Posted on April 16, 2017
So much of the world is part of the British Commonwealth, or was once a part of the British Empire, that when I hear "Queen's Birthday," I think of British Queen Elizabeth II, who is the symbolic head of the British Commonwealth. (That's why you see Queen Elizabeth II's image on Canadian money and Niue's stamps - as just two of a bajillion possible examples!)
But Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is April 21. Today's royal birthday is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
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| Queen Margrethe and her family |
With an imposing full name of Margrethe Alexandrine Pórhildur Ingrid, she is not only Queen of Denmark, she is also the supreme authority of the Church of Denmark and the Commander in Chief of the Danish Defense Forces. And, of course, she is queen of the Faroe Islands and of Greenland.
Greenland is part of North America, geographically speaking, but has closer historical and cultural ties to Europe, including of course Denmark (Greenland used to be a Danish colony before it became an autonomous country that is part of the Danish Realm) and also nearby Iceland. It is the largest island in the world (Australia is
considered a continent, not an island), but it is also the least densely populated nation in the world. This is partly because three-fourths of the island is covered with an ice sheet - the only permanent ice sheet outside of Antarctica.
Of course, global warming is causing that ice sheet to melt at an increasing pace. This could be a huge problem for the world!Of course, Greenland has some spectacular natural beauty and some interesting towns to explore:
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