Denmark agrees to return 20-tonne meteorite to Greenland

Denmark and Greenland have agreed that the 20-tonne iron meteorite Agpalilik, displayed for decades outside the State Natural History Museum in Copenhagen, should be returned to Greenland, DR reports.

The decision followed a meeting between Greenland’s Minister of Education and Culture, Nivi Olsen, and Denmark’s Minister of Education and Digitalisation, Christina Egelund. Greenland’s government, Naalakkersuisut, announced that the process of transferring the meteorite has begun, although no final date has been set.

Agpalilik means “the rock where the king eiders live” and is part of the Cape York meteorite. It struck north-west Greenland about 10,000 years ago. Danish Greenland researcher Vagn Fabritius Buchwald discovered it in 1963, and it was brought to Denmark two years later.

The meteorite has been at the centre of a long-running debate over ownership and cultural heritage. In May, Greenlandic politician Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam called for it to be returned. She said it belonged to the Greenlandic people and had great cultural significance.

Høegh-Dam said representatives from towns and settlements in northern Greenland had contacted her in 2024 to request the meteorite’s return. According to her, it had previously been used in a ritual marking the transition from childhood to adulthood.

The State Natural History Museum said in May that it would not respond to individual requests from citizens. A month later, Greenland’s parliament, Inatsisartut, backed the call for the meteorite to be returned.

“It is a completely fair and reasonable request that Greenlanders should be able to experience the meteorite in their own country,” Egelund said in the government’s press release. “From the Danish side, we will work hard to ensure that Agpalilik’s final long journey is completed.”