (2018)[6]
Ethnic groups percent
Inuit
 
 89.7%
Danish
 
 7.8%
Other Nordic
 
 1.1%
Other
 
 1.4%
Significant minority groups[7]
NationalityPopulation (2020)
 Philippines373
 Thailand208
 Iceland128
 Sweden74
 China61
 Norway53
 Germany50
 USA47
 Poland39
 Canada20

The population of Greenland consists of Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed-race persons), Danish Greenlanders and other Europeans and North Americans. The Inuit population makes up approximately 85%-90% of the total (2009 est.). 6,792 people from Denmark live in Greenland, which is 12% of its total population.

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.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Greenland
Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik, have their own church.

The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with propitiating a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.

The first Norse colonists were pagan, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Catholic Christianity by King Olaf 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.[9]

Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, mostly members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. While there is no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Lutheran Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen[10] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of its congregation.[11]

See also

References
  1. http://www.stat.gl/dialog/main.asp?lang=en&version=201403
  2. http://www.stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2013/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202013.pdf
  3. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
  4. Statistics Greenland
  5. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
  6. "North America :: GREENLAND". CIA The World Factbook.
  7. http://bank.stat.gl/pxweb/en/Greenland/Greenland__BE__BE01__BE0120/BEXST6.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=BEXST618-05-2020%2005:26:26
  8. Ethnolgue
  9. Leif Kiil Sørensen (29 November 2000). "Grønlandsk bibel præsenteret | Kristeligt Dagblad". Kristeligt-dagblad.dk. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
  10. "Bells ring a wake-up call for climate justice." Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine World Council of Churches. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010
  11. "Grønland, Grundloven og Gejstligheden" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
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