Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas all consist mostly of sea). Established in 1974 and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects of the interior and northeastern coast of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and is bigger than all but 29 of the world's 195 countries. It was the first national park to be created in the Kingdom of Denmark and remains Greenland's only national park. It is the northernmost national park in the world. It is the second largest by area of any second level subdivision of any country in the world trailing only the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada.

Geography

The park shares borders, largely laid out as straight lines, with the

Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...

municipality in the south and with the Avannaata municipality in the west, partly along the 45° West

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

on the ice cap. The large interior of the park is part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, but there are also large ice-free areas along the coast and on

Peary Land Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the nort ...

in the north. The park includes the

King Frederick VIII Land King Frederick VIII Land ( da, Kong Frederik VIII Land) is a major geographic division of northeastern Greenland. It extends above the Arctic Circle from 76°N to 81°N in a N/S direction along the coast of the Greenland Sea. History This va ...

and

King Christian X Land King Christian X Land ( da, Kong Christian X Land) is an area of northeastern Greenland. History This area was named after King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland (1870 – 1947), who rose to the throne in 1912. At the time of the Three-year ...

geographical areas. The area is subject to larger loss of ice than expected.Ramskov, Jens.
Climate models underestimate the melting of the ice cap In English
''

Ingeniøren ''Ingeniøren'' (full name: ''Nyhedsmagasinet Ingeniøren'', literally ''The News Magazine "The Engineer"'') is a Danish weekly newspaper specialising in engineering topics. History and profile The paper has covered science and technology issues ...

'', 26 December 2014. Accessed: 26 December 2014.

History

Originally established on 22 May 1974 from the northern, practically uninhabited part of the former

Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality () was one of the two municipalities of East Greenland. Since 1 January 2009 it has been incorporated into the Sermersooq municipality. It encompassed an area of 235,000 km2 (91,000 sq mi) along the Den ...

Tunu Tunu, originally Østgrønland ("East Greenland"), was one of the three counties (''amter'') of Greenland until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Tasiilaq. The county's population in 2005 was around 3,800. The county ...

(East Greenland), in 1988 the park was expanded by another to its present size, adding the northeastern part of the former county of

Avannaa Avannaa, originally Nordgrønland ("North Greenland"), was one of the three counties ( da, amt) of Greenland, until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Qaanaaq. It was one of the least-densely-populated administrative ...

(North Greenland). In January 1977 it was designated an

international biosphere reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

. The park is overseen by the Greenland Department of Environment and Nature. The historical research camps on the ice sheet—

Eismitte Eismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener. The name "Eismitte" m ...

and

North Ice North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954) on the inland ice of Greenland. The coordinates of the station were , at an altitude of above sea level. The British North Greenland Expedition was led by ...

—fall within the boundaries of the present-day park.

Population

The park has no permanent human population, although 400 sites see occasional summertime use. In 1986, the population of the park was 40, living at

Mestersvig Mestersvig, also called Mesters Vig, is a military outpost located in Scoresby Land, on the southwestern shore of Davy Sound in King Christian X Land, NE Greenland. It has a 1,800 m gravel airstrip . This airport is located near the Stauning Al ...

. These 40 were involved in cleanup and closeout operations at mining exploration sites and soon left. Since then censuses have recorded zero permanent human population. In 2008, only 31 people and about 110 dogs were present over winter in North East Greenland, distributed among the following stations (all on the coast, except

Summit Camp Summit Camp, also Summit Station, is a year-round staffed research station near the apex of the Greenland ice sheet. The station is located at above sea level. The population of the station is typically five in wintertime and reaches a maximu ...

):NOAA Research
*

Daneborg Daneborg (or Daneborg Station) is a station on the south coast of Wollaston Foreland peninsula of northeast Greenland, at the mouth of Young Sund emptying into Greenland Sea. Daneborg serves as the headquarters for the SIRIUS Patrol, the dog sl ...

(12) headquarters of the

Sirius Patrol The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol ( da, Slædepatruljen Sirius), known informally as ''Siriuspatruljen'' (the Sirius Patrol) and formerly known as ''North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol'' and ''Resolute Dog Sled Patrol'', is an Special forces, elite Denma ...

, the park policing agency * Danmarkshavn (8) civilian weather station *

Station Nord Station Nord is a military and scientific station in northeastern Greenland 1700 km north of the Arctic Circle. It is about from the geographic North Pole, on Princess Ingeborg Peninsula ( da, Prinsesse Ingeborg Halvø) in northern Kro ...

(5) military base *

(2) military outpost with 1,800 m gravel runway *

Zackenberg Zackenberg or Zackenburg is a mountain in Wollaston Foreland, NE Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Ar ...

(0) summer-only research station *

(4) research station on the Greenland Ice Sheet During summer scientists add to these numbers. The research station

Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations Zackenberg or Zackenburg is a mountain in Wollaston Foreland, NE Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Ar ...

(ZERO) can cater for over 20 scientists and station personnel.

Fauna

An estimated 5,000 to 15,000

musk ox Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial sub ...

en, as well as numerous polar bears and

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...

, can be found near the coastal regions of the park. In 1993, this was estimated to be 40% of the world population of musk ox. Other mammals include

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

collared lemming ''Dicrostonyx'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At almo ...

Arctic hare The Arctic hare (''Lepus arcticus'') is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a ...

and a small but important population of

Greenland wolf The Greenland wolf ( taxonomic Latin: ''Canis lupus orion'', Danish: ''grønlandsulv'') is a subspecies of gray wolf that is native to Greenland. Historically, it was heavily persecuted, but today it is fully protected and about 90% of the wolf' ...

. Other marine mammals include

ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light ...

, bearded seal,

harp seal The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as Saddleback Seal or Greenland Seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus ''Phoca'' with a numbe ...

and

hooded seal The hooded seal (''Cystophora cristata'') is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, w ...

as well as narwhal and

beluga whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the ...

. Species of birds which breed in the park include

great northern diver The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish or ...

barnacle goose The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus '' Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser'' species. Despite its superficial ...

pink-footed goose The pink-footed goose (''Anser brachyrhynchus'') is a goose which breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. It is migratory, wintering in northwest Europe, especially Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark. The nam ...

common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...

king eider The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high la ...

gyrfalcon The gyrfalcon ( or ) (), the largest of the falcon species, is a bird of prey. The abbreviation gyr is also used. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America and the Eurosiberian region. It is mainly a resid ...

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...

sanderling The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colou ...

ptarmigan ''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas. Taxonomy and etymology The ge ...

and raven.

References

External links

Main park webpage

Image gallery

ZERO - Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations
*
Exploration History of Northeast Greenland

Icebergs in Hekla Havn - slideshow
{{Authority control National parks in Greenland Biosphere reserves of Greenland Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Denmark Greenland Arctic