| History
No one knows for sure when the first groups of Inuit made their way down Greenland's coast and established their hunting and fishing settlements. Almost certainly, their fortunes peaked and waned to the subtle movements of climatic change that, in the high Arctic, make the difference between survival and extinction. Many of these early cultures left traces of their habitation that suggest a way of life intricately in tune with nature. What we also know is that the communities were always small, because each hunter or group of hunters needed a large area in which to hunt.
European settlements date back to the 10th century, when Erik the Red, banished from Iceland, moved west and founded the first Norse colony in South Greenland. Within a few years, the region had become fully settled, its fertile valleys appealing greatly to the sheep-rearing immigrants. The Norsemen went on to found another colony on the West Coast and altogether over 250 farm sites have been identified from archaeological and other remains. By the 15th century, both colonies had died out, though exactly when and why remains a mystery.
Over the next centuries, explorers and adventurers such as Frobisher, Davis, Hudson and Baffin left their names on the arctic map and in doing so brought back tales from Greenland. Later, whaling and trading sustained the interest of the Dutch, the Danes and Norwegians. The missionary zeal of clergyman Hans Egede, prompted another attempt at European settlement and when Greenland came under Danish administration in 1814, this sealed the country's future. The needs of a modern fishing industry and administration were incompatible with the Inuit way of life. As a result, most Greenlanders now live in towns and only a few continue to live a traditional subsistence lifestyle in scattered communities.
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Iceland
