Sport is an important part 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 ...

ic culture, as the population is generally quite active. The main traditional sport in Greenland is '' Arctic sports''. Popular sports include

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

. Handball is often referred to as the national sport, and Greenland's men's national team was ranked among the top 20 in the world in 2001. Greenland has excellent conditions for

cross country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits faci ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

, ice climbing,

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

, and

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically a ...

, although

mountain climbing Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

, and

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

are preferred by the general public. Although the country's environment is generally ill-suited for golf, there are nevertheless golf courses on the island. Greenland hosts a biennial international the world's largest multisport and cultural event for young people of the Arctic for the second time in 2016.

Football

The

Football Association of Greenland The Football Association of Greenland ( Greenlandic: ''Kalaallit Nunaanni Isikkamik Arsaattartut Kattuffiat''; da, Grønlands Boldspil-Union) (KAK) is the governing body of association football in the island country of Greenland. The KAK was fou ...

(''Kalaallit Nunaanni Arsaattartut Kattuffia''), has a national football team but is not yet a member of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

because of ongoing disagreements with FIFA leadership and an inability to grow grass for regulation grass pitches. As a constituent country of 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 ...

, the Danish men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

teams represent Greenland as well (although not the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

). However, it is the 17th member of the

N.F.-Board The N.F.-Board (french: Nouvelle Fédération-Board) was a federation of football associations established on 12 December 2003. It was made up of teams that represent nations, dependencies, unrecognized states, minorities, stateless peoples, r ...

. DBU president Jesper Møller visited Greenland in 2015 and the Danish and Greenlandic associations signed a cooperation agreement which aims to encourage the game at grass roots level and build four to six artificial pitches. The FIFA Goal programme sponsored the Qaqortoq Stadium in

Qaqortoq Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a city in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town and the municipal capital in southern Greenland and the ...

, which has an artificial grass pitch. Greenland holds the

Greenlandic Football Championship The Greenlandic Football Championship ( kl, Isikkamik Arsaalluni Pissartanngorniunneq, GM, da, Grønlandsmesterskab i fodbold) is the premier men's football competition in Greenland. It was established in 1954 and since 1971, it has been organis ...

annually. They previously held the event known as the Greenland Cup. They also are a member of

CONIFA The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) is the international governing body for association football teams that are not affiliated with FIFA. Competitions Women's football All members of CONIFA are encouraged to in ...

and compete in the Island games Football, finishing as runners-up to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in 2013.

Skiing

The oldest sport association in Greenland is the Greenland Ski Federation (GIF), founded in 1969. This happened when the then-President of the GIF Daniel Switching took the initiative to found federations and institute reforms. Greenland Ski Federation is further divided into Alpine and cross-country selection committees. The federation is not a member of the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

(FIS), but Greenland skiers participated in the Olympics and World Championships under the Danish flag at the 1968, 1994, 1998 and 2014 games.

Arctic sports

Greenland competes in the biennial

Arctic Winter Games The Arctic Winter Games is a biennial multi-sport and indigenous cultural event involving circumpolar peoples residing in communities or countries bordering the Arctic Ocean. Background The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the lea ...

(AWG). In 2002, Nuuk hosted the AWG in conjunction with

Iqaluit Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the Frobisher Bay, large bay on the c ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

. In 1994 and again in 2002, they won the Hodgson Trophy for fair play.

Other sports

Greenland takes part in the biennial

Island Games The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent d ...

, organized by the

International Island Games Association The International Island Games Association (IIGA) is the organising body for the Island Games, a friendly biennial multi-sport competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories (24 Members from 7 Nations). The ...

. Greenland took part in the

2007 World Men's Handball Championship The 2007 World Men's Handball Championship took place from 19 January to 4 February 2007 in Germany. 24 national teams played in 12 German cities. It was the 20th edition of the World Championship in team handball and was won by the hosts. Stadi ...

in Germany, finishing 22nd in a field of 24 national teams. Greenland took part in badminton in the European Men's & Women's Team Championships in 2018 and won the first match ever in international badminton team championships against Hungary. Greenland took part in the table tennis event at the multi-sport

2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Munich, Germany from 11 to 21 August 2022. The tournament began three ...

in Munich, Germany.

Membership of international sports federations

Greenland has gained membership of, or is in the process of applying to join, the following federations:

References

External links

{{Americas topic, Sport in Sport in North America