Population and setting

Greenland is sparsely populated, with a population of 56.081 inhabitants in 2020. Among these, 3,397 are 65–74 years old, and 1,488 are aged above 75 years. This is an increase of 126% since 2000 [3]. Inhabitants are scattered along the world’s largest island’s vast coastline with 2,166,086 km², where 85% of Greenland is covered by ice. No cities are connected by road or rail. All transport is either by boat/ship or by air and only if the weather conditions allow it [6].

Greenland’s health care system is divided into five regions by geography. Each region hosts one regional hospital, a number of health care centres with educated health care staff in smaller towns, and health care stations in villages, where staff often have no health care education. The total number of health care centres and stations is 74. The capital city (Nuuk) has the national hospital, Queen Ingrid’s Hospital, which delivers specialised diagnostics and treatment to all Greenland citizens [7].