Greenland, the world’s largest island when continents are excluded, is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. It covers about 2.17 million square kilometres, making it much larger than the second-largest island, New Guinea.
Most of Greenland is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the second-largest ice body on Earth after Antarctica’s ice sheet. The island lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its population is concentrated mainly along the ice-free coast.
Greenland has extensive self-government, while Denmark retains responsibility for areas such as foreign affairs and defence. Australia is often mistakenly called the largest island, but it is generally classified as a continent. That is why Greenland is usually described as the largest island in standard geographic rankings.