Vance’s Greenland visit puts spotlight on Pituffik, the US base at the top of the world
The remote Arctic facility protects the US against threats from Russia – the shortest route for Moscow’s missiles is via the North Pole
The United States military’s northernmost base, Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, is a crucial cog in Washington’s missile defences that US Vice-President J.D. Vance will visit on Friday.
Vance’s visit has thrust the remote Arctic base into the spotlight, as US President Donald Trump locks horns with Denmark over his public desire to annex Greenland from the Scandinavian country.
Located 1,524km (950 miles) from the North Pole, the base, named Thule Air Base until 2023, began life as a trading post founded by Greenlandic-Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen in 1910 next to a glacier.
It was then bought by the Danish state at the beginning of World War II before becoming an American weather station in 1946. Following a defence agreement between the United States and Denmark signed on April 27, 1951 it was made into a military base between 1951 and 1953.
Greenland, which receives rent from the US administration, has been a party to this agreement since 2004.
The expansion of the station forced inhabitants of Pituffik, the local community, to leave their land for Qaanaaq, 140km to the north. Their descendants have received apologies and reparations from Denmark, but their ancestral right to the rich hunting and fishing grounds has not been recognised.