Nuuk

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Nuuk (Greenlandic pronunciation [nuːk]; Danish: Godthåb) is the capital and most populous city of the Danish autonomous territory of Greenland. It is also its main cultural and economic center, as well as the seat of government for the municipality of Sermersooq. Located at 64°10′ north latitude, and 51°43′ west longitude, 240 km south of the Arctic Circle, its location makes it the northernmost capital in the world. It has a population of 17,635 (2017 est.), which represents a quarter of the total population of Greenland, and makes it one of the least populated capitals in the world.

Nuuk receives its electrical power mainly from the Buksefjord hydroelectric power station, which runs on renewable energy, through a 132 kV power line that crosses the Ameralik Fjord for a distance of 5,376 m (17,638 ft), the free span longest in the world.

Toponymy

Nuuk is the word for "cape" in the western Greenlandic dialect (Kalaallisut). Its name comes from the fact that the city is located at the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord on the eastern coast of the Labrador Sea. The Danish name for the city, "Godthåb", literally means Good Hope.

History

The southwest coast of Greenland was settled by Viking settlers from Iceland and Norway led by Erik the Red at the end of the 10th century. After several centuries of occupation, the Viking community disappeared around the 15th century, the area was inhabited by the indigenous Inuits from the north of the island.

Nuuk was founded under the name Godthåb on August 29, 1728 by the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, after the ill-fated establishment, seven years earlier (1721), of a settlement on the nearby island from Håbets Ø (Island of Hope). With this, the colonization of the place began (under the Norwegian-Danish crown), which in its early years was quite adverse: in 1733-1734 an epidemic of smallpox killed the majority of the Inuit population, and that of Egede's own wife, who returned to Norway soon after. His children continued his evangelical work in Greenland. The old port of Nuuk still has the house of Egede today.

Its inhabitants of Danish origin still refer to it as Godthåb, although since 1979 the Greenlandic name, Nuuk, has been the official name of the city. It is the seat of government of the Commune of Nuuk, which covers some 100,000 km² of the island.

Panoramic view of Nuuk from near the statue of Hans Agede.

Nuuk has a radio station, a hospital, a university (the University of Greenland, Ilisimatusarfik), two hotels, a cultural center (Katuaq), an airport (Nuuk Airport, where it operates Air Greenland) and various scientific research facilities. Fishing, fish processing, hunting, reindeer and sheep herding are the main economic activities in the city.

Geography

Satellite view of "Nuup Kangerlua", with the location of Nuuk (Godthab)

Sermitsiaq, view from Nuuk

Nuuk is located at approximately the coordinates 64°10′00″N 51°44′00″W / 64.16667, -51.73333 at the mouth of the known fjord Nuup Kangerlua (formerly Baal River), about 10 km off the shores of the Labrador Sea on the southwest coast of Greenland, and about 240 km south of the Arctic Circle. Initially, the fjord flows northwest, then turns southwest at 64 ° 43'N 50 ° 37'W, dividing into three arms in its lower section, with three large islands between the arms: Sermitsiaq, Qeqertarsuaq, and Qoornuup Qeqertarsua. The fjord widens into an islet-dotted bay near its mouth, making its way into the Labrador Sea at about64°03′N 51°58′W / 64.050, -51.967 . Sermitsiaq Mountain, located on the island of the same name, looms over the city and can be seen from almost anywhere in Nuuk. The mountain has given its name to the national newspaper, Sermitsiaq.

Climate

In Nuuk, as in all of coastal Greenland, the predominant biome is tundra (tundra-ET climate). Winters are long, very cold and snowy, in which temperatures remain below freezing, and summers are slightly more mild. The average annual temperature is -1.4 °C, with an annual fluctuation of 16 °C. The coldest month is March, with an average of -9.2 °C and the hottest is August, with 7.3 °C; temperatures are only above 0 °C for four months of the year. Annual rainfall is 782 mm, most of it in the form of snow, although in the warmer months it falls as rain. The historical minimum temperature recorded (as of 1850) is -50.8 °C, while the maximum is 26.3 °C.

Average Nuuk climate parameters, Greenland
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	13.5	13.0	13.2	14.6	18.3	23.8	26.3	25.1	23.8	19.9	15.8	13.2	26.3
Average temperature (°C)	−5.6	−6.3	−6.8	−1.4	3.4	7.7	10.2	10.4	6.3	1.8	−1.1	−3.4	1.3
Average temperature (°C)	-8.2	-9.1	-9.2	-3.6	-0.8	4.4	6.8	7.3	3.7	-0.3	-3.4	-5.8	-1.4
Temp. medium (°C)	−10.4	−11.5	−11.4	−5.7	−2.5	1.7	3.8	4.0	2.8	−2.1	−5.4	−8.0	−3.7
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-32.5	-29.6	-27.5	-30.0	-19.0	-10.3	-6.6	-4.7	-8.2	-16.6	-24.4	-25.2	-32.5
Total precipitation (mm)	54.7	51.1	49.1	45.6	56.5	60.6	81.3	89.1	90.2	66.5	75.2	62.0	781.6
Precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	13.8	12.7	15.1	13.2	13.0	10.5	12.5	12.5	14.1	13.5	14.3	14.4	159.6
Days of snowfall (≥ 1 mm)	13.6	12.1	14.5	11.4	9.4	2.8	0.1	0.2	4.3	9.8	12.7	13.8	104.7
Hours of sun	15.5	65.0	148.8	180.0	189.1	204.0	195.3	164.3	141.0	80.6	30.0	6.2	1419.8
Relative humidity (%)	78	79	81	81	84	84	87	87	83	78	76	77	81
Source No. 1: Danish Meteorological Institute
Source No. 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (humidity 1961–1990, sun 1980–1990)