Tiilerilaaq

Tiilerilaaq (formerly Tiniteqilaaq) is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality, in southeastern Greenland. Its population was 96 in 2020.

Population

The population of Tiilerilaaq has decreased by 54 percent relative to the 1991 levels, and by 34 percent relative to the 2000 levels, reflecting the depopulation of the nearby Kuummiit and Isortoq.

Transport

During weekdays Air Greenland serves the village by helicopter as part of government contract, with flights from Tiniteqilaaq Heliport and Kulusuk Airport.

Kulusuk

Kulusuk, formerly Kap Dan, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, located on an island of the same name. The settlement population of 241 includes many Danes choosing to live there due to the airport. In the Kalaallisut language, the name of the village means "Chest of a Black Guillemot".

Geography

The urbanized area of the settlement is centered around the harbour in the northwestern part of the island, on the shores of the Torsuut Tunoq sound. Industrial utility buildings are also scattered in the vicinity of the airport, to the northwest of the runway.

Kulusuk Island

The island measures 8 km (5.0 mi) from north to south and 11 km (6.8 mi) from west to east. It is hilly throughout, with several distinct mountains dominating the eastern and southern coast. The southernmost point is Cape Naujaangivit, formerly Cape Dan (Danish: Kap Dan,[5] a name previously extended to the settlement and island) under the Isikajia mountain.

Qalorujoorneq

The highest point on the island is the summit of Qalorujoorneq, at 676 m (2,217.8 ft) topping a wide mountain massif in the southeast, directly above the airport.

History

The Saqqaq people were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north through what is now known as Peary Land and Independence Fjord. They were displaced by the Dorset culture around 3,000 years ago. The Thule people passed through the area in the 15th century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited.

18th and 19th centuries

Due to back-migrations to the more densely populated western coast, the southeastern coast was deserted for another two hundred years. The region was not settled until the late 18th century, with the current town of Tasiilaq – then known as Ammassalik – surviving as the only permanent settlement in the 19th century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area.

20th century

The small Kulusuk Island was not permanently settled until the early 1900s, with the village founded only in 1909, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. The church in the village was constructed in 1908 by the crew of a Danish sailing vessel that ran aground on the nearby coast and constructed from the timbers of the ship itself. A model of the ship still hangs above the organ of the church, rebuilt and brought into its present state in 1922.

The village cemetery is located about 200 m (656.2 ft) southeast of the village center, on permafrost ground, straddling the southern and northern slopes of a small hill. No names appear on the crosses in honour of the Inuit tradition that the name of the deceased is passed on to another at death and lives on to the next generation.

In the 1930s, the population reached 165 inhabitants, the village surpassing the older Tasiilaq as the largest settlement in the region. As of 2013, Kulusuk is the third-largest settlement in the region, after Tasiilaq and Kuummiit, and the fourth-largest on the eastern coast, although the number of villagers dipped below 300 in the late 2000s.

Kuummiit

Kuummiit is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. Founded in 1915, it had 248 inhabitants in 2020.

Geography

The settlement is located on the eastern shore of the Ammassalik Fjord, approximately 40 km (25 mi) to the northeast of Tasiilaq and 34 km (21 mi) to the north of Kulusuk.

Population

The population of Kuummiit has decreased by more than 27% relative to its 1990 level and almost 15% relative to its 2000 level.

Transports

The settlement is served by the Kuummiit Heliport (IATA: KUZ, ICAO: BGKM).

Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik or Angmagssalik (Danish names: Kong Oscars Havn or simply Oscarshavn), is a town on Ammassalik Island in southeastern Greenland, within the municipality of Sermersooq. With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland. The Sermilik Station, dedicated to the research of the nearby Mittivakkat Glacier, is near the town.

History

Prehistory to the fifteenth century

The people of Saqqaq culture were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north through what is now known as Peary Land and Independence Fjord, to be surpassed by the Dorset culture. The Norse would have been familiar with the area as the first landmark on the voyage between Iceland's Snæfellsnes peninsula and Greenland. Thule migrations passed through the area in the fifteenth century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited.

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Due to back migrations to the more densely populated western coast, the southeastern coast was deserted for another two hundred years – the region was not settled until late eighteenth century, with the village surviving as the only permanent settlement in the nineteenth century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area.

In 1884 and 1885, Danish naval captain Gustav Holm led an expedition in the area, marking the area's first connections with Europe. By the mid 1880s, about 400 people lived in the village, which faced the challenges of "vanishing resources, malnutrition, and disease".

The permanent settlement was founded in 1894[5] as a Danish trading station. The town was previously known as Ammassalik (old spelling: Angmagssalik), meaning "the place with the Ammassat".

In 1908, the first church was established in Tasiilaq. A second church was built in 1986, with interior decoration by artist Aka Høegh.

From the end of World War II into the 1960s, the town shifted from relying on hunting to relying on cod fisheries for food and economic prospects.

The official name change to Tasiilaq, meaning "the place at the lakes," took place in 1997.

Twenty-first century

Alcohol consumption was banned by Greenland's self rule authority in Tasiilaq on September 7, 2021, over a two-week period until September 17 following a surge of violence and suicide in the town. Following this prohibition, reports of domestic violence had greatly decreased. Social workers from the town said that "it is only a short term solution, but necessary to put the brakes on alcohol-fueled incidents."

Geography

Tasiilaq is located approximately 106 km (66 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, on the southeastern coast of Ammassalik Island, on the shore of a natural harbour in Tasiilaq Fjord, named Kong Oscars Havn by Alfred Gabriel Nathorst in 1883. The fjord is an inlet of the long Ammassalik Fjord emptying into the North Atlantic to the east of the town. The large Sermilik Fjord lies further to the west.

Population

With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, Tasiilaq is one of the fastest-growing towns in Greenland. The migrants are continuing the trend for population growth. Other than Nuuk, it is the only town in the Sermersooq municipality exhibiting stable growth patterns over the last two decades. The population increased by over 37% relative to the 1990 levels, and by over 18% relative to the 2000 levels.

Language

Tasiilaq is the main location where East Greenlandic is spoken.

Transport

There are no roads far outside Tasiilaq. The longest is a 3 km (1.9 mi) narrow gravel road to the hydro power plant. Transport to further places is by helicopter or boat.

Air Greenland operates helicopter services from Tasiilaq Heliport to neighboring Kulusuk Airport (24 km (15 mi) away), which offers connections to Nuuk, and to Iceland. The heliport serves as a local helicopter hub with flights to several villages in the region: Isortoq, Kuummiit, Sermiligaaq, and Tiniteqilaaq.

In the summer, the cargo boats of Royal Arctic Line connect Tasiilaq with Kulusuk, providing an ad hoc alternative for the helicopter flights of Air Greenland.

Tourism

In summer main activities involve: ice cave tours, ice climbing, glacier hikes, boat trips, whale watching and kayaking.

As of 2005, the town saw "several hundred tourists from Iceland" each year, who would travel to the town via helicopter after arriving at the airport in Kulusuk.

Climate

Tasiilaq has a tundra climate (ET), with long, cold and snowy winters and short, cool drier summers. From time to time, Tasiilaq is affected by piteraqs. On 6 February 1970, the worst piteraq ever documented hit Tasiilaq, causing heavy damage and nearly ruining the town.

Paamiut

Paamiut, also known as Frederikshåb, is a town in southwestern Greenland in the Sermersooq municipality.

Geography

Paamiut is located on the coast of Labrador Sea in the southern end of a small estuary called Kuannersooq ("Inlet").

People have lived in the Paamiut area since around 1500 BC . The name Paamiut is Kalaallisut for "Those who Reside by the Mouth (of the fiord)".

The trading post of Frederikshaab (sometimes anglicized as Frederick's Hope) was established by Jacob Severin's company in 1742 and named in honor of the Crown Prince Frederick (later King Frederick V of Denmark).

The community prospered on trading fur and whale products. It also became known for its soapstone artists. The town has one of the finest churches in Greenland, built in 1909 from wood in the Norwegian style.

Following the warming climatic trends since the 1920s, Paamiut developed a booming cod industry between the 1950s and 1989, when the stock dwindled. In connection with a development plan called G60, Paamiut was chosen as the place to live for the entire population of the former Paamiut municipality. Therefore, the number of people living there rose significantly during that period.

There is a local museum downtown in original buildings from the previous century, among them a carpenter workshop and a salt warehouse. The Danish Crown Princely family visited the town as part of an official tour of Greenland in summer 2014.

Economy

As is the case for other towns of western Greenland, the sea is free of ice during the winter, while fishing is the primary occupation of the inhabitants of the region. Icebergs, coming adrift along the east coast of Greenland with the East Greenland Current and continuing up along the west coast with the West Greenland Current normally arrive in the autumn, bringing numerous seals marking this season as a great time for the local hunters.

Population

With 1,308 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the tenth-largest town in Greenland, down from the seventh in 2005. Paamiut has been losing population for almost every year in the last two decades: more than 31% relative to 1990 levels, almost 20% relative to 2000, and more than 16% relative to 2005.

Transport

Paamiut is a port of call for the Arctic Umiaq ferry service. In November 2007, the Paamiut Airport was built by Mittarfeqarfiit. Connections to Nuuk and Narsarsuaq are served by Air Greenland STOL aircraft.

Climate

Like other coastal areas of Greenland, Paamiut has a typical tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET), with cold winters and cool summers. The average annual high temperature is 2.2 °C (36.0 °F), while the average annual low temperature is −4.0 °C (24.8 °F). July has the highest average high at 8.8 °C (47.8 °F) and the highest average low at 2.8 °C (37.0 °F). January has the lowest average high at −3.4 °C (25.9 °F). February has the lowest average low at −10.2 °C (13.6 °F). The highest temperature recorded in Paamiut is 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) in July, and the lowest is −29.6 °C (−21.3 °F) in February.

Paamiut receives 878 millimetres (34.6 in) of precipitation over 119.9 precipitation days and 87.1 snowy days. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year. August, the wettest month, receives 92 millimetres (3.6 in) of rainfall over 10 precipitation days, although other months have more precipitation days. January has the most snowy days with 12.7 snowy days.