Demographics of Greenland

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Greenland, including population density, ethnicity, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Population

On 1 July 2014, Greenland had 56,295 inhabitants. This represents an increase of 13 over 1 January but a decrease of 188 over 1 July 2013.^[1] The decrease in Greenland's population is due to emigration, as natural growth is positive.

Age structure

0–6 years: 5,605 (male 2,893 ; female 2,712)

7–14 years: 6,531 (male 3,316 ; female 3,215)

15–17 years: 2,462 (male 1,243 ; female 1,219)

18–24 years: 6,491 (male 3,293 ; female 3,198)

25–64 years: 31,128 (male 16,960 ; female 14,168)

65- years: 4,153 (male 2,133 ; female 2,020)^[2]

Vital statistics^[3][4]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate	Infant mortality rate
1900	12	416	306	110	35.6	26.2	9.4
1901	12	461	301	160	38.7	25.3	13.4
1902	12	426	259	167	35.5	21.6	13.9
1903	12	428	327	101	35.1	26.8	8.3
1904	12	535	283	252	43.5	23.0	20.5
1905	13	487	292	195	39.0	23.4	15.6
1906	13	493	366	127	39.1	29.0	10.1
1907	13	476	362	114	37.2	28.3	8.9
1908	13	543	378	165	42.1	29.3	12.8
1909	13	564	448	116	43.1	34.2	8.9
1910	13	443	354	89	33.6	26.8	6.7
1911	13	577	562	15	43.1	41.9	1.1
1912	14	482	389	93	35.7	28.8	6.9
1913	14	592	390	202	43.5	28.7	14.9
1914	14	531	458	73	38.8	33.4	5.3
1915	14	545	428	117	39.8	31.2	8.5
1916	14	545	447	98	39.5	32.4	7.1
1917	14	547	312	235	39.4	22.4	16.9
1918	14	550	328	222	39.3	23.4	15.9
1919	14	510	614	- 104	36.2	43.5	-7.4
1920	14	569	429	140	40.1	30.2	9.9
1921	14	610	565	45	42.7	39.5	3.1
1922	15	545	396	149	37.3	27.1	10.2
1923	15	563	326	237	38.0	22.0	16.0
1924	15	580	426	154	38.4	28.2	10.2
1925	15	660	582	78	42.9	37.8	5.1
1926	16	619	340	279	39.7	21.8	17.9
1927	16	615	322	293	38.7	20.3	18.4
1928	16	680	366	314	42.0	22.6	19.4
1929	17	743	353	390	45.0	21.4	23.6
1930	17	768	383	385	45.7	22.8	22.9
1931	17	779	431	348	46.1	25.5	20.6
1932	17	728	625	103	43.3	37.1	6.2
1933	17	776	370	406	45.6	21.8	23.8
1934	17	807	503	304	46.4	28.9	17.5
1935	18	813	835	- 22	46.5	47.7	-1.3
1936	18	740	811	- 71	42.0	46.1	-4.0
1937	18	767	474	293	43.1	26.6	16.5
1938	18	731	375	356	40.4	20.7	19.7
1939	18	762	680	82	41.6	37.2	4.5
1940	19	873	356	517	46.9	19.1	27.8
1941	19	815	364	451	42.7	19.1	23.6
1942	20	904	448	456	46.1	22.9	23.3
1943	20	796	429	367	39.8	21.5	18.4
1944	20	911	491	420	44.7	24.1	20.6
1945	21	818	408	410	39.5	19.7	19.8
1946	21	920	416	504	43.6	19.7	23.9
1947	22	953	490	463	44.1	22.7	21.4
1948	22	883	499	384	40.5	22.9	17.6
1949	22	989	898	91	44.7	40.6	4.1
1950	23	1 129	539	590	50.0	23.8	26.1
1951	23	999	550	449	42.9	23.6	19.3
1952	24	1 034	475	559	43.1	19.8	23.3
1953	25	1 109	398	711	44.9	16.1	28.8
1954	26	1 136	388	748	44.4	15.2	29.2
1955	27	1 234	375	859	46.4	14.1	32.3
1956	27	1 293	351	942	47.2	12.8	34.4
1957	29	1 361	337	1 024	47.6	11.8	35.8
1958	30	1 410	290	1 120	47.2	9.7	37.5
1959	31	1 491	285	1 206	47.6	9.1	38.5
1960	33	1 586	256	1 330	48.6	7.8	40.7
1961	34	1 644	292	1 352	48.8	8.7	40.1
1962	35	1 610	361	1 249	46.1	10.3	35.8
1963	36	1 671	279	1 392	46.2	7.7	38.5
1964	38	1 797	329	1 468	47.4	8.7	38.7
1965	39	1 738	337	1 401	44.3	8.6	35.7
1966	41	1 781	329	1 452	43.5	8.0	35.5
1967	43	1 685	314	1 371	39.3	7.3	32.0
1968	45	1 576	333	1 243	35.3	7.4	27.8
1969	46	1 310	311	999	28.5	6.8	21.7
1970	46	1 144	283	861	24.7	6.1	18.6	2.66
1971	47	1 028	289	739	21.8	6.1	15.7
1972	48	948	295	653	19.6	6.1	13.5
1973	49	940	339	601	19.2	6.9	12.3
1974	50	866	332	534	17.5	6.7	10.8
1975	50	815	313	502	17.5	6.3	11.2	2.26
1976	50	859	348	511	17.3	7.0	10.3
1977	49	918	373	545	18.6	7.2	11.4
1978	49	870	309	561	17.7	6.4	11.3
1979	50	900	393	507	18.2	8.1	10.0
1980	50	1 034	380	654	20.5	7.6	12.8	2.18
1981	51	1 056	381	675	20.6	7.5	13.1
1982	52	1 052	408	644	20.6	8.2	12.4
1983	52	994	433	561	18.9	8.3	10.6
1984	53	1 054	439	615	20.0	8.3	11.7
1985	53	1 152	435	717	21.4	8.2	13.2	2.23
1986	54	1 055	445	610	19.7	8.3	11.4
1987	54	1 104	445	659	20.4	8.2	12.2
1988	55	1 213	432	781	22.1	7.9	14.3
1989	55	1 210	455	755	21.9	8.2	13.7
1990	56	1 258	467	791	22.6	8.4	14.2	2.47	34.8
1991	56	1 192	458	734	21.5	8.3	13.2	2.44	34.7
1992	55	1 237	441	796	22.4	8.0	14.4	2.61	14.7
1993	55	1 180	432	748	21.3	7.8	13.5	2.57	27.7
1994	56	1 139	445	694	20.5	8.0	12.5	2.53	24.0
1995	56	1 101	480	621	19.7	8.6	11.1	2.51	21.2
1996	56	1 051	444	607	18.8	8.0	10.9	2.48	23.0
1997	56	1 095	492	603	19.6	8.8	10.8	2.65	19.2
1998	56	980	457	523	17.5	8.1	9.3	2.44	20.0
1999	56	945	479	466	16.8	8.5	8.3	2.41	17.7
2000	56	879	450	429	15.6	8.0	7.6	2.32	19.0
2001	56	942	466	476	16.7	8.3	8.4	2.48	12.2
2002	57	954	446	508	16.9	7.9	9.0	2.54	15.3
2003	57	879	411	468	15.5	7.2	8.2	2.34	8.4
2004	57	892	479	413	15.7	8.4	7.3	2.40	15.0
2005	57	886	465	421	15.6	8.2	7.4	2.35	9.7
2006	57	842	440	402	14.8	7.7	7.1	2.24	16.7
2007	57	853	452	401	15.1	8.0	7.1	2.29	11.0
2008	56	834	428	406	14.8	7.6	7.2	2.24	9.9
2009	56	895	437	458	15.9	7.8	8.1	2.394	4.8
2010	57	869	504	365	15.4	8.9	6.5	2.259	8.1
2011	57	821	476	345	14.5	8.4	6.1	2.104	10.9
2012	57	786	459	327	13.8	8.1	5.8	1.987	9.0
2013		820	444	376	14.5	7.9	6.7
2014		805	461	344	14.3	8.2	6.1

Structure of the population ^[5]

Structure of the population (0.1.07.2013) (Estimates - Population statistics are compiled from registers) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	29 867	26 616	56 483	100
0-4	2 142	1 930	4 072	7,21
5-9	2 004	1 942	3 946	6,99
10-14	2 088	2 022	4 110	7,28
15-19	2 130	2 111	4 241	7,51
20-24	2 350	2 283	4 633	8,20
25-29	2 159	2 081	4 240	7,51
30-34	1 954	1 864	3 818	6,76
35-39	1 730	1 440	3 170	5,61
40-44	2 008	1 690	3 698	6,55
45-49	2 980	2 537	5 517	9,77
50-54	2 599	2 123	4 722	8,36
55-59	2 092	1 546	3 638	6,44
60-64	1 425	1 036	2 461	4,36
65-69	1 071	731	1 802	3,19
70-74	629	594	1 223	2,17
75-79	319	365	684	1,21
80-84	143	229	372	0,66
85-89	39	80	119	0,21
90-94	4	10	14	0,02
95-99	1	2	3	<0,01

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	6 234	5 894	12 128	21,47
15-64	21 427	18 711	40 138	71,06
65+	2 206	2 011	4 217	7,47

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.25 years
male: 68.6 years
female: 74.04 years (2012 est.)

Ethnic groups

The population of Greenland consists of Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed-race persons), Danish Greenlanders, Greenlandic Danes and other Europeans and North Americans. The Inuit population makes up approximately 85%-90% of the total (2009 est.).

Languages

The only official language of Greenland is Kalaallisut (or Greenlandic).^[6] The number of speakers of Kalaallisut is estimated at 50,000 (85-90% of the total population), divided in three main dialects, Kalaallisut (West-Greenlandic, 44,000 speakers and the dialect that is used as official language), Tunumiit (East-Greenlandic, 3,000 speakers) and Inuktun (North-Greenlandic, 800 speakers). The remainder of the population mainly speaks Danish; Greenlandic Sign Language is the language of the deaf community.

Religion

Most Greenlandic villages, including Nanortalik, have their own church.

The nomadic Inuit people were traditionally shamanistic, with a well-developed mythology primarily concerned with propitiating a vengeful and fingerless sea goddess who controlled the success of the seal and whale hunts.

The first Norse colonists were pagan, but Erik the Red's son Leif was converted to Catholic Christianity by King Olaf Trygvesson on a trip to Norway in 990 and sent missionaries back to Greenland. These swiftly established sixteen parishes, some monasteries, and a bishopric at Garðar.

Rediscovering these colonists and spreading the Protestant Reformation among them was one of the primary reasons for the Danish recolonization in the 18th century. Under the patronage of the Royal Mission College in Copenhagen, Norwegian and Danish Lutherans and German Moravian missionaries searched for the missing Norse settlements and began converting the Inuit. The principal figures in the Christianization of Greenland were Hans and Poul Egede and Matthias Stach. The New Testament was translated piecemeal from the time of the very first settlement on Kangeq Island, but the first translation of the whole Bible was not completed until 1900. An improved translation using the modern orthography was completed in 2000.^[7]

Today, the major religion is Protestant Christianity, mostly members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. While there is no official census data on religion in Greenland, the Lutheran Bishop of Greenland Sofie Petersen^[8] estimates that 85% of the Greenlandic population are members of her congregation.^[9]

See also

• Greenland

References

1. http://www.stat.gl/dialog/main.asp?lang=en&version=201403
2. http://www.stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2013/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202013.pdf
3. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
4. Statistics Greenland
5. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
6. Ethnolgue
7. Leif Kiil Sørensen (29 November 2000). "Grønlandsk bibel præsenteret | Kristeligt Dagblad". Kristeligt-dagblad.dk. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
8. "Bells ring a wake-up call for climate justice." World Council of Churches. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010
9. "Grønland, Grundloven og Gejstligheden" (PDF). Retrieved 30 April 2012.