Greenland will on Tuesday go to the polls under the shadow of moves by U.S. President Donald Trump to incorporate the island into the United States (U.S.).
More than 40,000 eligible voters will be able to cast their ballots from 9 a.m. local time (1100 GMT).
Polling stations will close at 8 p.m., while provisional results will be expected in the early hours of Wednesday.
All 31 seats in the autonomous Danish territory’s parliament, the Inatsisartut in Nuuk, are up for election.
The debate on Greenland’s future unleashed by Trump’s declaration of interest has overshadowed the electoral campaign, with politicians from both Greenland and Denmark rejecting U.S. claims.
According to an opinion poll, only a small minority will be in favour of becoming part of the U.S.
”We do not wish to be Danes. We also do not wish to be Americans. We wish to be Greenlanders, Prime Minister Múte B. Egede has stressed repeatedly.
Egede had declared that he would be opened to greater economic cooperation with the U.S. in exploiting the island’s mineral resources.
Greenland is also home to a major U.S. military base, the Pituffik Space Base on its north-western coast.
While Greenland is largely autonomous, foreign affairs and defence are run by the government in Copenhagen.
