Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Economy

make 23.5 times more money

Syria has a GDP per capita of $2,900 as of 2021, while in Greenland, the GDP per capita is $68,100 as of 2021.

be 32.8% less likely to be unemployed

In Syria, 13.5% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Greenland, that number is 9.1% as of 2015.

be 80.4% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Syria, 82.5% live below the poverty line as of 2014. In Greenland, however, that number is 16.2% as of 2015.

Life

be 15.7% more likely to be literate

In Syria, the literacy rate is 86.4% as of 2015. In Greenland, it is 100.0% as of 2015.

be 44.9% less likely to die during infancy

In Syria, approximately 15.9 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.

have 37.8% fewer children

In Syria, there are approximately 21.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Greenland, there are 13.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 12.4% more likely to have access to electricity

In Syria, approximately 89% of the population has electricity access as of 2022. In Greenland, 100% of the population do as of 2022.

be 49.1% more likely to have internet access

In Syria, approximately 46.6% of the population has internet access as of 2022. In Greenland, about 69.5% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 100.0% more on education

Syria spends 5.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2009. Greenland spends 10.2% of total GDP on education as of 2019.

Geography

see 228.4 times more coastline

Syria has a total of 193 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.
Read more

How big is Greenland compared to Syria? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Greenland.or Syria It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.