The World's Largest National Park
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It's more than one hundred times larger than Yellowstone National Park and home to the world's deadliest bear. Any guesses?
Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park in the world. Created by the Danish government in 1974, it was later expanded in 1988. The park now encompasses an area of 375,000 square miles (972,000 km2). This single park is larger than countries like Pakistan, France, and Venezuela, and if it were an independent country, it would rank as the 31st largest in the world, just behind Egypt.
There are very few permanent residents for such a large area, but 80 percent of it is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, which is the second largest body of ice in the world. Around 40 people inhabit a variety of research stations posted along the coast and a naval unit that operates using dog-driven sleds patrols parts of the region.
The Inuit settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit is the only permanent settlement. While some residents still make their living hunting native wildlife, others have turned to the tourist industry. But the threat of polar bears are a constant danger for the Northeast Greenland National Park's approximately 350 citizens.
