Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Greenland instead of Iceland, you would:

Health

live 9.7 years less

In Iceland, the average life expectancy is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022. In Greenland, that number is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 2.6 times more likely to be unemployed

In Iceland, 3.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Greenland, that number is 9.1% as of 2015.

be 84.1% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Iceland, 8.8% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Greenland, however, that number is 16.2% as of 2015.

Life

be 5.3 times more likely to die during infancy

In Iceland, approximately 1.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Greenland, on the other hand, 8.8 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 30.5% less likely to have internet access

In Iceland, approximately 100.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Greenland, about 69.5% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 32.5% more on education

Iceland spends 7.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Greenland spends 10.2% of total GDP on education as of 2019.

Geography

see 8.9 times more coastline

Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Greenland, that number is 44,087 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Greenland: At a glance

Greenland is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 2,166,086 sq km. Greenland, the world's largest island, is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the EU) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Greenland voted in favor of increased self-rule in November 2008 and acquired greater responsibility for internal affairs when the Act on Greenland Self-Government was signed into law in June 2009. Denmark, however, continues to exercise control over several policy areas on behalf of Greenland including foreign affairs, security, and financial policy in consultation with Greenland's Self-Rule Government.
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How big is Greenland compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.

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