Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat, "The Land of the Greenlanders (Kalaallit)"; Danish: Grønland) is a self-governed Danish territory. An Arctic island nation located in North America by geography, culture and demographics, Greenland is part of Europe politically. The Atlantic Ocean and Iceland lie to Greenland's Southeast; the Greenland Sea to the East; the Arctic Ocean to the North; Baffin Bay and Canada to the West. Greenland is the world's largest island, and is the largest dependent territory by area in the world. About 81 percent of its surface is covered by ice, known as the Greenlandic ice cap. Greenland was one of the Norwegian Crown colonies until 1815, when it formally became a Danish colony, although Norway and Denmark had been in a personal union for centuries. Greenland became an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule (hjemmestyre) by the Folketing (Danish parliament) on May 1, 1979. All towns and settlements of Greenland are situated along the ice-free coast, with the population being concentrated along the Western coast. At least two scientific expedition stations had been established in the ice-covered central part of Greenland (indicated as pale blue in the map to the right), on the ice cap: Eismitte and North Ice.