Comparison and contrast between Iceland and Greenland

Ingyu Mun
20141213
ENG10802

Can completely same or different things exist in world? Of course not no matter how they
have similarities or disparities. So does the country. There would be so many countries which
have interacted economically and financially or not at all. These countries also are similar or
difference each other. Have you thought about names of Iceland and Greenland? People may
think that Greenland is located at low latitude and Iceland is located at high latitude or one of
them belongs to the other. But they are very closest neighbor countries to each other at high
latitude. So, they have interacted so much economically each other. Also, when people see
them directly, people will realize that Iceland is much greener and Greenland is much icier.
Looking closer, these interesting counties, Iceland and Greenland, have shared many
economy activities, however, they have some dissimilar energy.
Firstly, they have the similarities on economic activities because of their climates and
economy growth. Fish and fish products are largest major exports of both countries, which
are almost 80% of the whole amount of their exports (cia.gov). On the other hand, most of
grain products are imported. It is because they have relatively cold temperature for
agriculture. Moreover, most of their arable land, which had been a little, became wasteland
after starting farming because animals ate plants. Actually, arable land (% of land area) in
Iceland was measured at only 1.23 and In Greenland it was measured at only 0.57 in 2011,
according to World Bank (data.worldbank.org). They have achieved noticeable economic
growth by fishing. With increasing income and having a chance to access abundant
information, because service industries need knowledge of various areas and demand of
service tends to be proportional to income, recently, their focus of service industries,
particularly in tourism, are gradually taking shape and another factor of economic growth.
Their government are working enthusiastically with promoting their spectacular natural
attractions and help tourist agency establish their service. So in Iceland services accounted for
73% of GDP in 2008 and in Greenland for 67% in 2009 (cia.gov). In brief, Iceland and

Greenland experienced economic growth for fishing and due to not only that but also support
of government, services industries became important economic factor as well.
Secondly, in spite of these similar economic activities, Iceland and Greenland have different
alternative energies because of natural resources and government policies. They depended on
fishing so much in the past. They should find alternative sources, because it also related to
economy directly. Throughout Iceland has a large geothermal energy source, which provides
about 65% of primary energy (askjaenergy.org). It is because in aspect of geographical
features, Iceland is a volcanically active island located on a mantle plume on the mid-Atlantic
ridge. Since it is sustainable resource, more than 90% of population enjoys geothermal heat in
their homes without concern of economy and environment. Also, it is used for production
electricity, health, medicinal care, and traveler attractions. However, Greenland doesnt have
such a unique source. Study of minerals in Greenland have accomplished many analysis of
minerals and will lead to utilize minerals in the future. Although various minerals are used to
promote Greenland, mine should be constantly found and electricity is generally generated by
petroleum and diesel, which are not renewable. It is much lower efficient economically and
environmentally. So Greenland government has tried to make electricity from sustainable
sources, for example, dam and hydropower plants. In conclusion, Greenland need to develop
the sector of energy, while Iceland has own unique energy.
In short, Iceland and Greenland have similarities and disparities based on economy.
Although Iceland and Greenland have analogous industries for fishing and servicing, they
have different kinds of resource. They are expected how to interact each other industry and
develop and utilize their own resource in the future.

Citation
data.worldbank.org. arable land(% of land area). 2011. 19 July 2015.
cia.gov. GDP - composition, by sector of origin. 2009. 19 July 2015.
askjaenergy.org. The energy sector. 19 July 2015.
cia.gov. Exports commodities. 2008. 19 July 2015.