Greenland voted on Tuesday in legislative elections that could yield a timeline for independence for the Danish self-governing territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Possibly signalling a Trump effect, turnout was higher than usual in the sole polling station in the capital Nuuk, according to election officials who extended voting -- which had been due to end at 8:00 pm (2200 GMT) -- by half an hour to allow long lines of voters to cast their ballots.
First results were expected several hours later.
Trump, who has said he is determined to get the vast Arctic island "one way or the other", tried until the last minute to influence the vote, sparking astonishment, rejection, and, to a small degree, enthusiasm among the 57,000 Greenlanders, most of whom favour independence.
Greenland's outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede, who celebrated his 38th birthday on Tuesday, cast his ballot shortly after polling stations opened.
"Our country is in the eye of the storm," he said in a video posted to Facebook just hours before the vote.
"The international community is watching us closely, and we have recently seen how much they are trying to influence our country," said Egede, leader of the left-green party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA).
The lead-up to the election to choose the 31-seat parliament, the Inatsisartut, was mostly marked by debates on healthcare, education and future ties with Denmark, which still controls the island's foreign, defence and monetary policy.
Greenland's inhabitants -- almost 90 percent of whom are Inuits -- say they are tired of being treated like second-class citizens by their former colonial power, which they accuse of having historically suppressed their culture, carried out forced sterilisations and removed children from their families.
All of Greenland's main political parties back independence but disagree on the timeframe.
- Independence now or later? -
Some, such as the nationalist Naleraq party -- the main opposition faction -- want to seek independence quickly.
Others prefer to wait until the island is financially independent, including the two parties that make up the outgoing coalition, IA and the social democratic Siumut.
The island, covered 80 percent by ice, depends on its fisheries sector, which accounts for almost all of its exports, and annual Danish subsidies of more than $565 million, equivalent to a fifth of its GDP.
The most impatient independence backers believe Greenland soon will be able to stand on its own thanks to untapped mineral reserves, including rare earths crucial to the green transition.
But the mining sector is still in its embryonic stages, hampered by high costs due to Greenland's harsh climate and lack of infrastructure.
"We are about to make a huge change towards Greenland's independence and the fight for who we are as Inuit," influencer Qupanuk Olsen, a mining engineer standing for the Naleraq party, told AFP before she cast her ballot.
- More polarisation -
Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland during his first mandate, a bid swiftly rejected by Danish and Greenlandic authorities.
Again in the White House, he has circled back on the ambition with greater fervour, refusing to rule out the use of force and invoking US national security, amid rising Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic region.
Late on Sunday, Trump invited Greenlanders "to be a part of the Greatest Nation anywhere in the World, the United States of America", promising to make them "rich".
The most recent polling on the issue, published in January, shows 85 percent of Greenlanders are opposed to Trump's idea.
"I've had enough of his empty threats," Anders Martinsen, a 27-year-old tax service employee, told AFP.
"There are a lot of Greenlanders who see the US differently with Trump as president, who are a little less inclined to cooperate even if that's what they would really want to do," he said.
"To keep our country for ourselves, that's what I'm most anxious about," said another voter, Lars Fredsbo.
The statements by Trump -- whom Egede has described as "unpredictable" -- sent a jolt through the election campaign.
Naleraq's nationalists say his remarks have given them leverage ahead of independence negotiations with Denmark.
But the comments have also chilled some independence supporters, making continued ties with Copenhagen more attractive to them, at least for now.
"Staying with Denmark is more important than ever right now because I think Denmark has mostly been good to us," said one voter who identified himself only as Ittukusuk.
"If we become independent, then Trump might get too aggressive and that's what scares me."
Political analysts say Trump's meddling in the election contributed to a more polarised debate by reinforcing each side's convictions, but overall it was not expected to influence the result.
Source: AP
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