Why is Greenland not called Whiteland?

Marketing. As Wikipedia puts it: > The early Viking settlers named the island as Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was said to be exiled from Iceland for manslaughter. read more

Whiteland is a town in Pleasant, Franklin and Clark townships, Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,169 at the 2010 census. Whiteland is located in north/central Johnson County approximately 19 miles (31 km) south of Indianapolis in Johnson County, which is one of the counties circling the capital city itself and therefore considered part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. read more

Although naming the large subcontinental island"Greenland" may have been an attempt at deceptive promotion to the Vikings, it does have greenery along the coasts, more than some areas in Norway or northern Canada. Calling it Whiteland or Snowland would have been redundant. read more

I would like to add that when Eric the Red named the country Greenland the climate was milder and it was possible to grow different crops and culture a more traditional farmland. In the 14th and 15th centuries the climate got more harsh and closer to what we see today. read more

Greenland was also called Gruntland ("Ground-land") and Engronelant (or Engroneland) on early maps. Whether green is an erroneous transcription of grunt ("ground"), which refers to shallow bays, or vice versa, is not known. read more

The fact is that Greenland was never called “Iceland” even though the ice cap and smaller glaciers cover 85% of the land. Iceland has had four different names, but it has never been called “Greenland,” even though some parts of it are brilliantly green at the right time of year. read more