Greenlanders vote for independence

NUUK, Greenland, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The residents of Greenland approved a referendum Tuesday that could eventually make them citizens of an independent country.

More than three-quarters of the voters said "yes" to greater autonomy, The Times of London reported. Officials said that more than 70 percent of those eligible to vote -- 39,000 people -- cast ballots.

Greenland or Kalaallit Nunaat has had home rule since 1973, but Denmark has continued to control its foreign and military policy. This year, the two parliaments negotiated a path to independence that gives Greenland greater autonomy.

The measures approved by voters make the Inuit language the official one instead of Danish and give Greenlandic citizens the right of self-determination. It also gives the home-rule government more independence, beginning in June.

The most important provision gives Greenland control of all revenues from its natural resources. The country now receives 3.2 billion kroner ($557 million) in subsidies from Denmark, but mineral and oil resources uncovered as glaciers melt could make Greenland self-supporting.

Greenland has a population of less than 60,000 scattered across 836,000 square miles, most of it the world's second largest ice cap.