Ukkusissat (, old spelling: ''Uvkusigssat'') is a settlement in

Avannaata Avannaata (, da, Det Nordlige, lit=The Northern) is a municipality of Greenland created on 1 January 2018 from the bulk of the former Qaasuitsup municipality. It encompasses an area of 522,700 km2 and has 10,726 inhabitants. Geography In ...

municipality, 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 ...

. The population of the settlement was 154 in 2020. The name means

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

Geography

The settlement abuts the northwestern tip of the peninsula of the same name, jutting from the mainland to the west and northwest and into the inner waterways of the

Uummannaq Fjord Uummannaq Fjord is a large fjord system in the northern part of western Greenland, the largest after Kangertittivaq fjord in eastern Greenland. It has a roughly south-east to west-north-west orientation, emptying into the Baffin Bay in the nort ...

system. To the north of the settlement,

Perlerfiup Kangerlua Perlerfiup Kangerlua (old spelling: ''Perdlerfiup Kangerdlua'') is a fjord in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a tributary fjord of the larger Uummannaq Fjord system. Geography The fjord head at approximately is forme ...

, a large inner fjord empties into the main branch of Uummannaq Fjord. To the south and southwest across

Torsukattak Strait Torsukattak Strait (old spelling: ''Torssukátak'') is a strait in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. Geography Located in the northeastern part of Uummannaq Fjord, it separates the Ukkusissat Peninsula in the northeast from A ...

are the high mountains of the

Salleq Island Salleq Island (old spelling: ''Sagdleq'') is an uninhabited island in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is located in the north-central part of the Uummannaq Fjord.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 The walls of the isl ...

and the much larger

Appat Island Appat Island (old spelling: ''Agpat'') is an uninhabitedNo ...

, alongside the flat Qeqertat

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 ...

History

Ukkusissat was founded in 1794 as an ousted or trading place. In 1798 there were 28 people living in Ukkusissat but it only was occupied continuously from the 1800s. In 1805 the town had only 18 inhabitants.

Economy

Fishing is the main occupation in Ukkusissat, with the fish processing plant located at the harbour; many inhabitants employed at

Royal Greenland Royal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland, spun off from Kalaallit Niuerfiat in 1990 but still wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish processi ...

. Reinvigoration of

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

activities in the nearby

Maamorilik Maamorilik (old spelling: ''Mârmorilik'' or ''Maarmorilik'', also ''Black Angel Mine'') is a mining site in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. Holding resources of zinc, iron, lead, and silver, the mine is long, with its entr ...

site−located northeast of the settlement on the northern side of Perlerfiup Kangerlua−will provide an economic boost to the local economy. The community in Ukkusissat is served by

Pilersuisoq Pilersuisoq is a chain of all-purpose general stores in Greenland, a major division of the Parliament of Greenland, state-owned KNI (Greenland Trade), KNI conglomerate. Like its parent company, it is based in Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), the list of ...

, an all-purpose communal store. Tourism is underdeveloped, although during summer the settlement is visited by 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 ...

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen- Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports no ...

.Hurtigruten.co.uk
The harbour in Ukkusissat cannot handle large ships due to shallow coastal waters.

Transport

Air

Ukkusissat-heliport-air-greenland-bell212-takeoff

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 ...

serves the village as part of government contract, with flights between Ukkusissat Heliport and

Uummannaq Heliport Uummannaq Heliport is a heliport in Uummannaq, a town located on Uummannaq Island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. There are no facilities in the heliport. Airlines and destinations Air Greenland operates government contr ...

. Check-in for the helicopter flights is administered at Pilersuisoq.

Ground

In mid-winter, the only means of communication with Uummannaq and other settlements of the area is by

dogsled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the e ...

, as district helicopters do not service the settlement at that time of year.

Population

The population of Ukkusissat has dropped by more than 12 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by more than a quarter relative to the 2000 levels, decreasing in nearly every year of the last decade, and reflecting a general trend in the region.Statistics Greenland

Photographs

File:Ukkusissat-ochre-houses.jpg, Houses and laundry in mid-summer File:Ukkusissat-vista.jpg, Pellerfiup Nunaa File:Ukkusissat-officialdom.jpg, Katersortarfiat, a "public house" used for parties, dancing, and other entertainment File:Ukkusissat-pilersuisoq-hunting-guns.jpg, Hunting guns in Pilersuisoq File:Ukkusissat-peninsula.jpg, Akuliarutsip Qaqaa. on the Ukkusissat Peninsula mountain range, view from Sermikassaq

References

External links

sermitsiaq.gl
''Ukkusissat: Greenland masters in hospitality'' by Malik Milfeldt {{Authority control Populated places in Greenland Populated places of Arctic Greenland Avannaata Uummannaq Fjord Populated places established in 1794