33Received 24.11.2025. Revised 01.02.2026. Accepted 26.02.2026.
Abstract. Increasing global competition for natural resources among some states has become one of the main reasons for Greenland’s growing importance. Primarily, it is related to the United States, China, Japan, as well as to some countries of the European Union that have been demonstrating different types of involvement in the projects handled on the island. Potentially, Trump’s intention to “buy” the island could extend the U.S. continental shelf, expand its right for the development of Greenland’s mineral resources and strengthen its constant presence in the Arctic, as a whole. All of these factors have brought Greenland to the forefront of the global politics. Today it is obvious that the island’s value lies not only in its huge fish stocks, as it was previously considered, but also in its deposits of several types of minerals on the continental shelf. According to the 2023 European Commission report, Greenland possesses significant untapped potential for critical raw materials, including rare earth metals, and has a long geological history comparable to Canada and Australia, where active mineral extraction has been carried out. Importantly, the island as an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark enjoys broad range of rights in the sphere of the development of the continental shelf, as revenues from such activities are transferred to Greenland’s authorities. At the same time, the island does not have the ability to protect its interests on the Arctic shelf without Denmark’s economic and military aid. It could probably “smooth out” the separatist tendency that still exists in Greenlandic society.
Keywords: Greenland, continental shelf, exploration and exploitation of mineral resources, critical raw materials, rare earth metals, USA, EU, China
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