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Uummannaq Uummannaq is a town in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763 as Omenak, t ...

Qaasuitsup (, ''Place of Polar Darkness'') was a Municipalities of Greenland, municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2017. As of January 2013 its population was 17,498. The administrative centre of the municipality was in

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 thi ...

(formerly called Jakobshavn).

Creation

The municipality consisted of the former municipalities of western and northern Greenland, each named after the biggest settlement: * Aasiaat Municipality (currently in Qeqertalik) * Kangaatsiaq Municipality (currently in Qeqertalik) * Ilulissat Municipality (currently in Avannaata) * Qaanaaq Municipality (currently in Avannaata) * Qasigiannguit Municipality (currently in Qeqertalik) * Qeqertarsuaq Municipality (currently in Qeqertalik) * Uummannaq Municipality (currently in Avannaata) * Upernavik Municipality (currently in Avannaata)

Dissolution

Effective 1 January 2018, Qaasuitsup Kommunia was partitioned into two new municipalities: *

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 ...

Kommunia: comprising

Upernavik Upernavik (Kalaallisut: "Springtime Place") is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,092 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as Thule or New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inukt ...

and surrounding settlements; and * Kommune Qeqertalik: comprising Aasiaat, Qasigiannguit,

Qeqertarsuaq Qeqertarsuaq () is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen known as Arctic Statio ...

, Kangaatsiaq and surrounding settlements.

Geography

The municipality was located in northwestern Greenland. With an area of , it was the largest

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the world by area, larger than

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at .France
at the

CIA World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...

In the south, it was flanked by the

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, da, Centrum, lit=Centre) is a municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in the central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,378 as of January 2020. Th ...

municipality. In the southeast, it was bordered by the

Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...

municipality, however this border ran north–south ( 45° West meridian) through the center of the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equi ...

( kl, Sermersuaq), and as such was free of traffic. In the east and northeast it was bordered by the

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas all consist mostly of sea) ...

. At the southern end of the municipal coastline were the waters of

Disko Bay Disko Bay ( kl, Qeqertarsuup tunua; da, DiskobugtenChristensen, N.O. & al.Elections in Greenland. ''Arctic Circular'', Vol. 4 (1951), pp. 83–85. Op. cit. "Northern News". ''Arctic'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar 1952), pp. 58–59.) is a large ...

, an inlet of the larger

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arc ...

, which to the north edges into the island of Greenland in the form of

Melville Bay Melville Bay ( kl, Qimusseriarsuaq; da, Melville Bugt), is a large bay off the coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to the north of the Upernavik Archipelago, it opens to the south-west into Baffin Bay. Its Kalaallisut name, ''Qimusseriarsu ...

. The coastline of northeastern Baffin Bay is dotted with islands of the

Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at ...

, which was entirely contained within the municipality. In the far northwest near

and

Siorapaluk Siorapaluk ( West Greenlandic) or Hiurapaluk ( Polar Inuit) is a settlement in the Qaanaaq area of the Avannaata municipality in northern Greenland. It is one of the world's northernmost inhabited settlements, the northernmost settlement inhabi ...

, the municipal shores extended into

Nares Strait , other_name = , image = Map indicating Nares Strait.png , alt = , caption = Nares Strait (boxed) is between Ellesmere Island and Greenland. , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry ...

, which separates Greenland from

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Br ...

. Denmark claimed

Hans Island Hans Island ( Inuktitut and kl, Tartupaluk, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; da, Hans Ø; french: Île Hans) is an island in the very centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic region, split between the Canadian territory of ...

as part of Qaasuitsup (now

), while

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

considers it to be part of the

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Qikiqtaaluk Qikiqtaaluk (ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ formerly Sillem Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the second largest (after Bylot Island) of the several hundred islands and islets that are located in Baffin Bay, ...

Administrative divisions

Now in present
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

Ilulissat area

(Jakobshavn) *

Ilimanaq Ilimanaq (), formerly Claushavn, is a settlement in Avannaata municipality in western Greenland. It had 53 inhabitants in 2020. The modern name of the village is Kalaallisut for "Place of Expectations". Geography Ilimanaq is located on the ...

(Claushavn) *

Oqaatsut Oqaatsut (old spelling: ''Oqaitsut''), formerly Rodebay or Rodebaai, is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in western Greenland. It had 29 inhabitants in 2020. The modern name of the settlement is Kalaallisut for "Cormorants". The village is ...

(Rodebay) * Qeqertaq (Øen) *

Saqqaq Saqqaq (old spelling: ''Sarqaq'') is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland. Founded in 1755 as Solsiden, Saqqaq had 132 inhabitants in 2020. The village's Kalaallisut name is a translation of the Danish meaning "Sunny Si ...

(Solsiden)

Qaanaaq area

(Thule) *

Qeqertat Qeqertat is a small village in the Qaanaaq area of the Avannaata municipality, in northern Greenland. It is located on the Harvard islands, in the inner Inglefield Fjord Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord ( da, Inglefield Bredning; kl, Kange ...

Savissivik Savissivik (West Greenlandic; old spelling: ''Savigsivik'') or Havighivik (Inuktun) is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northern Greenland. Located on Meteorite Island, off the northern shores of Melville Bay, the settlement had 5 ...

Uummannaq area

(Omenak) * Ikerasak *

Illorsuit Illorsuit (; old spelling: ''Igdlorssuit'') is a former settlement in Avannaata municipality, in western Greenland. Located on the northeastern shore of Illorsuit Island − northwest of Uummannaq at the mouth of the Uummannaq Fjord − the settl ...

Niaqornat Niaqornat (Kalaallisut: "head-shaped") is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The settlement is located on the northern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, with a wide view over Uummannaq Fjord.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Ta ...

Nuugaatsiaq Nuugaatsiaq (old spelling: ''Nûgâtsiaq'') is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland, located on an island off the southern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula, in the Uummannaq Fjord basin. It had 84 inhabitants in 20 ...

Qaarsut Qaarsut (old spelling: ''Kaersut'') is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland. It is situated on the northeastern shore of the Nuussuaq Peninsula. It had 174 inhabitants in 2020. History The first coal mine in Greenlan ...

* Saattut * Ukkusissat

Upernavik area

(Women's Island) * Aappilattoq * Innaarsuit *

Kangersuatsiaq Kangersuatsiaq (old spelling: ''Kangerssuatsiaq''), formerly Prøven, is an island settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It had 130 inhabitants in 2020. Upernavik Archipelago Kangersuatsiaq is located within Upe ...

* Kullorsuaq * Naajaat * Nutaarmiut * Nuussuaq (Kraulshavn) * Tasiusaq * Tussaaq * Upernavik Kujalleq (Søndre Upernavik)

Now in present Qeqertalik Municipality

Aasiaat area

* Aasiaat (Egedesminde) * Akunnaaq *

Kitsissuarsuit Kitsissuarsuit (old spelling: ''Kitsigsuarssuit'') is a settlement in Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland. The settlement was formerly founded in 1830 as Hunde Ejlande or Dog's Island, although it had already been used as a whaling stati ...

(Hunde Ejlande, Dog's Island)

Kangaatsiaq area

* Kangaatsiaq (Prøven) * Attu * Iginniarfik * Ikerasaarsuk * Niaqornaarsuk

Qasigiannguit area

* Qasigiannguit (Christianshåb) * Ikamiut

Qeqertarsuaq area

(Godhavn) *

Kangerluk Kangerluk (old spelling: ''Kangerdluk''), also called Diskofjord, is a settlement in Qeqertalik municipality, in western Greenland, located on the southwestern shore of Disko Island Disko Island ( kl, Qeqertarsuaq, da, Diskoøen) is a large i ...

Language

''Kalaallisut'', the West Greenlandic dialect, is spoken in the towns and settlements of the western and northwestern coasts.

Inuktun Inuktun ( en, Polar Inuit, kl, avanersuarmiutut, da, nordgrønlandsk, polarinuitisk, thulesproget) is the language of approximately 1,000 indigenous Inughuit (Polar Inuit), inhabiting the world's northernmost settlements in Qaanaaq and the su ...

is also spoken in and around Qaanaaq.

References and notes

External links

* Ilulissat Disko Bay Former municipalities of Greenland Upernavik Archipelago Uummannaq Fjord Populated places established in 2009 {{Greenland-geo-stub