Maximum Population of Greenland?
- Thread starter BirdyWard
- Start date
So the Little Ice Age seems to have spoiled any good perspectives for any pre modern settlement. Maybe dont have erosion of the soil and don´t deplete the original forests.
Maybe Greenland could be a habor for any North America traders. Maybe even a small town could be possible instead of a bunch of farms ?
The original forests were localized to the Qinnqua Valley, which leaves a lot to be desired. Any trees outside of the valley were very sparse and only at the very southern tip of the island. Trees can be grown in a wider range today, definitely, but having the effort put in early on is unlikely. Soil erosion is definitely something to look out for.
Greenland already has a small harbour town, Nuuk, however that's really about it.
What date range?
Getting loads of people in Greenland is tough as heck. If you develop nearby territories to support them sufficiently, then the people don't want to live in Greenland due to better places to live nearby.
Greenland needs to be part of some North American country with a developed Labrador/Quebec and a working northwest passage (nuclear icebreakers?). Have Greenland useful for fishing fleets and defense. THEN have some ridiculous mineral rush. Maybe you'll hit 200k then.
Denmark goes through with the American offer to purchase Greenland in 1946. The United States fills the island with even more defensive and scientific installations, along with a significantly greater number of American soldiers and scientists, as well as the workers required to build and maintain these. Unlike Denmark, the United States was in possession of a number of large companies that were actually capable of massively ramping up of resource extraction. This would draw in a large amount of investment as well as workers to manage these mines. Along with miners and other blue collar workers, there would also be a need for accountants, managers, and various other middle class positions to maintain these mines and projects, as well as people to build and maintain the infrastructure required, from roads to railways to power stations, sewers, and telephone lines. A large number of prospectors, both in precious metals and real estate, also come in hope of a similar gold or oil rush as Alaska.
The current population of Greenland IOTL is roughly 56,000. ITTL, it'd likely be something like 150,000-250,000. A thing to consider is that, while Greenland is far less hospitable than Alaska, it's also far closer to the population centers of the American east coast and far more easily accessible. Essentially, a lot of the population that would've gone to Alaska would have instead gone to Greenland. Rather than having an Alaska with a population of 730,000 and a Greenland with a population of 56,000 as IOTL, it'd most likely be 630,000 in Alaska and 190,000 in Greenland, with the additional 40,000 having been people from the American east coast and parts of Canada and Europe who wouldn't have been able to go to Alaska or the Yukon, and who would have instead gone to Greenland. The Canadian Yukon would also have a smaller population than IOTL.
The current population of Greenland IOTL is roughly 56,000. ITTL, it'd likely be something like 150,000-250,000. A thing to consider is that, while Greenland is far less hospitable than Alaska, it's also far closer to the population centers of the American east coast and far more easily accessible. Essentially, a lot of the population that would've gone to Alaska would have instead gone to Greenland. Rather than having an Alaska with a population of 730,000 and a Greenland with a population of 56,000 as IOTL, it'd most likely be 630,000 in Alaska and 190,000 in Greenland, with the additional 40,000 having been people from the American east coast and parts of Canada and Europe who wouldn't have been able to go to Alaska or the Yukon, and who would have instead gone to Greenland. The Canadian Yukon would also have a smaller population than IOTL.
Greenland doesn't really have a maximum population in this context, Greenland import most of it non-animal food products, but you could through support of local agricultural population likely feed millions. It's not very realistic but you could do it, the question is when the techonology enable one to do so.
If Denmark had adopted aggressive afforestation policies, agricultural and industrial penal colonies(Danish gulags), you could likely create something like a Danish version of Soviet Siberia. So maybe a Denmark going it own version of communist in 1920 and decides to use Greenland to industrialize and seeking autarky, Greenland could have the same population as Iceland.
Yeah, the phrasing is a bit odd. Technically, there's no "maximum" population of anywhere. As I learned while researching for my "what if America had 10 times its population" thread, the number of people you can squeeze into an area is absurd. If Greenland was the population density of Manhattan, it would have 58 billion people in it, and Manhattan is far from the densest urban area on the planet. Hell, it's not even the densest urban area in New York City- it's only one third the density of Corona, in Queens.