Nuuk, Greenland

Nuuk, also called Godthåb, is the capital and largest city of Greenland. Although it is relatively small when compared to other world capitals, it is among the largest cities in the Arctic Circle and the oldest city in Greenland. It is home to the majority of Greenland's industry and the national parliament (Landsting). Nuuk has grown quickly, particularly in the late nineteenth and early twenty-first centuries, when the government instituted development programs.

Landscape

Nuuk, located in the southwest portion of Greenland, is divided into two sections. The older of the two is called simply Nuuk, while the newer section is called Nuussuaq. The city lies at the mouth of the Godthåb Gulf, and contains a system of large fjords , many of which are home to humpback whales and other large aquatic animals. Because of its location, Nuuk is characterized by both natural beauty and industrial suitability.

Sermitsiaq Mountain, which is part of the North American Arctic Islands Range, lies to the northeast of Nuuk. At 1,947 kilometers (1,210 miles) the Sermitsiaq is the tallest of the three mountains in the range, with a sheer rock face that abuts the city. Another mountain, Hjortetakken, is a well-known landmark that lies just outside the city; its name means "deer antlers."

Due to its low Arctic climate and the presence in the city of the Inland Ice Cap, Nuuk is generally cold and harsh, with an average annual temperature of -1.4 degrees Celsius (29.48 degrees Fahrenheit). The highest recorded temperature in Nuuk's history is 24.2 degrees Celsius (75.56 degrees Fahrenheit), and the lowest is -29.5 degrees Celsius (-21.1 degrees Fahrenheit).

Climate change has affected Nuuk and the rest of Greenland. Temperatures have risen faster in the Arctic than throughout the rest of the world. Warmer temperatures have caused glacial melting and retreating sea ice. Droughts and floods are more frequent and cause food insecurity.

People

Nuuk has a population of 18,000 people, comprising about 31 percent of Greenland's total population of 57,792 people (2022). The city is mostly populated by Danes, but there is also a large native Inuit population. The Inuit people, who refer to their Danish neighbors as "Qallunaat," have recently become concerned that their culture and traditions are being lost as the city develops. The city is generally quiet, with little crime and no slums.

The abundance of snow has made snow sculpting a popular pastime for Nuuk residents and visitors. This activity culminates each year in the Nuuk Snow Festival, an annual international competition which draws sculptors from around the world to the city.

Economy

Nuuk is in the center of Greenland's business district and home to the country's busiest port, the Atlantic Quay. Due in part to its large and efficient Atlantic harbor, Nuuk's fishing industry is one of the strongest in the world. Fishing and fish canning are two of Nuuk's major occupations; the city serves as the headquarters for Royal Greenland A/S, one of the world's largest processors and exporters of seafood products. According to the CIA World Factbook, larger export quotas for shrimp have contributed to the expansion of Greenland's economy, with 90 percent of the country's export income from the fishing industry. Numerous banks and other companies also make their headquarters in Nuuk. Other important industries are construction, tourism, hunting, and animal husbandry. In addition, the discovery of minerals, such as gold and zinc, and energy resources, such as oil and natural gas, have also made Nuuk a mining center.

Climate change has affected Greenland's economy and culture at least since the early twenty-first century in a number of ways. Sea ice has been forming later and melting earlier, shortening the hunting season by three months for traditional hunters and their dog teams. Because dog teams are expensive to maintain, some traditional hunters are disbanding their teams and turning to fishing instead. For climate change has also brought an abundance of fish as well as new species of fish to Greenland's fishing grounds. Melting glacial ice is expected to further reveal sizeable deposits of zinc, iron, uranium, gold and rare earth elements.

Due to the large number of fjords in the city, and the lack of a major road system, boats are the major form of transportation in Nuuk. However, there is a small bus system in Nuuk called Nuup Bussii A/S. The city also has numerous projects in the planning stages that will further its development, including an international airport with direct flights to Europe and the United States—the only regular flights out of Nuuk go to East Greenland and Iceland, with occasionally flights to Canada—and a major conference center. Travel to other parts of Greenland can usually only be accomplished by boat or helicopter, both of which can be chartered in Nuuk.

Landmarks

Sermitsiaq Mountain is Nuuk's major landmark, although there are numerous other natural landmarks, including the city's signature fjords. The home of the city's founder, Hans Egede, located in the old harbor, is another well-known landmark and a symbol of the town's humble beginnings. Likewise, the historic colonial town, on the east coast, is a major tourist attraction. A statue of Egede is also nearby the colonial town. Another important stop is Brædtet, where a popular hunter's and fisherman's market is located.

The Greenland National Museum in Nuuk is home to many of the country's archeological artifacts, including the 500-year-old Greenland Mummies, the mummified remains of six women and two children, including a six-month old baby, which were discovered in a cave in 1972. Nuuk is also rich with archeological landmarks. The remains of a tenth century Norse settlement called Vesterbygden are located at the mouth of the Godthåb fjord. Another abandoned settlement, called Qoornoq, dates back to the Saqqaq, a pre-Inuit culture, which occupied the area from approximately 2200 BCE to 1000 BCE. The Saqqaq are believed to be the earliest human civilization to live in the area. A settlement called Kangeq shows evidence of the Dorset culture, which lived in Nuuk until approximately 1000 CE.

History

When Norse settlers, led by Erik the Red, first landed in Greenland in the ninth century CE, they built a settlement around the fjords, called the Western Settlement, that now form the core of Nuuk's landscape. The Western Settlement had a population of about 1,000 people, most of whom were farmers. The Norse era ended around 1350 CE, when the Thule people began settling in the area. The Thules are ancestors of the modern-day Inuit people. For centuries the Inuit lived in the area without much outside influence, but in the sixteenth century, when whale blubber became valuable, European hunters and entrepreneurs began flocking to Greenland, particularly the Western Settlement, to collect and trade in blubber.

Nuuk was formally founded in 1721 by a Norwegian missionary named Hans Egede. Egede had been searching the continent for descendents of Icelandic settlers, and he eventually founded a colony and trading post on the Island of Hope, near the remains of the Vesterbygden settlement. He called this settlement Godthåb (Danish for "Good Hope"), and set to work trying to convert the Inuit people. In 1728, Egede's colony moved to the area occupied by present-day Nuuk. A smallpox epidemic wiped out most of the town, including Egede's wife, shortly after this move.

Egede left Nuuk and returned to Norway, but the Danish king sent a group of missionaries called Herrnhuts to take over the work Egede had started. The Herrnhuts, who were German, sought to convert the locals to the Moravian faith, but had little success. The two groups existed in a constant state of opposition and defiance until 1899, when the Herrnhuts left the city.

For much of its history, Greenland was divided into several regions, until a new parliamentary system in 1908 consolidated them into two regions. The South Greenland Assembly was located in Nuuk, and when the two regions were joined after World War II, the new Greenlandic Assembly was also headquartered in Nuuk. In 1979, Greenland became functionally self-governed, with Nuuk as its capital and administrative center, though it is still technically part of the Danish kingdom; Denmark essentially receives half of Greenland's income, while also underwriting half of Greenland's budget.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Greenland pushed for independence from Denmark, especially since the city's mineral resources have become more accessible, although the talks have produced little consensus. The effects of global climate change in the early twenty-first century have caused melting around Nuuk, which revealed the city's vast mineral and oil reserves. These discoveries coincided with a sudden upsurge in the price of both commodities, once again making Nuuk an economically attractive city. In 2008, the country voted in a referendum for increased independence from Denmark, including changing the official language to Greenlandic. The Act on Greenland Self-Government was signed into law on June 2009. According to the CIA's World Factbook in 2019, while the law gives Greenland's Self-Rule Government more responsibility for domestic affairs, Denmark retains control over foreign affairs, security, and financial policy on behalf of and in consultation with Greenland's SRG.

Bibliography

Barkham, Patrick. "Greenland: The Country Set to Cash In on Climate Change." The Guardian, 23 Dec. 2016, www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/23/climate-change-in-greenland-adaptation-we-simply-refuse-to-be-victimised. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019.

Fitzhugh, William W., and Wilfred Richard. Maine to Greenland: Exploring the Maritime Far Northeast. Washington, DC.: Smithsonian, 2013. Print.

Graah, Wilhelm August. Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland: Sent by Order of the King of Denmark. (1837). Trans. George Gordon McDougall. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2014. Print.

Nansen, Fridtjof. Eskimo Life. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2013. Print.

Murray, Adrienne. "Climate Change: Greenland's Culture Shifts as Arctic Heats Up." BBC News, 12 Oct. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63135211. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

"Nuuk Arctic Declaration on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples 2014." Fourth World Journal 12.2 (2014): 69–75. Print.

Shackel, Paul A. "A Snapshot of Tourism in Greenland." International Journal of Heritage Studies 17.1 (2011): 81–88. Print.

"Greenland." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/greenland/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.