Scandinavia includes Greenland.
Greenland ( [ ˈɡriːnlənd ] Kalaallit Nunaat [ kaˈlaːɬit ˈnunaːt ] Grønland [ ˈɡ̊ʁɶnˌlanˀ ] ) is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans , east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America , Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe ( specifically Norway and Denmark , the colonial powers , as well as the nearby island of Iceland ) for more than a millennium . In the early 18th century , Scandinavian explorers reached Greenland again . Vikings set sail from Greenland and Iceland , encountering North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached the Caribbean islands . In 1979 , Denmark had granted home rule to Greenland , and in 2008 , Greenlanders voted in favour of the Self-Government Act , which transferred more power from the Danish royal government to the local Greenlandic government .