Qullissat (old spelling: ''Qutdligssat'')''Nuussuaq'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 is a former settlement in the Qeqertalik municipality, located on the north-east coast of Disko Island on the west 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 is t ...

. It was a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

town founded to exploit the national resources of Disko Island. The mines operated for 48 years until 1972, when the economic base of the settlement collapsed, leading to its abandonment.

History

Qullissat was not a traditional

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

settlement, but was founded in 1924 as a coal mining town. By 1966 the mine was producing 40,000 tonnes of coal a year and the town had a population of 1,400, making it the sixth-largest population centre in Greenland."Qullissat" Ilulissat Museum The coal mine attracted a multinational population, with

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

, and

British people British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...

working in the mines. In 1960 Nanok Idraetslag were crowned champions of the 1959–60

Greenlandic Football Championship The Greenlandic Football Championship ( kl, Isikkamik Arsaalluni Pissartanngorniunneq, GM, da, Grønlandsmesterskab i fodbold) is the premier men's football competition in Greenland. It was established in 1954 and since 1971, it has been organi ...

. The Greenland Provincial Council voted to close the mine in 1966 due to falling profits and demand, poor quality coal and a lack of labour force in the

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

fishing industry. Residents were to be moved after a relocation plan was completed. The mine was eventually closed on 4 October 1972, despite the fact that the cod industry had collapsed in the interim. By then 700 residents had already moved, and the remaining 500 were compulsorily relocated.

Kuupik Kleist Jakob Edvard Kuupik Kleist (born 31 March 1958) is a Greenlandic politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Greenland between 2009 and 2013. A member of the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, he was the first Prime Minister not affiliated with S ...

, later Prime Minister of Greenland, was born in Qullissat, and was the last person to be

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

, before the settlement was abandoned in 1972. The town was sold on 20 October 1972 to an entrepreneur, who demolished the site. The town's church was spared and relocated to nearby

Ilulissat Ilulissat, formerly Jakobshavn or Jacobshaven, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the t ...

. In November 2000 Qullissat was hit by a tsunami caused by a large landslide in Paatuut at the Nuussuaq peninsula. The tsunami reached more than 100 meters inland and would have cost many lives had the town still been inhabited.

Geography

Qulissat was located on the northeastern coast of Disko Island ( kl, Qeqertarsuaq), on the shores of

Sullorsuaq Strait Sullorsuaq Strait (old spelling: ''Suvdlorssuaq'', da, Vaigat) is a strait on the western coast of Greenland. Geography The strait separates Nuussuaq Peninsula in the northeast from Qeqertarsuaq Island in the southwest. The strait waterway co ...

, facing Nuussuaq Peninsula on the other side of the wide strait.

Notable residents

, former Prime Minister of Greenland (2009-2013) *

Aka Hoegh Aka, AKA or a.k.a. may refer to: * "Also known as", used to introduce an alternative name Languages * Aka language (Sudan) * Aka language, in the Central African Republic * Hruso language, in India, also referred to as Aka * a prefix in the name ...

, Greenlandic artist *

Makka Kleist Makka Kleist (born 1951) is a Greenlandic actress. After training to be a schoolteacher, she was inspired to become an actress and received training at the Tuukkaq Teater in western Jutland. As she was unable to find work in Denmark, she moved to C ...

(born 1951), actress

References

{{Abandoned sites in Greenland Disko Island Former populated places in Greenland Populated places established in 1924 Populated places disestablished in 1972