Greenlandic Inuit

Greenlandic Inuit
kalaallit
An Inuk man with a dog sled looks at the United States Air Force radar station Thule Site J in 1966.
Total population
c. 70,000
Regions with significant populations
Greenland51,349
Denmark16,470
United States352
Norway293
Faroe Islands163
Iceland65
Canada55
Netherlands14
Languages
  • Primary
  • Greenlandic
  • Secondary
Religion
Related ethnic groups
other Inuit

The Greenlandic Inuit or sometimes simply the Greenlandic are an ethnic group and nation, where they constitute the largest ethnic population. They share a common ancestry, culture, and history; they natively speak one of the three Greenlandic languages. As Greenland is a country within the Kingdom of Denmark, citizens of Greenland are both citizens of Denmark and of the European Union.

Approximately 89 percent of Greenland's population of 57,695 is Greenlandic Inuit, or 51,349 people as of 2012. Ethnographically, they consist of three major groups:

Historically, Kalaallit referred specifically to the people of Western Greenland. Northern Greenlanders call themselves Avanersuarmiut or Inughuit, and Eastern Greenlanders call themselves Tunumiit, respectively.

Most Greenlanders are bilingual speakers of Kalaallisut and Danish and most trace their lineage to the first Inuit that came to Greenland. The vast majority of ethnic Greenlanders reside in Greenland or elsewhere in the Danish Realm, primarily Denmark proper (approximately 20,000 Greenlanders reside in Denmark proper). A small minority reside in other countries, mostly elsewhere in Scandinavia and North America. The average Greenlander has 75% Inuit ancestry and 25% European ancestry, tracing about half of their paternal DNA to Danish male ancestors.