In 982 C.E., Greenland was named by its first colonizer, Eric the Red. Having been banished from Iceland, Eric the Red established a colony on Greenland and gave it a pleasant-sounding name, in order to attract other colonists. In reality, Greenland is not very green. Though small coastal areas are habitable, most of the island is mountainous and covered by ice sheets. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark.