Greenland (Denmark)

[Anakin]

I was trying to look for a map of Europe and I found this:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/europe_ref04.jpg

It says on top Greenland (Denmark)... now this is probably a stupid question but I honestly don't know what's the relation between the two.

[Scavenger]

When in doubt, check out the CIA World Factbook. Those guys know everything.

[Everybody]

Usually when those notations show up on maps, it denotes which country controls that territory, either as a territory, commonwealth, or some other agreement that cedes international policy laws to the controlling country. (i.e. Puerto Rico to the U.S.) The marked territories don't necessarily have a separate internal (self-) government, and residents there may or may not be citizens of the controlling country. I believe that the land mass is counted towards size of the controlling country (but I could be wrong, depending on which relationship is being considered). After following Scav's very neat link, Greenland's apparently self-governed, but relies on Denmark for its international agreements/trade/etc.

On a side note, you'll notice several other islands and such marked on that map with other countries' abbreviations following them. Similar trends should apply to them.

[disaster]

there is apparently some piddling little island in the north atlantic that is currently the subject of debate between the governments of Canada and Denmark. Every once in a while, one country or the other will land troops, have a happy little military excercise, then go home again. When asked what, if anything, the Canadian government was planning to do to defend its territory, a high ranking general apparently responded "Defence of the arctic has long relied on one very simple principle: don't rescue anyone stupid enough to try to invade it."

Somehow I really doubt Canada and Denmark are going to slug it out, unless someone proposes to settle the issue on a hockey rink while the NHL is still locked out.

[AMystery]

I think I'd pay to see canada and denmark slug it out. I'd bet on Denmark, not just because they have the stronger military, but because imagine if Denmark won and took over Canada, then we would have Denmark's laws to the north of the US, so the US would have to invade. We can tolerate those draft dodging canadians, but there is no way our right wing government could stand porn and pot on our northern border. This would be a great thing because then we would have a land route to run an oil pipeline to Anwar. We could finally exploit it as is our right by grace of god. Of course we would clearcut all of the canadian forests and sell the pulp to Ikia and then we would buy the impossibly to put together furniture they produce. As furniture collapses under the bulk of McDonald's fed americans, health care costs would explode, saddling the economy with an unmanagable bulk, made worse by all the frostbite cases from our troops securing the northern frontier. Eventually the economy would collapse, satellites would rain from the sky and all life would end.

So in conclusion, the future of the world hinges on the fate of that fly speck island in the North Atlantic. God help us.

[Kitsune]

That's good. Now do what will happen when North Korea discovers love.