Several countries bought territories in the past. Here are some examples

President Donald Trump has floated the idea of buying Greenland multiple times and it has often been a subject of debate. Many countries in the past, however, have purchased sovereign territory from other nations. The US especially has bought several  territories from other nations. Here are some examples of nations buying sovereign territory from other nations.

Land trades throughout history

-Land trades that been going on since the medieval periods. Between 1097 and 1101 the Viscount of Bourges Odo Arpinus, reportedly sold Bourges and Dun to the King of France for 60,000 shillings. Bourges and Dun is now known to be central France. It is believed that the Viscount sold the land to either fund a Holy Crusade or because he had no children to pass it on to.
King Alexander III bought the Firth of Clyde and Kintyre as well the Hebrides islands and the Isle of Man from King Magnus IV for 4,000 merks plus an annuity of 100 merks. The sale and transfer of land were agreed upon by the Treaty of Perth. The treaty was signed on July 2 in 1266.

-The US bought Florida from Spain in 1819. The treaty was agreed upon in the Adams-Onís Treaty. Florida was bought for $5 million and in today's terms, it would mean that the US bought Florida for $101 million.

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-Singapore became a property of Britain when Stamford Raffles signed a treaty with the Temenggong Abdu’r Rahman and the Sultan of Johor. The land was purchased for the British East India Company. According to reports, the British agreed to pay the Sultan an annuity of 5,000 Spanish dollars, while Temenggong was given a yearly payment of 3,000 Spanish dollars.

-The Platte Purchase was when America negotiated and acquired land in the modern-day northwest corner of Missouri. The deal was made with a local Native American Tribe in 1836 for $7,500.

-The Britishers bought Frederiksnagore which forms modern-day Serampore from Denmark in 1839 and immediately followed up this purchase with the acquisition of the town of Trasnquebar in 1845. The amount paid is equal to £125,000.

-America purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. The acquisition of Alaska paid off handsomely when large quantities of gold were discovered in 1896.

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-Hard to believe but the US has once bought Phillippines from Spain. America gained the Philippines from Spain in 1898 in exchange for $20 million, which would be equivalent to $618 million in today's currency.

-The most recent land acquisition was when the Republic of Kiribati purchased land on Vanua Levu from Fiji in 2014. The land was bought as a potential refuge from climate change in the event that the islands the  Kiribati people currently live on submerges.