Geography and climate
Greenland forms part of the North American continent. From Cape Farewell in the south to the world's northernmost land mass Odak Island on 83.40° N, Green-land measures 2,670 kilometres. The island measures 1,050 kilometres at its widest point from east to west. Of Greenland's 2,175,600 square kilometres, 1,833,900 are covered by inland ice, corresponding to 85% of the country. The ice-free area only covers a total of 341,700 square kilometres. The coast line is around 40,000 kilometres long and made up of skerries.

The island is situated in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean east of Canada. Greenland is separated from Canada by the Labrador Sea, the Davis Strait and the Baffin Bay, and in the far north-west some narrow straits that at the narrowest point only separate the two countries by 26 km. The northern coast reaches into the Arctic Ocean. To the east Greenland is separated from Svalbard (Norway) by the Greenland Sea and Iceland by the Denmark Strait that at its narrowest point is 240 kilometres.

The Arctic Circle on 66.33° N marks the border for the area that experiences the darkness of winter and the midnight sun of summer.

With its 8,578 square kilometres Disko is the largest island. The longest fjord, Kangertittivaq, is 300 kilometres long and found in East Greenland. The highest mountain, Gunnbjørn Fjeld, is 3,733 metres.
The northern location and extensive width of the northernmost part of Greenland places it in four time zones. For practical reasons, however, GMT -3 is used as the country's official time.

Climate
Greenland has an Arctic climate, but the vast size of the country means that conditions vary greatly from north to south and from east to west.

In Qaqortoq in the south, July is the warmest month of the year with average temperatures of +8-9°C. In the coldest months, temperatures drop to –10-11°C. In Qaanaaq in the north, the average temperature for the first three months of the year is as low as –30°C, but in July can reach +4–5°C. With its continental climate, Kangerlussuaq has winter temperatures down to –40°C. Summer temperatures, however, may reach +30°C.

One of the most spectacular effects of the cold is the formation of ice. In many places the glaciers stretch as far as the fjords and the coast. The average thickness of the inland ice is 1,500 metres, but across the ridge it may be over 3,000 metres thick.

The sea north of Disko Bay is frozen during the winter. It is therefore only possible to sail to the northern harbours such as Qaanaaq from July to September. During the summer, the ice makes it difficult to navigate the waters of East Greenland and the south-western part of the country. It is well-known that the Arctic pack ice and glaciers are now melting. Since the pack ice is home to animals like polar bears and seals the melting ice will have a great impact on those people who depend on the subsistence hunting of these species. The disappearance of sea ice may well lead to the end of the hunting lifestyle in the north of the country, but in the far south sheep farmers are experimenting with growing wider varieties of vegetables and herbs, and some are diversifying and becoming cattle-breeders.

Flora and fauna
The country's natural flora is made up of about 500 wild plants. With the exception of some woody plants, trees and bushes are not found naturally. In South Greenland trees from other parts of the world have been successfully introduced. Beyond this, only a limited range of cultured plants is grown in the southern part of the country.

Similarly, the fauna is not as varied as in many other places in the world. Birds have the greatest variety with approximately 210 species. There are only about 125 species of fish. The greatest variety of mammals is found among the marine mammals, with 25 species compared to only eight species of land mammals. In addition there are sleigh dogs and imported animals, of which the large sheep population clearly outnumbers other species bred by South Greenland farmers.