Greenland (Alternity)

Greenland (Kalaallisut: Kalaallit Nunaat) is a federal parliamentary republic located north of the Arctic Circle, between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and to the east of Canada's Arctic Archipelago (the Northwest Territories). Greenland's only land border is located on Baffin Island, and adjoins Quebec's Iqaluit Province to the south, while the nation shares its only maritime border with Canada to the west, across the Nares Strait.

Greenland was once a colony of Denmark, (following the 1814 Treaty of Kiel) but upon the Nazi occupation of Denmark in April 1940, its Danish ties were involuntarily severed, and the United States occupied the island until 1945 to stave off potential Nazi invaders. Following the end of the European war in May 1945, Denmark resumed control of Greenland and reestablished ties with the island, until August 1946, following the defeat of Japan and the final end of the war, when the United States acquired a strategic interest in Greenland. The US offered Denmark $100 million for Greenland - an offer that seemed too good to refuse. With Danish war debts exceeding $60 million USD, they accepted the offer with the agreement that Greenland would be granted independence by the end of the century.

For the next thirty-five years, the United States oversaw the political and military affairs relating to the island, building multiple airbases along the north and west coastlines. The US military occupied the northern 2/3 of Baffin Island in the early spring of 1972 to provide a buffer zone between the hostile militaries of Canada and Quebec. In November 1980, a referendum was held in Greenland on whether they preferred commonwealth status or independence - the vote was almost unanimous in favor of independence, at 97.9%. On January 1, 1981, Greenland became an independent nation and the US ended political control of the island. The US still maintains its military bases in Greenland at the behest of the government.

World War II (1940-1945)
Main Article: World War II (1938-1946)

Territory
Main Article: Provinces of Greenland