The Strategic Importance of Greenland

The dispute about Greenland between the U.S. (primarily President Trump) and Denmark has died down. But it is necessary to understand what that discussion was and appreciate the importance of that part of the world.  Greenland’s location is of strategic value to America. U.S. interest in Greenland dates to the 1951 Defense of Greenland agreement. The agreement gives the U.S. a legal and alliance framework to expand use of Greenland militarily, when necessary, without changing its sovereignty as part of Denmark. Greenland is geographically part of North America, sitting northeast of Canada between the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic. The map below accurately shows the relative size of Greenland to the other land masses nearest to it. This map is a true depiction of Greenland’s size and corrects a common misconception about its size. Granted, Greenland is a huge island, mostly located north of the Arctic circle but it is nowhere as large as it appears on most maps. On most maps Greenland looks to be the size of Africa. Africa is fourteen times larger than Greenland. For scale, note that Greenland is about three times larger than Texas. So, it is certainly a large island but nowhere as large as it appears on most maps. A Mercator map depiction distorts its true size. Greenland is 836,330 square miles in size with the north-to-south distance of 1,660 miles and east-to-west maximum of 650 miles….so it is huge. Two-thirds of Greenland is above the Arctic Circle and mostly uninhabited except for some remote military outposts. Eighty-one percent of Greenland is the Greenland ice sheet with only coastal areas free of ice and thus more habitable. Greenland’s population as of July 2026 is slightly under 57,000 people and almost half live in the capital Nuuk. Politically it is a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Home rule came in 1979 and broader self-government in 2009. Denmark retains important responsibilities in foreign affairs and defense, although Greenland's government has an increasingly significant role in decisions directly affecting the island.

Greenland’s geographic position makes it strategically and geo-politically important. It occupies the northeaster shoulder of North America near to Canada across Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait, a mere eighteen miles at its closest point. Greenland is on the path to America from the Arctic Ocean.  Therefore, it is in the route of both approaches to North America from the Arctic from either the air or the sea. The sea path to America is the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom, or GIUK Gap, the most critical sea lane for Russian ships, both military and civilian. The GIUK gap is one of the essential defense factors that elevate Greenland in importance to our defense from the north. Thus, Greenland’s strategic importance to the U.S. is a given. The military considerations for America’s defense strategy related to Greenland are:

• Missile defense:  The shortest path for missiles attacking the U.S. is over the Arctic passing over Greenland. The U.S. has maintained an early warning radar installation in Pituffik, Greenland since the 1950’s. Approximately 200 U.S. Space Force and Air Force personnel are there. Their sensors will detect any ICBM or submarine launched ballistic missile threats from any adversary and report those threats to the U.S./NORAD warning system. Both Russian and Chinese ICBMs would follow a polar route over Greenland for east and central U.S targets. Northern Command now includes Greenland under its purview instead of European Command, a change made in 2025 recognizing its strategic location as part of the north. This forward early warning base is critical to the defense of the homeland as seconds count when missiles are inbound....