With its rich deposits of oil, diamonds and zinc, Greenland is joining the race for new natural resources. Many Greenlanders hope the island's untapped wealth will pave the way to independence. Aleqa was the first born child in a family from Uummannaq in northern Greenland, and that would normally have meant that her life was already mapped out for her. In the region, about kilometers miles north of the Polar Circle, halibut, whales and seals have shaped the cycle of life for centuries.
The men go fishing and hunting, while the women cook and raise the children. There is little room for extravagance on the fringes of the eternal ice. AFP Ilulissat ice fjord, western Greenland. After finishing school, Aleqa went to college in Canada, instead of Denmark, to earn a degree in teaching English. Then she returned home to earn a second degree, this time in the study of her native Inuit culture.
Today Aleqa Hammond is She is the foreign minister and finance minister of the semi-autonomous island republic, and an important advocate for removing the polar island from the Kingdom of Denmark, which also includes the Faroe Islands. Fishing, mostly of halibut, cod and crabs, is Greenland's main source of revenue. Without generous subsidies from Copenhagen, the government of the former colony would have gone bankrupt long ago. The Danish government injects 3.
But for how much longer? After the referendum, the decision will be up to the parliaments in Nuuk and Copenhagen. Island residents are extremely optimistic. She means this in two ways. Because of its fish-rich waters, but also out of fear of an invasion by international fishing fleets, Greenland withdrew from the European Community in Greenland's officials hope that the island's largely untapped mineral wealth will help smooth the way into autonomy.
Seven mines will begin operations in the coming years, producing gold, diamonds, coal, zinc and olivine, a mixed crystal and semiprecious stone popular with jewelry designers. But Greenland's greatest treasure lies on the ocean floor off the coast, at depths of up to 1, meters 3, feet.
