Danish Security Policy: The Role of the Arctic, the Environment and Arctic Navigation

Abstract

The Danish Realm is composed of three parts that are widely dispersed geographically: Denmark proper in the South, the Faeroe Islands in the north Atlantic and Greenland in the Arctic. The distance from the capital city Copenhagen to Thule in Greenland is more than 3900 km. In terms of size, population, climate, economy, culture and constitution the three parts differ widely. The mainland of Denmark covers some 43,000 square km and has a population of approx. 5 million, whilst the biggest island in the world — Greenland — occupies some 340,000 square km of the earth’s surface and sustains a population of some 53,000; the Faeroe Islands are spread over 1,400 square km of ocean expanse and are home to a population of about 43,000. Significant contrasts in climate and topography have made Denmark a modern industrial society and the two other parts mono-economies depending almost exclusively on fishing; at the same time three separate nations are embedded in the kingdom: the Danes, the Faeroese and the Greenland Inuits; constitutionally, both Greenland and the Faeroe Islands have attained home rule in the post war period, but foreign and security policy still rests as an exclusive obligation with Copenhagen.