Greenland's not a country!

OK, I actually think that I'm pretty good at geography. And despite the fact that when the former USSR broke up it splintered into a whole bunch of 'stans and 'nias (c'mon, think about it, and yes I know that not every one of the splinters fits those categories), I could keep track of the new map. I admit to still having problems calling Czechoslavakia the Czech Republic and Slovakia and forgetting which one ended up on top (northerly speaking*), and I'm sure I don't know the location of every country in the world, but I still think I'm pretty good at geography.

* just checked the map -- Czech Republic lies north and east of Slovakia; now, quick, what's the capital of Slovakia?

Which brings me to Greenland. I always thought Greenland was a country. I never really thought about it much; most of the time I kept listening to dumb climate change skeptics who thought that Greenland was named because it had enough plant growth back in the Medieval Warm Period to be called "green", which isn't true; read your Elder Eddas if you want to know how it really got named. But disregarding that, I never realized that Greenland was a semi-autonomous outpost of Denmark.

Well, it turns out that there may be many Greenlanders (not going to call them Greenies) waking up to the fact that they aren't a country either, so it's possible that in the near future my misperception of Greenland may be rectified.

Here's an article 'bout that; Google news can provide mo' and bettah.

Pro-independence party wins Greenland's election

Two little excerpts from this article:

A. "The new [self-rule] status paves the way for independence and gives the island rights to lucrative Arctic resources, as well as control over justice and police affairs and, to a certain extent, foreign affairs."

B. "The island of just 57,000 people is rife with social problems** and depends heavily on Danish subsidies. However global warming could unlock potentially lucrative revenues from natural resources under its seabed and icecap."

** unemployment, alcoholism and HIV/Aids -- I tend to think that makes sense for inhabitants of this fairly rough place to inhabit

So, to sum up:

1. Greenland's not a country yet.
2. They want to be, but they better figure out how to deal with being one.
3. Alert the climate change skeptics; Greenland is planning on a significant melt phase in coming years, no matter what the conservo-coolists think.

This also got me thinking, does a population of 57,000 qualify Greenland for world's smallest country (by population) if they go the fully-independent route?

Not even close.

Countries of the World, sorted by population

If Greenland became a country with the current population of 57K, it would come in ninth-smallest, and push Antigua & Barbuda out of the top 10. Of course, I don't think that's fair to A&B because it's hard for me to think of Vatican City as a country rather than a religiously-oriented tourist attraction in the middle of Rome with some historical and pontifical significance to a segment of the Christian community.

But now I know that Greenland isn't a country. I'm certain it qualifies for one top spot: least populous country with the most ice. For now, at least.