Greenland Genealogy

Europe > Greenland

Guide to Greenland ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

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Getting started with Greenland research
Norse Vikings settled in Greenland in 985 A.D. where they encountered an Eskimo people called the Inuit who had been making settlements on this huge icy island for thousands of years when the climate was sufficiently hospitable. The first Norse settlements prospered but eventually failed when the colony was neglected by Norway in the 1300s and 1400s. The colonists had either died out or been assimilated with the Eskimos when Greenland was rediscovered in 1578 by British explorers. Since the middle of the 1600s, Europeans, especially Dutch and Scandinavians, visited the shores of Greenland while on whale-hunting expeditions. The island was recolonized beginning in 1721 when Norwegian settlers began missionary efforts among the Inuits. It became a Danish colony in 1815. Greenland became an integral part of Denmark in 1953 with representatives in the Danish legislature, and was granted home rule in 1979. Since then, the local legislature has been working for greater autonomy and internal economic development.

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