Saarloq is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern

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 ...

. Its population was 21 in 2020. It is located on a small island with the same name off the

Labrador Sea The Labrador Sea (French: ''mer du Labrador'', Danish: ''Labradorhavet'') is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelf, continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, ...

coast, at the mouth of the Qaqortoq Fjord, west of

Alluitsup Paa Alluitsup Paa (old spelling prior to the orthography reform in 1973: ''Agdluitsup pâ'') is a village in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Alluitsup Paa had 202 residents in 2020. Presently, the community's religious activities tak ...

and 20 km south of

Qaqortoq Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a city in the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town and the municipal capital in ...

. The settlement is the southernmost of the three settlements—along

Eqalugaarsuit Eqalugaarsuit (old spelling: ''Eqalugârssuit'') is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located southeast of Qaqortoq and northwest of Alluitsup Paa. Its population was 49 in 2020. Until January, 2009, the settlement� ...

and

Qassimiut Qassimiut (old spellings: ''Qagssimiut'' and ''Kagsimiut'') is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The settlement was founded in 1835 as a trading station. With a population of 20 in 2020, it is the smallest organized, ...

—that made up the former Qaqortoq municipality. The settlements are presently governed by a joint settlement council. On January 1, 2009, the settlement became part of the Kujalleq municipality, when the

Narsaq Narsaq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name ''Narsaq'' is Kalaallisut for "Plain", referring to the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located. History People have lived in the area for thousands of ...

, and

Nanortalik Nanortalik (), formerly Nennortalik, is a town in Nanortalik Island, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,185 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the eleventh-largest town in the country. The name ''Nanortalik'' means "Place of Polar Bears ...

municipalities ceased to exist.

Transport

The village is served by the

Saarloq Heliport Saarloq Heliport is a heliport in Saarloq, a village in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The heliport is considered a ''helistop'', and is served by Air Greenland Air Greenland A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly), also known a ...

Air Greenland Air Greenland A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly), also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 32 aircraft, including 1 airliner used for transatlantic and cha ...

district helicopters link the settlement with

, and further to

and

Narsarsuaq Narsarsuaq (lit. ''Great Plan'';''Facts and History of Narsarsuaq'', Narsarsuad Tourist Information old spelling: ''Narssarssuaq'') is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. It had 123 inhabitants in 2020. There is a thri ...

Infrastructure and communications

The settlement has its own church, and a school—''Atuarfik Saarloq'', Greenlandic for "school of Saarloq"—with 5 to 6 pupils. There are no cars in the settlement, and there is no heliport; weekly helicopter connections land on a tundra plain. Further transportation is by sea.

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and phone communications are provided by the

Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

government. Drinking water is provided by

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

of the sea water. The settlement has three 1,100 liter fresh water tanks for this purpose.

Population

Most towns and settlements in southern Greenland exhibit negative growth patterns over the last two decades, with many settlements rapidly depopulating. The population of Saarloq has decreased nearly a half relative to the 1990 levels, by nearly a third relative to the 2000 levels. If the trend continues much further, the settlement is likely to close in the future.

References

{{Settlements in Greenland Populated places in Greenland