Timothy Birdnow

A Republican Congressman introduced a bill to make Greenland the 51st state.

The "Greenland Annexation and Statehood Act” was introduced by Representative Larry, er, Randy Fine (R-Fla.) and calls for not just the annexation but for statehood for the huge frozen island.

With just 57,000 people spread over an area of 836,330 mi² Greenland cannot even function as a local government on it's own, which is why it's been part of Denmark for so long. I would add more people attended the Super Bowl last year than live i the entire subcontinent of Greenland (61,629 people packed into Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas last year to watch the game).

From a political standpoint the Greenlanders are very poor and will almost certainly vote Democrat once they are given citizenship. That means the Senate flips to the Democrats and the House may possibly as well (although Greenland would probably only have one Representative). The only way Greenland becomes Republican is if it is flooded with American military personnel and the more conservative business types, until they overwhelm the aboriginal population.

The average income for Greenlanders at present is 332,500 DKK, or about $3,800 U.S. so the whole country would become a drag on U.S. assistance programs.

Taking control of Greenland is fine but it must be done gradually, and it should be a protectorate in the fashion of Puerto Rico, not brought in as a state immediately. The People of Greenland need to decide too.

It took Arizona 49 years to achieve statehood, for example, the longest wait of any former territory. Greenland should be moved on that cautiously.

But there is no reason it can't be a U.S. territory.

We need to think this through before jumping into something that might bite us in the frostbitten posterior.

Posted by: Dana Mathewson at January 16, 2026 01:22 AM (Kg0VH)

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at January 16, 2026 09:02 AM (umJ+Y)

Posted by: Dana Mathewson at January 17, 2026 12:47 AM (W165o)

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