Greenland: a nation in the making

An illustration by Carl Rasmussen of Erik the Red on a Viking longboat as he and his men from Norway first land on what became Greenland in 982AD Photograph: Mansell/Getty Images

An Inuit canoe or kayak in the 1700s. The Danish treated the Inuit people with respect Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A woman cooking in her family hut in 1936 Photograph: Time Life Pictures/Getty Image

A dogsled team wakes up Photograph: Chris Anderson/Aurora/Getty Images

Ammassalik harbour, on the east coast of Greenland Photograph: Harald Sund/Getty Images

Caria Rosbach, 11, heads for school in Ilimanaq. Her father, Arne Lange, who is an Inuit fisherman has largely given up fishing in summer to host eco-tourists at his home. He still remembers the last time the sea around his village froze over, some 10 years ago Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Nuuk, the capital of Greenland Photograph: Arctic-Images/Corbis

The aurora borealis glows over a direction sign naming famous capital cities of the world at Kangerlussuaq airport Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

An aerial view of the town of Ilulissat Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Whalers clear an opening in the ice so that their catch, a Greenland right, or bowhead whale, can be hoisted on to solid ice Photograph: Richard Olsenius/National Geographic/Getty Images

Fiona Niviaq Berthelsen places her mother's (Stina Berthelsen) vote in the box. The population of Greenland has voted for greater autonomy from Denmark Photograph: Ulrik Bang/BANG.GL

Aleqa Hammond, the former finance and foreign minister, is tipped to become prime minister of an independent Greenland: 'When I was 13, in 1979, we got home rule in Greenland. It was a gift given to me in my teenage years. The referendum is a new gift for the next generation and that is self-governance' Photograph: Ulrik Bang/BANG.GL

Torben Heckmann, a Danish police officer seconded to Greenland, says of independence: 'They are a little bit like spoilt children. They want it all but they don't want to pay for it' Photograph: Ulrik Bang/BANG.GL

A man stands in a bus shelter in central Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where a poster promoting the 'yes' vote is partially ripped off Photograph: AFP/Getty Images