A non-binding referendum on Greenland's autonomy was held on 25 November 2008 to support or oppose the Greenland Self-Government Act. It was passed with 75% approval (63% in

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

) and a 72% turnout. The non-binding referendum was on expanded

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

in 30 areas, including police, courts, and the coast guard; gave Greenland a say in foreign policy; provided a more definite split of future oil revenue; and made the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic ( kl, kalaallisut, link=no ; da, grønlandsk ) is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 56,000 speakers, mostly Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada such as Inuktitut. It is the mos ...

the sole official language. The referendum was announced by

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 not ...

Hans Enoksen Hans Enoksen (born 7 August 1956) is a Greenlandic politician who served as the third prime minister of Greenland from 2002 to 2009. A Greenlandic monoglot, he has been a member of the Parliament of Greenland since 1995. He became Minister for ...

on 2 January 2008. Enoksen also announced the launch of an information and discussion campaign on the issue of

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

. This included

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

s throughout the country.

Background

Greenland became a

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...

colony in 1775 and was made a province of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in 1953. In 1979, it was made an autonomous country 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 Denmark, metropolitan ...

, with a parliament and local control of health care, schools, and social services. In 1985, it withdrew from the then

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(now known as the European Union) to maintain control of fishing in its waters. There has been some movement towards independence, encouraged by Denmark but held back by Greenland's need for economic subsidies. A 2003 report from the Commission on Self-Governance outlined six possibilities for the future of Greenland. These were: *

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

* Union with another country, or otherwise known as a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

with Denmark, similar to the former

Kingdom of Iceland The Kingdom of Iceland ( is, Konungsríkið Ísland; da, Kongeriget Island) was a sovereign and independent country under a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchy that was established by the Danish ...

(1918–44) * Free association, similar to the relationship between

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, or the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to its

Dominions The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, Dominion of New Zealand, New Zealand, Dominion of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Un ...

such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. *

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

* Increased self-government beyond the then-existing

. * Complete integration

Proposal and expansion of home rule

Although it was a

non-binding referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, 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 ...

supported it and promised to honour its results. The expansion of home rule took effect on 21 June 2009, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of home rule, when the Act on Greenland Self-Government took affect. Greenland gained greater control of the police, coast guard, and courts. In addition, the

became the sole official language. Oil revenues will be divided differently, with the first 75 million Danish kroner (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

13.1 million) going to Greenland, and the remaining revenue split evenly with Denmark. Greenland's subsidies from Copenhagen will be phased out. The subsidy is currently 3.5 billion kroner ($588 million) per year, which accounts for about one-third of the island's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

of 10.5 billion kroner and almost two-thirds of the total income of the home rule government of 6.1 billion kroner. Greenlanders are also recognized as a separate group of people under international law. The changes were met with skepticism from some Danish politicians.

Per Ørum Jørgensen Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math ...

, who helped negotiate the agreement, said that it may be "30–40 years" before Greenland is ready to take charge of itself. MP

Søren Espersen Søren Espersen (born 20 July 1953 in Svenstrup) is a Danish politician, journalist, and author, who was elected as a member of the Folketing for the Danish People's Party in 2005. He was also the party's foreign affairs spokesperson. and former ...

from the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...

controversially claimed that Greenlanders had been "brainwashed with unprecedented propaganda" and that he believed "huge problems are waiting in the future".

Results

The referendum passed.Referendum set to give Greenland more autonomy
Trend News, 8 November 2008 The Greenlandic government was pursuing future independence, and the result was seen by some observers as a "major step" in that direction.Greenland votes for more autonomy
BBC News, 26 November 2008

References

External links

Act on Greenland Self-Government
on the Greenland Self-Government website {{Greenlandic elections

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 is t ...

Self-government referendum Autonomy referendums Referendums in Greenland 2008 in international relations November 2008 events in North America

Background

Proposal and expansion of home rule

Results

See also

References

External links