Home Rule (1979‑2008)

The introduction of Greenland’s Home Rule on 1 May 1979 was a big day of celebration. The Regent of the Kingdom, Queen Margrethe, arrives with Prince Henrik by helicopter at Godthåb, where they are welcomed by former chairman of the provincial council Lars Chemnitz and governor Hans J. Lassen.
CLAUS BRUUN/RITZAU SCANPIX, 1979

The introduction of Greenland’s Home Rule on 1 May 1979 meant a transfer of competences and responsibilities from Denmark to Greenland. This was in line with the terms for the country’s development and occurred in continuation of ongoing negotiations between Greenland and Denmark. The desire behind the home rule arrangement was that Greenland should remain associated with Denmark, but that the Greenlandic community and the Greenlandic population should have a greater influence on their own affairs.

The structure of Home Rule

The Greenlandic flag Erfalasorput was raised for the first time on Greenland’s National Day, six years after the introduction of Home Rule, on 21 June 1985. The flag was designed by the Greenlandic painter, graphic artist and former member of the Landsstyre, Thue Christiansen. In Inatsisartut ‘s (Parliament’s) final decision, 14 members of Inatsisartut voted for the red and white flag with the circle, while 11 preferred a Scandinavian cross flag with the colours green and white.
FINN FRANDSEN/POLITIKEN/RITZAU SCANPIX, 2007

The law on Greenland’s Home Rule stated in Section 1: ‘The Greenlandic Home Rule attends to Greenlandic affairs within the framework of the kingdom.’ Thus, under the law, Greenland’s Home Rule had the authority and legislative powers for policy areas they had taken over.

The new status of Greenlandic society had great psychological significance. Greenland could set out its own course, thus defining its own society, but still in close association with Denmark. The adoption of their own national flag and the establishment of the National Day on 21 June, both introduced in 1985, have helped create a national identity.

The Supreme Legislative Assembly was now the Inatsisartut (Parliament), and the members of the Inatsisartut had to appoint a Landsstyre (Naalakkersuisut), the government of the country. The Joint Greenland-Danish Home Rule Commission (1975‑1979) had presented a plan for policy areas that could either remain a Danish responsibility, be divided between Greenland and Denmark or be taken over by Greenland.

Home Rule areas of responsibility

As early as January 1980, Greenland’s Home Rule assumed responsibility for eight policy areas, including the governance arrangement, the church area, the teaching and cultural area and industrial relations. The judiciary/Greenland courts, police and prison service remained under Danish responsibility. However, locally trained police officers, magistrates and institution officers had to be used. The training of the groups took place in Greenland.

With each policy area that was taken over, a grant came from the state, scaled according to the expenditure on the area prior to the taking over. The Greenland treasury now obtained its income from the block grant and the taxation scheme, which was introduced before the introduction of home rule. In addition, the Danish State paid to have tasks performed in the Danish areas of responsibility in Greenland, just as foreign fishing licenses and taxes on certain goods provided revenue to Greenland’s treasury.

The economic and political development

Prior to the introduction of home rule, on 4 April 1979, the first elections for the Greenland Inatsisartut (Parliament) were held. Four parties and a total of 95 candidates ran for office. Siumut received 46 % of the vote and the constituency division meant that the party gained 13 out of the 21 seats in the Inatsisartut (Parliament). Atassut gained the remaining eight seats.

Siumut’s election issue was that Greenland should take over policy areas as soon as possible, as the party was sceptical about state funding of the respective policy areas prior to the handover. In addition, the withdrawal from the EC was a key issue and, finally, much emphasis was placed on a more even distribution of investments throughout the country.

As the election’s winner, Siumut formed the first Landsstyre, and the party’s chairman, Jonathan Motzfeldt, became the first Landsstyre premier. In addition, the Landsstyre came to contain the following areas of government: one for settlements and outlying districts, one for business, one for schools and culture and finally one for the social area. Under the individual Landsstyre areas, directorates were established for individual fields.

A number of the civil servants who had worked in the administrative apparatus already built up under the Governor moved to the directorates. The creation of a Landsstyre area for settlements and outlying districts was, in its way, a break with the prior concentration policy, the ‘danification’ and thinking behind the modernisation after World War II.

The culture and development potential of the outlying districts were considered essential for society development and therefore needed to be supported.

First priorities for Home Rule

Sleeping tents belonging to the ruby mine at Qeqertarsuatsiaat/Fiskenæsset south of Nuuk. The Aappaluttoq mine (meaning red) is today operated by the Norwegian company LNS. For example, the rubies from here are used in the jewellery that the Government of Greenland’s presented to Queen Margrethe on her 80th birthday.
PETER KLINT/POLITIKEN/RITZAU SCANPIX, 2014

In order to achieve the overall and long-term policy objective of the Home Rule arrangement, it was necessary for Greenland to gradually become economically independent from Denmark. Home Rule’s first priority was therefore to develop business so that exports of goods could offset the imports enabling the economy to move towards the ultimate goal of becoming self-sustaining.

As a starting point, the economic foundation was industrial fisheries, but relatively quickly the domestic fishing of Greenland halibut also gained significant importance for export income and hence the overall economy. However, the business policy was expanded into a multi-tiered economy with tourism, mineral resources and raw materials industries, as well as other land-based enterprises.

Strengthening the business sector

The staple industry was still fisheries and its derivative industries such as production and transport. Investment was made in both the private and publicly owned fishing fleets, as well as in production facilities with new factories and plants for the processing of catches. However, it was difficult to secure a stable income, partly because cod fisheries were failing and partly because of volatile prices on the international market. The production of other species such as Greenland halibut and crab was initiated, but with fluctuating success, and revenues from exports remained dependent on the shrimp fishery.

It was necessary to develop other sectors that would be able to balance exports and imports. For example, this was to be done through the exploitation of the country’s non-living resources, the mineral resources. Since then, a number of licences have been issued, partly for prospecting and partly for small-scale activities, such as the Nalunaq gold mine north of Nanortalik and a ruby mine at Qeqertarsuatsiaat.

The tourism sector required the development of the infrastructure of the country, for example, hotels, transport options, training of guides, etc. Greenland Tourism was established to target a new tourism strategy focused on cruise tourism as well as marketing both natural and cultural experiences.

Finally, the economy had to be strengthened by increasing local activities in other business sectors, such as construction, trade, manufacturing, service and consulting. In several instances, this was done with the introduction of cooperative ventures and other forms of co-ownership, not least in connection with the start-up of small production enterprises in the settlements.

In the latter part of the 1980s, Greenland ran into a severe economic crisis that came close to emptying its coffers and made it difficult to borrow funds for the projects that would develop the country. With the advice of the OECD, among others, a number of reforms were introduced. For example, a large part of the Home Rule’s companies were identified as limited liability companies, although still with the Home Rule as the main shareholder. The crisis meant that Greenland and the Greenland business sector had to submit to market economy forces and that economic policy had to adapt to these.

Strengthening school and education policy

Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, and Pinngortitaleriffik, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, are located on the outskirts of Nuuk between the suburb of Nuussuaq and the airport. At Ilisimatusarfik in 2020 there were four institutes with a total of around 750 students and 100 employees. In the background, Nuuk’s landmark Sermitsiaq is shrouded in clouds.
TERKEL BROE CHRISTENSEN/RITZAU SCANPIX, 2011

Up to the introduction of Home Rule, the school and education policy had a central role in the debate, and towards the end of the 1970s it had basically stopped sending pupils from primary and lower secondary school for stays in Denmark in order to strengthen Danish language skills and thereby the pupil’s academic level. In 1977, a Higher Preparatory Examination course was established at Ilinniarfissuaq (teachers’ training college) in Nuuk, and in 1983 the Higher Preparatory Examination course was established in Aasiaat. They were replaced in 1986 by the upper secondary education programme (GU), and at the same time an upper secondary education programme was established in Qaqortoq. In 2000, a technical upper secondary school was established in Sisimiut and the foundation for taking an academic youth education had been laid. In several towns, institutions were set up for vocational education programmes, such as the business schools in Nuuk and Qaqortoq, the food school INUILI in Narsaq and Imarsiornermik Ilinniarfik (Greenland’s Maritime School) first in Nuuk, and later moved to Paamiut.

In 1984, the Ilisimatusarfik/Inuit Institute was created which changed its name in 1987 to Ilisimatusarfik/Greenland University and was granted university status. In 2008, Ilisimatusarfik moved into the newly constructed campus, Ilimmarfik, on the outskirts of Nuuk and has since been given a number of new study programmes. Many higher education programmes in particular must still be taken abroad, often in Denmark, and others must be completed with periodic stays in Denmark.

The majority of the education programmes are in Greenland and the number of young people seeking an education is steadily increasing. The level of education has increased over time and the area is a high priority as a highly educated population is seen as a prerequisite for being able to cope on its own.

Strengthening culture and language

Cultural life also had a high priority during Home Rule, and in the early years many activities were initiated or supported. The language and Greenlandic culture became an important element in strengthening a common identity and a necessary prerequisite in the effort to build a national identity. The modernisation period had the ‘danification’ of Greenlandic society as one of its basic principles. The introduction of Greenland’s Home Rule was based on a desire for a Greenland governed on Greenlandic terms.

Thus, ‘Greenlandisation’ was based on strengthening the Greenlandic language and Greenlandic culture. In relation to the language policy, there have been different views; Greenlandic children and young people have grown up since the 1950s under different language policies derived from different political priorities by changing authorities. From the political aspect in particular, it has been argued that being fluent in Danish allows better access to education programmes. The counter-argument has been that a fluency in the Danish language often undermines the child’s learning of the Greenlandic language, and that this loss of language leads to a loss of identity.

Part of the work to ensure access to institutions that impart history, culture and art is precisely about helping to restore a Greenlandic identity. In 1981, a new legislation changed the status of the existing museum to a national museum. The Act simultaneously provided the basis for the establishment of local museums in the towns. It became part of the foundation for increased knowledge of Greenland history and cultural history, which has since appeared in art, literature and design.

In 1984, actors established the project theatre Silamiut, which in 2011, by way of new legislation gained the status of The National Theatre/Nunatta Isiginnaartitsisarfia. The theatre is based in Nuuk, but since its early years, it has also given performances in towns and settlements throughout the country.

In 1997, in the heart of Nuuk, the Katuaq cultural centre opened. Its cultural activities include theatre, concerts, films, exhibitions, talks, etc.

In addition, the Home Rule has actively supported literature, art and film.

The splitting up of the Danish government institutions

The coastal vessel Sarfaq Ittuk from Arctic Umiaq Line on its way through the Ilulissat Icefjord. The coastal vessel calls at the West Greenland coast from Qaqortoq in the south to Ilulissat in the north during summer. It serves a significant amount of the passenger traffic between the Greenlandic towns and settlements for tourists and the local population.
MORTEN RASMUSSEN/BIOFOTO/RITZAU SCANPIX, 2015

The growing political desire of the Greenlandic population for greater independence through the 1970s included a desire to do away with the two Danish government institutions, the Greenland Technical Organisation (GTO) and the Royal Greenland Trading Department (KGH). This desire was a result of the dominant influence of these companies on both the everyday life of individuals and overall societal development. As that period also saw a political desire to create less powerful and more transparent organisations, the KGH and GTO split up into a number of independent organisations through the 1980s and 1990s.

The Royal Greenland Trading Department

Having managed the monopoly trade in Greenland since 1776, the Royal Greenland Trading Department (KGH) was in charge of the supply of goods, fish trading, fish processing and exports, transport infrastructure and postal service when Greenland’s Home Rule was established in 1979.

In 1985, the Home Rule took over the part of KGH that oversaw the trade, production and export of seafood, and KGH’s trading stations, production facilities and fishing fleet were taken over by Royal Greenland which was owned by the Home Rule.

From 1986, the Home Rule gained control of KGH’s trading and transport activities and the name was changed to Kalaallit Niuerfiat (KNI), and in 1993 KNI was split into several independent publicly owned limited liability companies, including Royal Arctic Line, the Pisiffik and Pilersuisoq retail chains and Polar Oil. In 2001, Pisiffik was acquired by private investors.

Parts of passenger service were privatised in 2006 as the Arctic Umiaq Line (AUL), but for economic and service reasons, privatisation had to be reversed as early as in 2007. Air Greenland A/S and Royal Arctic Line A/S now own AUL.

Greenland Technical Organisation

The former Greenland Technical Organisation (GTO) was established in 1950 as part of the Greenland Department under the Danish Prime Minister’s Office, and from the beginning of the modernisation of Greenland, GTO was responsible for the technical planning and much of the societal operation. Thus, GTO was the owner of and operating organisation for electricity and water supply, roads, ports, telecommunications and feasibility studies, while construction tasks were contracted out to a number of mainly Danish contractors.

In 1987, the Home Rule took over GTO, which changed its name to Nuna-Tek, and in 1990 the national electricity, water and collective heat supply was spun off as an independent company under the Home Rule and later changed its name to Nukissiorfiit. Some of the other tasks, such as ports, major construction activities and administration were transferred to the departments of the Home Rule, while municipalities took over sewers, roads and municipal and local plans. Furthermore, Amutsiviit (Grønlands Værfter) was privatised.

In 1994, the Housing Administration was transferred from the Home Rule to the Home Rule-owned housing company INI A/S. In the same year, Tele Greenland A/S was spun off as an independent organisation and merged with Kalaallit Allakkeriviat (Greenland Postal Service), originally part of KGH, in 1997. Responsibility for electricity and water supply in the settlements was transferred in 1998 from the municipalities to Nukissiorfiit.

Grønlandsfly A/S was founded in 1960 by SAS and Kryolitselskabet Øresund with the aim of serving the US bases in Greenland. In 1962, ownership was extended to include the Greenland Provincial Council and KGH, and activities expanded with domestic passenger services. From 1998, it also offered transatlantic travel between Greenland and Denmark. Grønlandsfly A/S changed its name to Air Greenland A/S in 2002. In 2019, the Government of Greenland bought out the ownership interest of the Danish State and SAS, and Air Greenland A/S is now fully controlled by the Government of Greenland.

The struggle for indigenous peoples’ rights

The year 1993 was declared by the UN as the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. At the official opening of this year’s General Assembly in New York, Denmark was represented by members of the Greenland Home Rule.
MICHOS TZOVARAS/UN PHOTO

With the aim of highlighting the conditions of indigenous peoples – peoples who, as a consequence of colonisation, among other things, live as minorities in their country, often across national borders – the United Nations declared 1993 to be the International Year of Indigenous Peoples. Subsequently, the 1995‑2004 decade was named the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The aim is for the indigenous peoples to reclaim and secure the right to their own territories as well as language and culture.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presents the 2007 Mahbub ul Haq award to Canadian Inuit activist and former ICC President Sheila Watt-Cloutier in recognition of her work raising awareness of the impacts of climate change. The award is given to people who have made a special commitment to improving people’s development opportunities.
MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO, 2007

In order to strengthen activities and promote dialogue between the indigenous peoples and the governments of their countries, a coordinating position was established under the UN, which was filled first by Henriette Rasmussen and later by Marianne Jensen, both former members of the Landsstyre. Since then, Greenland has played an active role in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, established in 2000, and in the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

Inuit Circumpolar Council

Greenland’s work in the ICC, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, from 2002 Inuit Circumpolar Council, and in the United Nations has helped give the country a prominent position among the world’s indigenous peoples and is seen by many as an example to be followed.

In the field of foreign policy, Greenland raised its profile early in the struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples. In 1977, at the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Inuit from Greenland, Canada, the United States and Russia began a collaboration, the purpose of which was to strengthen the culture and society of the Inuit, and the ICC was founded in Greenland in 1980 as an NGO.

Through cultural events, political activities and sporting events, such as the Arctic Winter Games, the ICC has greatly contributed to strengthening awareness of a shared identity among Inuit. The ICC has also announced that the indigenous people want to be called ‘Inuit’ and not ‘Eskimo’, which is a term that has been forced upon them from the outside and is perceived as patronising and discriminatory. In addition, the organisation has worked to improve social, economic and political conditions in the Arctic region.

ICC Greenland has positioned itself as a prominent Inuit NGO that has attracted international attention, not least in the field of environmental policy and the development of a common Arctic environmental strategy. The ICC received awards for its environmental policy work from the United Nations in 1988 and the Nordic Council in 1996.

Foreign policy initiatives

Demonstration in the run-up to the referendum on EC membership in January 1982. The opposition to the EC was instrumental in mobilising Greenland politically, and after home rule was introduced in 1979, the move to leave the EC began.
PEER PEDERSEN/POLFOTO/RITZAU SCANPIX, 1982
In 2004, Josef »Tuusi« Motzfeldt, member of the Landsstyre, reached an agreement with Per Stig Møller, Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs (left), and Colin Powell, US Secretary of State (right). Among other things, the agreement gave the US the green light to upgrade the radar in Thule for missile defence. The signing of the agreement took place in Motzfeldt’s home settlement Igaliku, hence the name Igaliku agreement.
IVARS SILIS/AFP/RITZAU SCANPIX, 2004

The Home Rule Act ruled that foreign policy matters, including defence and security policy, were governed by the Folketing and the Danish government. On the other hand, the Danish Government had to consult the Home Rule before entering into agreements with other countries that came into contact with Greenlandic interests, and the Home Rule was given the opportunity to be represented in negotiations of particular interest to Greenland. Since then, Greenland has pursued an active foreign policy in several fields and created the Foreign Office in 1994, which subsequently and under different designations has been responsible for the country’s foreign policy contacts and initiatives.

Greenland’s withdrawal from the EC

The desire for home rule was strongly linked to Greenland’s involuntary membership of the EC, and after the introduction of home rule, negotiations began with the EC on withdrawal. The result was an association agreement whereby Greenland was associated with the EC as one of the ‘Overseas Countries and Territories’, ensuring free movement of people to the EC countries, duty-free access for Greenland products to the European market and a number of aid schemes. As a quid pro quo, the EC demanded a fisheries agreement negotiated by Greenland’s first diplomat representing the Home Rule in Brussels. In an indicative vote in 1982, 53 % – headed by the anti-EC movement ANISA – voted in favour of the Community, and in 1985, Greenland withdrew from the European Community. The agreements with the EC, today the EU, have been renewed several times.

Determination of catch quotas

In the following years, Greenlandic representatives, on behalf of the Danish Government and with the special authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, concluded an agreement with Iceland and Norway, establishing common rules for capelin fishing, and agreements with the Faroe Islands on the hunting and conservation of seals and small whales. Representatives from Greenland have since participated in Denmark’s delegations at the negotiations of the International Whaling Commission, IWC, which sets, among other things, annual catch quotas. For a period of time, the International Whaling Commission was unable to make decisions on quotas because of disagreements over the size of quotas and widespread international requests for total conservation of whales.

In 2007, the EU imposed a common position on its members in the IWC, creating conflicts between Denmark and the rest of the EU, and between Greenland and Denmark. In 2013, since the IWC could not reach an agreement, Greenland introduced quotas for whale hunting in its own waters, contrary to Denmark’s wish not to violate existing conventions.

The Igaliku Agreement

The US presence in Greenland developed in parallel with the changes in the international political situation. In 1991, as part of an agreement with Denmark, the United States withdrew from the base at Kangerlussuaq and ceased to use the airport at Kulusuk. The agreement also provided for the establishment of a committee with representatives from both Greenland, Denmark and the United States.

When the US government submitted plans in the late 1990s for a missile defence that also included Thule Air Base, the Inatsisartut (Parliament), through the Foreign and Security Policy Committee of the Folketing, demanded that any agreement to replace the 1951 Defence Agreement should be made with Greenland as an equal partner. If this did not happen, Greenland would not be able to accept a new agreement.

In 2004, Greenland, Denmark and the United States concluded the Igaliku Agreement, named after the settlement of Igaliku, where the final agreement was signed by the foreign ministers of Denmark and the United States and the foreign affairs member of the Landsstyre. In addition to the defence agreement itself, the agreement also provides for expanded cooperation between the United States and Greenland in areas such as research, education, energy, health, the environment and tourism.

The Igaliku Agreement was an important step in Greenland’s efforts to fill and expand the framework for Home Rule, and the agreement helped to initiate work on formulating and realising the ideas of self-government.

Self-Government Commission (2004 to 2008)

At the beginning of the new millennium, the first stages of the next step for Greenland began. After 20 years of Home Rule, the planned policy areas had been taken over. Moreover, much had happened since 1979: an increasing number of Greenlanders took up education and Greenland had taken over a wide range of societal functions in the public and private sectors, which meant, among other things, that the number of Danes summoned gradually decreased. There is no denying that society was ready for a new step with less dependence on Denmark and thus could look forward to a greater degree of independence. Consequently, at the turn of 1999‑2000, the Greenland Landsstyre established the Greenland Self-Government Commission, considering that there was an increased need to review Greenland’s position within the Unity of the Realm and the Danish Constitutional Act. Furthermore, the terms of reference provided for an economic analysis of the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. The Commission’s work resulted in a report which was submitted to the Landsstyre in 2003. Both the Landsstyre and the Inatsisartut (Parliament) accepted the Self-Government Commission’s report.

Self-Government Commission process

The next step was a joint Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission to consider the proposal for the introduction of self-government in Greenland. The terms of reference were signed by the Greenland Premier and the Danish Prime Minister on 21 June 2004 in the 25th anniversary year of the introduction of the Home Rule.

The Commission, which was composed of members of the Greenland Inatsisartut (Parliament) and members of the Danish Folketing, was to work according to the terms of reference given by the government and the Landsstyre. The Commission’s job was to produce a report to consider and propose how the Greenland authorities could assume further powers where constitutionally possible.

In addition, the Commission was to draw up proposals for a new arrangement concerning the economic situation between Greenland and Denmark.

Greenland’s constitutional position and the self-determination right of the Greenland people under international law were also to be examined.

Finally, the terms of reference established that it is for the people of Greenland to decide whether Greenland wants independence. Any implementation of independence must be made on the basis of an agreement made within the framework of Section 19 of the Danish Constitutional Act.

Three working groups were established to address specific topics on subsurface resources, economy and business development, and matters of state and international law. Elections to the Folketing in February 2005 and to the Inatsisartut (Parliament) in November of that year, as well as the formation of the government following the November 2007 Folketing election, resulted in the replacement of some members of the Commission, including the Chairman of the Commission.

The Commission drew up draft legislation on a new arrangement which also took into account policy areas already taken over by the Greenland authorities under the Home Rule Act for Greenland. In 2008, the joint Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission completed its work and delivered its report and draft legislation for a self-government arrangement in Greenland.

Self-Government is introduced

The referendum was preceded by an extensive awareness campaign based on the Self-Government Commission’s report. Printed matter was distributed door-to-door, the newspapers ran information campaigns, and public meetings were held in many places in the country.

At public meetings, the content of self-government was presented and citizens could ask questions of politicians and public officials. Some of the meetings were televised via nationwide media, and radio and television broadcasts with subsequent debate programmes were produced. Information and debate meetings were organised at educational institutions and widely communicated through the Commission’s website.

The indicative referendum was held on 25 November 2008. Voters were asked to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the question: ‘Do you want self-government to be introduced in Greenland with the content and conditions outlined in the Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission’s draft self-government act?’

With a high turnout of 71.96 %, the result of the referendum showed that a clear majority was interested in Greenlandic self-government: 75.54 % of all the votes were in favour the introduction of self-government, 23.5 % against.

The result of the referendum was submitted to the Inatsisartut (Parliament) and on that basis, a request was forwarded to the national authorities. Then the Folketing confirmed the self-government of Greenland by the Act on Greenland Self-Government.

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Further reading

Read more about History in Greenland

  • Jens Heinrich

    (b. 1973) Ph.D. and MA. Head of Greenland Representation in Copenhagen.

  • Vivi Noahsen

    (b. 1988) MA in Cultural and Social History. Head of Archives at the Greenland National Museum & Archives.

  • Einar Lund Jensen

    (b. 1949) Ph.D. in Arctic and Greenlandic Studies and MA in History and Greenlandic. Former Museum Curator at the National Museum of Denmark.