If you lived in Greenland instead of Libya, you would:

Health

be 16.7% less likely to be obese

In Libya, 33.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Greenland, that number is 28.1% of people as of 2024.

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live 0.9 years less

In Libya, the average life expectancy is 71 years (70 years for men, 73 years for women) as of 2024. In Greenland, that number is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 years for women) as of 2024.

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Economy

make 9.1 times more money

Libya has a GDP per capita of $6,449 as of 2025, while in Greenland, the GDP per capita is $58,499 as of 2023.

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Life

be 10.8% more likely to die during infancy

In Libya, approximately 7.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Greenland, on the other hand, 8.8 children do as of 2022.

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have 27.3% fewer children

In Libya, there are approximately 16.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Greenland, there are 12.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 36.6% more likely to have access to electricity

In Libya, approximately 73% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 96% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Greenland, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 15.2% less likely to have internet access

In Libya, approximately 82.0% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Greenland, about 69.5% do as of 2021.

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Geography

see 24.9 times more coastline

Libya has a total of 1,770 km of coastline. In Greenland, that number is 44,087 km.

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Infrastructure

find 7.1 times more home broadband

Libya has 4.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Greenland has 32.0 as of 2022.

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Environment

emit 20.7% more CO2

Libya emits 8.7 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Greenland emits 10.4 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), The World Factbook (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Greenland: At a glance

Greenland is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 2,166,086 sq km. Greenland, the world's largest island, is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the EU) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Greenland voted in favor of increased self-rule in November 2008 and acquired greater responsibility for internal affairs when the Act on Greenland Self-Government was signed into law in June 2009. Denmark, however, continues to exercise control over several policy areas on behalf of Greenland including foreign affairs, security, and financial policy in consultation with Greenland's Self-Rule Government.
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How big is Greenland compared to Libya? See an in-depth size comparison.

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