Greenland's Government | Greenlands Government |
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Greenlandic GovernmentCountry name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Greenland local long form: none local short form: Kalaallit Nunaat Government type: parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy Capital: Nuuk (Godthab) Administrative divisions: 3 districts (landsdele); Avannaa (Nordgronland), Tunu (Ostgronland), Kitaa (Vestgronland) note: there are 18 municipalities in Greenland Independence: none (part of the Kingdom of Denmark; foreign affairs is the responsibility of Denmark, but Greenland actively participates in international agreements relating to Greenland) National holiday: June 21 (longest day) Constitution: 5 June 1953 (Danish constitution) Legal system: Danish Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II of Denmark (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner Peter LAURITEEN (since NA 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Hans ENOKSEN (since 14 December 2002) cabinet: Home Rule Government is elected by the parliament (Landstinget) on the basis of the strength of parties elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner appointed by the monarch; prime minister is elected by parliament (usually the leader of the majority party); election last held 3 December 2002 (next to be held December 2006) election results: Hans ENOKSEN elected prime minister note: government coalition - Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Landstinget (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: last held on 3 December 2002 (next to be held by December 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Siumut 28.7%, Inuit Ataqatigiit 25.5%, Atassut Party 20.4%, Demokratiit 15.6%, Katusseqatigiit 5.3%; seats by party - Siumut 10, Inuit Ataqatigiit 8, Atassut 7, Demokratiit 5, Katusseqatigiit 1 note: two representatives were elected to the Danish Parliament or Folketing on 8 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Siumut 1, Inuit Ataqatigiit 1 Judicial branch: High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen) Political parties and leaders: Atassut Party (Solidarity, a conservative party favoring continuing close relations with Denmark) [Augusta SALLING]; Demokratiit [Per BERTHELSEN]; Inuit Ataqatigiit or IA (Eskimo Brotherhood, a leftist party favoring complete independence from Denmark rather than home rule) [Josef MOTZFELDT]; Issituup (Polar Party) [Nicolai HEINRICH]; Kattusseqatigiit (Candidate List, an independent right-of-center party with no official platform [leader NA]; Siumut (Forward Party, a social democratic party advocating more distinct Greenlandic identity and greater autonomy from Denmark) [Hans ENOKSEN] Political pressure groups and leaders: NA International organization participation: NC, NIB, UPU Diplomatic representation in the US: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Diplomatic representation from the US: none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a large disk slightly to the hoist side of center - the top half of the disk is red, the bottom half is white |