By 1931, that part of Greenland was uninhabited and included only three main Norwegian stations (Jonsbu, Myggbukta and Antarctic Havn) and numerous smaller ones.

There were two main Norse settlements on Greenland, but both were on the southwestern coast of the island, far away from the area that later became Erik the Red's Land.

[4] However, contact with the settlements there was lost in the Late Middle Ages and the Norse population died out, possibly around 1500.

Norway claimed that the area was terra nullius: it had no permanent inhabitants and was for the most part used by Norwegian trappers and fishermen.

[8] During the 1940–1945 German occupation of Norway in World War II, the territorial claim was briefly revived by the puppet Quisling regime, which extended it to cover all of Greenland, which had been occupied by United States.

A small-scale invasion to "reconquer" the island for Norway was proposed by Vidkun Quisling, but the Germans rejected this after deeming it not feasible in light of the then ongoing Battle of the Atlantic.