Catholic Church in Greenland first churches in the western hemisphere, and after much effort the people of Greenland received a bishop. The church thrived with the Norse colony which saw its peak in the 14th century, and had an active relationship with Scandinavia and the European continent; the church also participated in the European exploration of the Americas. The abandonment of the colony around 1450 ended any church presence in Greenland and the Protestant Reformation in Denmark effectively shut Greenland from any Catholic presence until the 20th century, when freedom of religion was declared and a small permanent Catholic presence reestablished. Catholicism was introduced
Greenland financial losses. An alternative between Greenland and the United States/Canada is Air Iceland/Icelandair with a plane change in Iceland. Sea passenger and freight transport is served by the coastal ferries operated by Arctic Umiaq Line. It makes a single round trip per week, taking 80 hours each direction. Greenland has a population of 56,370 (January 2013 estimate), of whom 88% are Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed persons). The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Greenland Danes. Several thousand Greenlandic Inuit reside in the Danish Peninsula. The majority of the population is Lutheran. Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in