Patrick Demers

11/13/15
Compare & Contrast
Iceland vs. Greenland
Did you know, Icelands and Greenlands names would be better off reversed? Iceland
and Greenland have many similarities and differences in climate, technology, and economy.
Although both countries are great, I would rather live in Iceland.
In most ways, Iceland's and Greenland's economies and types of government are
different. Iceland is a Constitutional Republic while Greenland is a Constitutional Monarchy that
is owned by Denmark. Greenland has an unemployment rate of 9.4%; however, Iceland's is 5%.
Although Iceland's unemployment rate is much lower than Greenlands, Iceland has
approximately 332,000 families in poverty compared to 1,770 families in poverty. One similarity
is that both of their economies are dependent on fish exports.
Both Iceland and Greenland have mild weather for being so far north. In Iceland, the
average summer temperature is 70. Due to the fact that Iceland is so small, the weather can
be unpredictable. This is because of the different temperature air masses, from the seas
surrounding Iceland. Icelands winters are generally windy and mild. Greenlands average
temperature in the summer is chilly with highs around 50F, and their winters are arctic cold. In
Greenland, you can see farther than usual because of the low humidity. With the differences in
their winters, it seems that their names should be reversed.
Although it is the twenty-first century, not all countries have as much technology as
others. In Iceland, ninety percent of the population uses the internet, while in Greenland only
seventy percent of people use the internet. To give you a comparison, in the United States,
eighty-six percent of people use the internet. In Iceland for every one-hundred people, there are
one-hundred-thirteen cell phones. Nevertheless, Greenland has one-hundred-five cell phones

for every one-hundred people. That being said, both Iceland and Greenland have up-to-date
technology.
I would rather live in Iceland because, it is a Constitutional Republic and because the
weather is fairly mild. I also would enjoy living in Iceland because there is more technology than
in Greenland. Iceland and Greenland's names would be better off switched because their
climates are opposite their name. Iceland and Greenland have many similarities and
differences but are both seem as if they would be great places to live.

Bibliography
The World Factbook: Greenland. Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.
Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gl.html>.
The World Factbook: Iceland. Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.
Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ic.html>.