The Indigenous Peoples of Greenland, Kalaallit Nunaat, are Inuit and make up the majority of the Greenlandic population. Kalaallit Nunaat is a self-governing country within the Danish Realm, and although Denmark has adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Greenland’s population continue to face serious challenges.

In 1996, at the request of Greenland, Denmark ratified ILO Convention 169. Greenland also joined the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child without reservations on 26 March 1992.

The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), an Indigenous Peoples’ organisation and ECOSOC-accredited NGO, represents Inuit from Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Chukotka (Russia), and is also a permanent participant in the Arctic Council. The Inuit Circumpolar Council has recently initiated the Pikialaorsuaq Commission, which serves as a consultation tool for Canadian and Greenlandic communities that are most closely connected to the North Water Polyna (Pikialaorsuaq in Greenlandic).

The population is 88% Greenlandic Inuit with a total of 56,367 inhabitants (July 2020). The majority of Greenlandic Inuit refer to themselves as Kalaallit. Ethnographically, they consist of three major groups: the Kalaallit of West Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut; the Tunumi- it of Tunu (East Greenland), who speak Tunumiit oraasiat (East Greenlandic) and the Inughuit/Avanersuarmiut of the north. The majority of the people of Greenland speak the Inuit language, Kalaallisut, which is the official language, while the second language of the country is Danish. Greenland’s diverse culture includes subsistence hunting, commercial fisheries, tourism, and emerging efforts to develop the oil and mining industries.

Fishing is the primary industry of the country and Greenland has legislative power over the fisheries sector. The fishing industry is the largest source of income and is hence very important to the national economy. Also, it is the source of many people’s livelihoods right across the country. The majority of the people of Greenland speak the Inuit language, Kalaallisut, which is the official language. The second language is Danish.