327\. The Future of Greenland? (English Vocabulary Lesson)
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Hello, I'm Tom Wilkinson and welcome to the Thinking in English podcast, a podcast for intermediate to advanced level English learners. Donald Trump wants to buy or take over Greenland.

Since the end of December, he has consistently been discussing the Arctic island becoming part of the USA. His son has travelled there, he has refused to rule out military involvement and his comments have angered Denmark and other European countries. Why does Trump want Greenland? Why is Greenland currently Danish? And what will actually happen in the future?

Let's discuss this in today's episode of Thinking in English. There is a full transcript of this episode available for free on Spotify, Apple and my website. Here is today's vocabulary list: autonomous autonomous Having self-government or independence to make decisions. For example: Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Territory

Territory – an area or land under the control of a particular government or ruler. For example, Greenland is the largest island in the world, but most of the territory is under ice. Norse – Norse, relating to the ancient people of Scandinavia – Norway, Sweden and Denmark –

as in Norse explorers such as Eric the Red established settlements in Greenland during the 10th century. Security, security, the state of being protected from danger or threats and also the measures taken to ensure safety.

For example, Donald Trump argued that Greenland is vital for the United States' national and economic security. Purchase, purchase, to buy something. As in, the United States expanded its territory through the purchase of land from other countries. Independence, independence, the state of being self-governing.

As in, Greenland has not declared full independence from Denmark. Rule out. Rule out. To exclude or eliminate something as a possibility or option. As in, despite speculation, Trump has refused to rule out military action to gain control of Greenland.

Greenland is the largest island in the world. It is located in the Arctic and geographically is part of North America. The capital city of Greenland is Nuuk. Greenland is a large place. You could fit the entire United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Austria and Belgium into its territory.

Despite its large size, Greenland is also the world's most sparsely populated territory. Sparse means small in number and spread over a large area. So despite being bigger than Western Europe, Greenland only has about 56,000 people living there. This is mainly due to the fact that over 80% of the island is ice.

The vast majority of people living on Greenland are indigenous Inuit or Greenlandic people and the official languages are West Greenlandic and Danish. Greenland is not a country. It is actually an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. In fact, Greenland has been controlled by Denmark for over 300 years.

first as a colony and now as an autonomous territory. What does autonomous territory mean? Well, Greenland has its own government which controls most of the politics inside the territory, but Denmark controls the foreign affairs and defence of the island. The island's economy has relied on fishing for a long time, but in recent years they have tried to diversify.

Moreover, Greenland has massive deposits of rare earth materials, metals and fossil fuels under the ice that could one day be mined and extracted. Now, Greenland is not an easy place to establish a life. The first settlers are believed to have arrived on Greenland over 4,000 years ago from the North American mainland.

The history of early Greenland involves people moving to the island from North America, usually in the north of the island, and then eventually disappearing. Another group would then move in and repeat. For example, archaeologists have discovered evidence of people called the early Dorset people living on Greenland until the 1st century.

The island was then uninhabited, meaning no one lived there, until the year 700 when the late Dorset people settled in the north of the island again. The late Dorset culture survived until about the 13th century when it was replaced by the Thule people. The Thule were great hunters of animals like walrus and seals and they adapted well to the island.

Actually, they are the ancestors of the modern Greenlandic people. Interestingly, another group of people were already living on Greenland when the ancestors of modern Inuit first arrived: Norse people. Sailors from Norway and Iceland knew about Greenland from the early 10th century.

Eric the Red, a Norse explorer, saw the territory and named it Greenland, which is an odd choice for an icy land. In the year 985, he established the first Norse settlement on the island. Eric the Red's son was Leif Erikson, the first European to reach mainland North America.

The Norse settlements of Greenland lasted around 500 years until the year 1500. No one knows for sure why they abandoned their settlements, but some theories include environmental damage, loss of European support, conflicts with the Thule people and opportunities for people to move to Iceland or somewhere else in Europe.

After a few centuries with no nor settlements on the island, a Danish colony was established again in the 18th century. Denmark took full control of trade with Greenland and the island was closed to foreign trade. Danish control continued and in 1921 the United States recognised Denmark as the owner of the island.

Denmark had recently sold its Caribbean colonies to the United States. In return, the US allowed Denmark to keep Greenland without any arguments. In 1953, Denmark changed the status of Greenland to a county or a region of modern Denmark, making the people living there Danish citizens and the island part of Denmark.

In 1979, Greenland was granted Home Rule. This means that the people of Greenland could finally make their own decisions and choose their own politics again. They actually renamed the capital city to Nuuk, chose their own flag and began to promote Inuit language and culture.

In 2008, Greenland voted for further autonomy from Denmark, giving them more control over their resources and laws. Technically, I think Greenland is now one of the three Danish territories that make up the Danish Kingdom, alongside the Faroe Islands and Denmark itself. Since the US election in November, Greenland has been making the news regularly.

Donald Trump, President of the USA, has repeatedly and publicly called for the US to take control of Greenland. This is not actually a new idea from Trump. He has been publicly discussing Greenland joining the USA since at least 2019. Trump claims that Greenland is essential to US national and economic security.

He has said that we need Greenland for national security purposes and that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity. During a press conference in early January, he also stated that the US needed Greenland for economic security. Most of the discussion has been around the US purchasing Greenland from Denmark, buying the island.

This might sound strange, but a lot of US territory was purchased from other countries. Most of the states in the middle of the country were bought from France. It's called the Louisiana Purchase. Florida was purchased from Spain and Alaska was bought from Russia.

Concerningly, Trump has not ruled out the use of military force to take control of Greenland if he can't buy the island. He has also threatened Denmark with steep tariffs if it does not give up control of Greenland.

His son, Donald Trump Jr., visited the island just a few weeks ago, and the media have been discussing this story constantly, alongside Trump's other suggestions of taking over Canada and the Panama Canal. I have an episode on the Panama Canal published already, exclusive to my Patreon subscribers. If you're interested, go over and subscribe to Patreon.

Trump has stated repeatedly that he wants Greenland for security reasons. What does this really mean? Greenland is in a very important location. It is in between the USA, Europe and Russia, which makes it useful for defence reasons.

Already the US has a military base on the island and they used to keep nuclear weapons there. They might still have nuclear weapons there as it is so close to Russia. The other security element is economic security. Underneath the ice of Greenland are large amounts of valuable minerals, metals and fossil fuels.

Most of these resources are completely untouched, but in the future they could give Greenland, or whoever owns Greenland, a lot of wealth. Also, as global warming continues and the Arctic ice melts, there is a possibility that new trade and shipping routes may open around Greenland. While it is now impossible for most ships to travel through the frozen waters north of Greenland,

In the future, it may be possible. This would allow ships to travel from Asia to Europe far quicker than currently. Ownership of Greenland would give the United States greater control and power and also influence over these new trade routes.

Trump also has concerns over Russian and Chinese ships operating in the seas around the Arctic, and he believes that Greenland would provide the US with more protection. There are also other reasons Trump may want to buy Greenland. For example, since the 1970s, Greenland has gradually gained more rights and more autonomy from mainland Denmark.

Greenland is now autonomous, meaning it controls itself and makes its own decisions. Some US officials, not just Trump, are concerned that eventually Greenland could become independent. This might not happen soon, but one day in the future, Greenland could become its own country.

Right now, Greenland is allied with the US due to Denmark. Denmark is a NATO and EU member. If it became independent, the future would be less clear. Would Greenland stay in NATO? Would they trade with the EU and the US or perhaps with China? What would happen to the US military bases? If the US owned Greenland, they would not need to worry about the status of the island.

And finally, Trump may just want to make history as president. Expanding the USA through the purchase of territory is a sure way to be remembered for decades and centuries to come. So what will actually happen in this situation?

Denmark and other European countries have strongly resisted Trump's suggestions. And there is now the strange situation of two strong allies, the US and Denmark, publicly arguing. The BBC released a useful article a few weeks ago stating four possible outcomes. So I thought I would summarise these. First, nothing happens. This is the most likely situation.

Trump probably will lose interest in purchasing Greenland as more important things will occur while he's president. In fact, if the US is focused on security, Denmark increasing its military spending around Greenland would also achieve those US goals. Second, Greenland might become independent one day.

Greenlandic independence will probably happen at some point in the future. I think most people on Greenland believe that one day they will be independent. But Greenlandic people won't vote for independence unless they can keep the economic support from Denmark or another financial source. The US has had a permanent military presence on Greenland since World War II and will probably never leave.

And independent Greenland would then likely have close ties to the US. Third, the US could put tariffs or sanctions on Denmark, or even on the entire EU. Trump has already been talking about introducing tariffs, but there could be higher levels of tariffs on Denmark. And finally, the least likely option is Trump invading Greenland. This probably won't happen.

But Trump has refused to rule out military action. The US has military bases on Greenland and could take over the island easily and quickly. However, invading Greenland means invading Danish territory and invading NATO and destroying an entire alliance. So here is today's final thought.

Greenland is a massive, sparsely populated island with untapped resources and a strategic location. While it is an autonomous territory of Denmark at the moment, its future is currently the subject of many articles and news stories across the world. Recent interest from the United States, particularly Donald Trump, underscores the island's significance.

from its natural resources to its potential as a strategic trade route. While US ownership or US military action are unlikely, Greenland's future remains a subject of discussion and news stories. But what do you think? What will happen to Greenland in the future?

Let me know in the comments. Do you think Greenland should stay part of Denmark, become independent, join the USA or do something different? Let me know by leaving your opinions, your ideas in the comments on Spotify, on YouTube if you listen on YouTube or on my website thinkinginenglish.blog. There is a full transcript article for this episode.

Thank you all so much for listening. I hope you have a great day and I'll speak to you next time. Goodbye.