Illulissuaq Peninsula (old spelling: ''Igdluligssuaq'') is a mainland

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

in northwestern

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 is t ...

, located in the northern part of

Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at ...

Upernavik Avannarleq, Saga Map, 1:250.000, Tage Schjøtt, 1992

History

The peninsula was inhabited between 1908 and 1973, although not continuously. The Illulik settlement, perched on the western cape of the peninsula, was very small, and consisted of only several families. Illulik was temporarily abandoned for the first time in 1909, due to relative isolation from other settlements of the region in early 20th century. The settlement was repopulated in 1914, and unlike small, insular villages in

Inussulik Bay Inussulik Bay ( kl, Inussullip Imaa, old spelling: ''Inugsugdlip Imâ'') is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. Geography The bay is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, bet ...

and

Sugar Loaf Bay Sugar Loaf Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentation of northeastern Baffin Bay. The name of the bay derives from the name of an island of the same name in the bay, Sug ...

to the south, it survived the post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

consolidation phase in northwestern Greenland. It was permanently abandoned in 1973.

Geography

The base of the peninsula, shared with the neighboring

Nuussuaq Peninsula Nuussuaq Peninsula (, old spelling: ''Nûgssuaq'') is a large (180x48 km) peninsula in western Greenland. Geography The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay. To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay, ...

, is a

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

located at , and rising to above the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...

( kl, Sermersuaq) reaching the sea level to the south and north of the nunatak. The peninsula has an east–west orientation, jutting westwards into

. In the south, Illulissuaq Peninsula is separated from Nuussuaq Peninsula by the

Kangerluarsuk Fjord Kangerluarsuk Fjord (old spelling: ''Kangerdluarssuk'') is a fjord in northwestern Greenland, located at the northern end of Upernavik Archipelago.''Upernavik Avannarleq'', Saga Map, 1:250.000, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 Geography The fjord is an in ...

, an inlet of Inussulik Bay. The fjord nearly splits the peninsula into two halves, with the western half separated from the nunatak in the east by a low, narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

. The western half of the peninsula forks into two, with a small rocky child ''Paattorfik Peninsula'', pointing southwestwards and bounding Kangerluarsuk from the northwest. The peninsula is approximately long. It is mountainous, culminating in several summits, with the highest reaching on Paattofrik.

Promontories

References

{{coord, 74, 20, N, 56, 24, W, scale:500000, display=title Inussulik Bay Peninsulas of the Upernavik Archipelago