Religion in Greenland

Religion in Greenland (2010)[1]

  Christianity (96.08%)
  Inuit spiritual beliefs (0.79%)
  Atheist+Agnostic (2.48%)
  Bahai+Other (0.65%)

The majority of the Greenlandic population is Christian and associates with the Church of Denmark, which is Protestant in classification and Lutheran in orientation. The Church of Denmark is the established church through the Constitution of Denmark; this applies to all of the Kingdom of Denmark, except for the Faroe Islands, as the Church of the Faroe Islands became independent in 2007. But traditional Inuit spiritual beliefs remain strong in many of Greenland's remote communities.

Christianity

Lutheranism, mostly represented by the Church of Denmark, is the predominant religious category within Christianity, followed by small communities of Baptists, Mormons, Roman Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists.[2]

History

Christianity was first brought to Greenland in 1000 by Norse settlers. For reasons of climate and snowstorms, the Norse settlers left the island.

By the 18th century, the Norse returned. When Norway and Denmark separated in 1814, Greenland remained Danish, though with a certain degree of autonomy necessitated by its remoteness. Americans expressed interest in Greenland after World War II, but Denmark refused to sell. Today, the Church of Denmark is still the predominant religious preference in the country, but with a degree of autonomy, including its own bishop, 19 parishes divided among 3 deaneries, 40 churches or chapels, and 25 vicars or priests.[3]

Inuit spiritual beliefs

Ethnographically 80% of the population is divided between the Inuit population and population mixed with Inuit and Danish. It is said that the Inuit population is descended from Siberians who crossed from Asia to North America on that island. In Greenland although less than 1% of the residents practice Inuit spiritual beliefs, within the culture of Greenland, the presence of shamanism is widespread.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Greenland, Religion and Social Profile | National Profiles | International Data". Thearda.com. 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  2. ↑ "Greenland Religion Stats". NationMaster.com. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  3. ↑ "RENEGADE TRADS: Christianity in Greenland". Renegadetrad.blogspot.com. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
  4. ↑ "Inuit Religion". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 2016-06-18.
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