Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Greenland instead of Western Sahara, you would:

Health

live 9.5 years longer

In Western Sahara, the average life expectancy is 64 years (62 years for men, 67 years for women) as of 2020. In Greenland, that number is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 27.2 times more money

Western Sahara has a GDP per capita of $2,500 as of 2007, while in Greenland, the GDP per capita is $68,100 as of 2021.

Life

be 81.7% less likely to die during infancy

In Western Sahara, approximately 47.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2020. In Greenland, on the other hand, 8.8 children do as of 2022.

have 51.8% fewer children

In Western Sahara, there are approximately 28.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2020. In Greenland, there are 13.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Geography

see 39.7 times more coastline

Western Sahara has a total of 1,110 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 Western Sahara? See an in-depth size comparison.

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