Simiutaq Island is a uninhabited island in the
Qeqqata municipality in western
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 mouth of the long
Kangerlussuaq Fjord
Kangerlussuaq Fjord (old spelling: ''Kangerdlugssuaq'', da, Søndre Strømfjord) is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is long and between and wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua ri ...
.
[''Maniitsoq'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992] It was also known informally as Cruncher Island.
Supply ships of
Royal Arctic Line and cruise ships, such as
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
's
Hurtigruten sail into Kangerlussuaq Fjord south of the island. The fjord is navigable in its entire length, with the ships mooring at the
Kangerlussuaq port, west of
Kangerlussuaq Airport.
sisimiut.gl
/ref> There are several small skerries
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation.
Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to:
Geography
Northern Ireland
* Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh
* Skerry, County Antrim, a ...
in the mouth of the fjord, at the southern end of Simiutaq Island.
Geography
The island is located on the shores of Davis Strait, separated from the mainland by the Amerluunguaq Strait in the north, and by the main arm of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord in the southeast.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 ...
name for an island at the head of a fjord. It should not be confused with Simiutaq (near 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 ...
) in southwest Greenland.
Simiutaq is not an outlying island; it would have been a continuation of the landmass in the north were it not for the narrow and shallow Amerlunnguaq Strait, which branches to the west off Kangerlussuaq Fjord near the mouth of the latter. Simiutaq is roughly triangular in shape, mostly hilly, with low undulating plain in the north, and the highest point at .
Promontories
Settlement
The closest settlement is Kangaamiut, located on a small island on the shores of Davis Strait, approximately south of the island.
History
The "Cruncher Island" light and radio beacon, commonly referred to as Bluie West Nine (BW-9) during the time of American operation in Greenland during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, was a wartime radio communications facility located at on Simiutak Island.
See also
* Bluie
*List of islands of Greenland
The following is an alphabetical list of the islands of Greenland. Many of these islands have both a Kalaallisut language name and a European language name.
Islands and archipelagoes
* Aaluik
* Aasiaat Archipelago
* Achton Friis Islands
* A ...
References
{{Abandoned sites in Greenland
Davis Strait
Uninhabited islands of Greenland
ceb:Cruncher Island (pulo sa Grenland)
sv:Cruncher Island (ö i Grönland)