The politics of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

, an autonomous country ( kl, nuna, da, land) within the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denma ...

, function in a framework of a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

representative democratic Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

dependency, whereby the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

is the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

, and of a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

Executive power The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state. In political systems b ...

is exercised by the government.

Legislative power A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

is vested in both the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

and parliament ''

Inatsisartut The Inatsisartut ( kl, Inatsisartut; '' da, Landstinget, lit=''the land's- thing'' of Greenland''), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territory* ...

''. The

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

is independent of the executive and the legislature. Greenland has full autonomy on most matters, except on policies and decisions affecting the region including negotiations with the devolved legislatures and the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature ( parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

( en, Parliament of Denmark).

Executive powers

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

, , 14 January 1972 , - , High Commissioner ,

Mikaela Engell Mikaela Engell (born 4 October 1956) is a Danish civil servant who served as High Commissioner of Greenland, a post she has held from 2011 to 2022. She had previously worked in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first as a Permanent Secreta ...

, , 1 April 2011 , - ,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Múte Bourup Egede Múte Inequnaaluk Bourup Egede (; born 11 March 1987) is a Greenlandic politician currently serving as the seventh prime minister of Greenland, a position he has held since April 2021. He has served as a member of the Inatsisartut, the parliamen ...

Inuit Ataqatigiit Inuit Ataqatigiit (, , da, Folkets Samfund) is a democratic socialist, separatist political party in Greenland that aims to make Greenland an independent state. The party, founded as a political organisation in 1976, was born out of the increas ...

, 23 April 2021 Executive power rests with a high commissioner, and a

heads the Cabinet. The

high commissioner of Greenland The High Commission of Denmark in Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni Naalagaaffiup Sinniisoqarfia, da, Rigsombuddet i Grønland) is a Danish institution in Greenland. Functions The High Commissioner represents the crown and the Kingdom Gover ...

is appointed by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

(on from 2011:

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

), and the prime minister is elected indirectly by parliament elections results for four-year terms. The High Commissioner has a seat in the Inatsisartut. The high commissioner is allowed to speak in the Inatsisartut regarding common Danish/Greenlandic affairs, but is not allowed to vote. Following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually given the initiative to establish a new coalition by the Greenlandic Parliament, unless the current

Naalakkersuisut Siulittaasuat The prime minister of Greenland ( kl, Naalakkersuisut siulittaasuat, ; da, Landsstyreformand), officially the premier of Greenland,Naalakkersuisut Siulittaasuat The prime minister of Greenland ( kl, Naalakkersuisut siulittaasuat, ; da, Landsstyreformand), officially the premier of Greenland,Naalakkersuisut Naalakkersuisut ( en, Cabinet of Greenland, da, Grønlands Regering), is the chief executive body and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. An "autonomous territory" ( da, land) of the Kingdom of Denmark, tak ...

. The Naalakkersuisut will often consist of around 9 members. The coalition parties divide the various ministries among themselves and after this, the parties elect their representative to these ministries. Any other member of the cabinet is called a ''

Naalakkersuisoq Naalakkersuisut ( en, Cabinet of Greenland, da, Grønlands Regering), is the chief executive body and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. An "autonomous territory" ( da, land) of the Kingdom of Denmark, t ...

''.

Legislative branch

Legislative power is shared by the government and the legislature. The legislature

Greenlandic Parliament The Inatsisartut ( kl, Inatsisartut; '' da, Landstinget, lit=''the land's- thing'' of Greenland''), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territory* ...

( kl, Inatsisartut) is made up of 31 members elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Election of 2 seats to the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

( da, Folketing) was last held on June 5, 2019. The current composition is shown below.

Judicial branch

Greenland's judicial system is based on the Danish civil law system, operates independently of the legislature and the executive. It has two court of first instance: the District Courts and the

Court of Greenland The Judiciary of Greenland consists of 4 district courts ( Greenlandic: ''Eqqartuussisoqarfik'', Danish: ''Kredsret''), the Court of Greenland ( Greenlandic: ''Kalaallit Nunaanni Eqqartuussivik'', Danish: ''Retten i Grønland''), and the High Cour ...

depending on the type of case, whereas the

High Court of Greenland The High Court of Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni Eqqartuussisuuneqarfik - da, Grønlands Landsret) is the central court of Greenland, located in the capital city, Nuuk. It exists alongside 18 other magistrates' courts and has supreme authori ...

hears cases as the second instance. Decisions made by the High Court of Greenland may be brought before the Supreme Court subject to the permission of the Appeals Permission Board. Appeals may be submitted to the

Østre Landsret The Østre Landsret (the Eastern High Court) is one of Denmark's two High Courts, along with the Vestre Landsret (Western High Court). Both High Courts function as a civil and criminal appellate court for cases from the subordinate courts and furth ...

and the

Supreme Court of Denmark The Supreme Court (, lit. ''Highest Court'', , ) is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is based at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen which also houses the Danish Pa ...

(Højesteret).

Political parties and elections

Greenland has a

multi-party In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coa ...

system (disputing independence versus unionism as well as

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

versus

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

). Governments are usually

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

s. The Greenlandic Parliament (

) has 31 seats. Members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms.

Administrative divisions

The island is administratively divided into 5 municipalities with about 72 cities and villages.

International affairs

Along with diplomatic missions to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, Greenland participates in the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle, ...

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

Complete list of participation of Greenland in international organisations
. With Denmark having responsibility for Greenland's international affairs, other countries do not have direct diplomatic representation in Greenland — their embassies or consulates in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

are responsible for their relations with Greenland and their citizens staying or living there. Greenland is represented internationally by the embassies and consulates of Denmark, although Greenland has an independent Representation to the

in Brussels since 1992 and in the

in Washington D.C since 2014.Greenland Representation in the United States
accessed 02 April 2017 Greenland maintains economic and cultural relations with

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

via

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada ( zh, t=駐加拿大臺北經濟文化代表處, p=Zhù Jiānádà Táiběi Jīngjì Wénhuà Dàibiǎo Chù; french: Bureau économique et culturel de Taïpei au Canada), also called TECO Canada, ...

International organization participation

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

* Inuit Circumpolar Conference *

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also beca ...

West Nordic Council The West Nordic Council ( da, Vestnordisk Råd, kl, Nunat Avannarliit Killiit Siunnersuisoqatigiiffiat, fo, Útnorðurráðið, is, Vestnorræna ráðið) is a cooperation forum of the parliaments and governments of Greenland, the Faroe Island ...

References

External links

Prime Minister’s Office

Government of Greenland
''official government website'' (in English)
Greenland.com
from the Greenland Tourism & Business Council
Statistics Greenland
{{Americas topic, Politics of