Tasiusaq is a settlement in the

Kujalleq Kujalleq ( Greenlandic: , da, Den Syden, lit=The South) is a municipality on the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq (formerly called Julianehåb). Creation ...

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 ...

, founded in 1933. It is located at the

Tasermiut Fjord Tasermiut Fjord is a 70-kilometre-long fjord in southwestern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Kujalleq municipality. Nanortalik Island is located near the mouth of the fjord. Tasermiut Fjord has some of the very few growths of d ...

( da, Ketils Fjord), east of

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 Bear ...

. Its population was 53 in 2020. In the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic ( kl, kalaallisut, link=no ; da, grønlandsk ) is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 56,000 speakers, mostly Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada such as Inuktitut. It is the mos ...

, the name of the settlement means "like a lake", referring to the lake-looking bay it situated on. The inhabitants call it "Tasiisaq", which is the local dialect. There are several sheep farms in the wider Tasiusaq area; the farms of ''Nalasut'' with 10 inhabitants, ''Saputit'' with 3 inhabitants, and ''Nuugaarsuk'' with four inhabitants. Until January 2009 the settlement belonged to the Nanortalik municipality. On 1 January 2009 the settlement became part of the Kujalleq municipality, when the Narsaq, Qaqortoq, and Nanortalik municipalities ceased to exist as administrative entities.

Infrastructure and transportation

The settlement has a local school, a church, a general store, and a general repairs workshop maintained by the Kujalleq municipality. The school in the settlement--''Malakip atuarfia''—had 14 pupils in the year 2005/2006. Additionally, the school runs a camp at Nuugaarsuk by the Tasermiut Fjord. The school also doubles as a kindergarten for the smallest children in the settlement. There is also a 16-bed youth hostel with camping equipment and horses in the settlement. Transportation is available on request.

Transportation

Tasiusaq Heliport operates year-round, linking Tasiusaq with

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 ...

Airport and, indirectly, with the rest of Greenland and Europe. Tasiusaq is not connected to any other place via roads. Fairly well trodden

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trails lead north and west from the town, but for any motorized transportation terrain vehicles are needed.

Geography and climate

The settlement lies in a strait connecting the Disko Fjord with the Tasiusaq Bay. Due to its favourable location the area has a remarkably mild climate. The ''Saputit'' and ''Saputit Tasia'' sheep farms even have minor forms of agriculture. Further, the

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Qinngua Valley Qinngua Valley, also called Qinnquadalen, Kanginsap Qinngua and Paradisdalen, is a valley in Greenland, about from the nearest settlement of Tasiusaq, Kujalleq. The valley has the only natural forest in Greenland and is about long, running roug ...

at nearby Tasersuaq Lake is considered the place with the only natural forest in Greenland; while the forest is only a few acres in size, the sub-arctic

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

trees that usually only reach a height of a few centimeters can reach a height of several meters in the valley.

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 Tasiusaq has decreased by 14 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and over 6 percent relative to the 2000 levels.

References

{{Settlements in Greenland Populated places in Greenland