Greenlanders have voted in favour of self-rule in a referendum that could pave the way for independence from Denmark.

Final results showed a total of 75.54 percent voted "yes" to greater autonomy, while 23.57 percent said "no." Around 72 percent of the country's 39000 eligible voters had cast ballots, said local government.

A self-rule proposal hammered out with Denmark earlier this year will allow Greenland, which was granted semi-autonomy from Copenhagen in 1979, to be treated as a separate people under international law, and would make Greenlandic the official language instead of Danish.

It also gives Greenlanders the rights to potentially lucrative Arctic resources, as well as greater control over justice and police affairs.

Experts believe that Greenland is sitting on huge deposits of hydrocarbons and valuable minerals. Exploration is becoming more feasible as offshore waters freeze less and the ice-cap, which covers four fifths of the island, melts. As those revenues begin to rise, Denmark’s subsidies will fall.

Greenland has been edging towards independence since 1979, when it won home rule. In 1985 it left the European Community to protect its fishing grounds, even though Denmark remained a member.

In 2003 it was given some say over foreign and security policy. Roughly 50,000 of its 57,000 people are Inuits, and fewer than 7,000 are Danes.

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