Who are the Kalaallit, Inugguit, and Iit people of Greenland?

The Indigenous people of Greenland are primarily of Inuit extraction and identify themselves using specific regional terms. These designations reflect the diverse geography and cultural history of the island, which the Indigenous people call Kalaallit Nunaat:123

• Kalaallit: This term refers to the people of West Greenland. It is also the root of the name for the broader Indigenous identity, Kalaaleq, which emerged as a shared ethnic identifier by the late 19th century.123
• Inugguit: This term refers to the people from the Thule district in northern Greenland.12
• Iit: This term refers to the people of East Greenland.12

While these groups are distinct based on their region, they are all part of the broader Inuit population and share a common heritage and language family. Today, these terms are used by the Indigenous people to describe their regional identities within their homeland.143