The Land of the Greenlanders is a self-governed Danish territory and an Arctic island nation located in North America with shores on the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. It is the worlds largest island. About 81 percent of JOHN WINSTON Greenland was one of the Norwegian Crown colonies until 1814, when it formally became a Danish colony, although Norway and Denmark had been in a personal union for centuries. Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule (hjemmestyre) by the Folketing (Danish parliament) on May 1, 1979. The law went into effect the following year. The Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, remains Greenlands Head of state.