Uummannaq

Submitted by editor on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 19:11

Uummannaq

Uummannaq
Uummannaq
Uummannaq is located in Greenland
Uummannaq
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 70°40′29″N 52°07′35″W / 70.67472°N 52.12639°W / 70.67472; -52.12639Coordinates: 70°40′29″N 52°07′35″W / 70.67472°N 52.12639°W / 70.67472; -52.12639
State  Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country  Greenland
Municipality Qaasuitsup
Founded 1763
Population (2010)
 - Total 1,299
Time zone UTC-03
Postal code 3961

Uummannaq (old spelling: Ũmánaq) is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality, in northwestern Greenland. With 1,299 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the eleventh-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763, the town is a hunting and fishing base, with a canning factory and a marble quarry.

Contents

Geography

Uummannaq (far left) dwarfed by Uummannaq mountain
Main article: Uummannaq Island

Uummannaq is located 590 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, on Uummannaq Island located in the south-central arm of the Uummannaq Fjord. Uummannaq is also the general name given to the series of inlets north of the promontory at Niaqornat on the Nuussuaq Peninsula.

Uummannaq Mountain

Main article: Uummannaq (mountain)

The island is also home to Uummannaq Mountain, rising very sharply to the height of 1170m. Climbing it requires technical skills.

Transport

Air Greenland operates air services to Qaarsut from Uummannaq Heliport. The neighboring villages in the Uummannaq area are served by district cargo helicopters.

Culture

Football match in Uummannaq. Salliaruseq Island in the background

Danish and Greenlandic children believe that Santa Claus lives in Spraglebugten bay in the west of the island. A turf hut (Santa's Castle) was built there for a Danish television programme and remains Santa's home in the popular imagination.

Scottish singer KT Tunstall's third album Tiger Suit features the track "Uummannaq Song", which was inspired by her trip to the town in September 2008 with Cape Farewell.

Uummannaq is home to Uummannaq Music - the world's northernmost music platform on sea ice.

Notable residents

  • Ole Jørgen Hammeken, polar explorer
  • Hans Grøndvold, discoverer of the Greenlandic mummies in Qilakitsoq
  • Siissisoq, a Greenlandic rockband
  • Nukaaka Coster-Waldau, actress, singer, former Miss Greenland and wife of Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Population

With 1,299 inhabitants as of 2010, Uummannaq is the third-largest town in the Qaasuitsup municipality. The population has decreased by more than 7 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by over 11 percent relative to the 2000 levels.

Uummannaq population dynamics
Uummannaq population growth dynamics in the last two decades. Source: Statistics Greenland

  1. ^ Statistics Greenland, Greenland in Figures, 2010
  2. ^ Qaasuitsup Municipality (Danish)
  3. ^ ExploreNorth
  4. ^ O'Carroll, Etain (2005). Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. pp. 194. ISBN 1-74059-095-3. 
  5. ^ greenland-guide.gl
  6. ^ Cape Farewell
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ [2]
  9. ^ http://www.neweurasia.net/ru/politics-and-society/kyirgyizstan-na-aysbergah-grenlandii/
  10. ^ [tt_news=61173&tx_ttnews[backPid]=144&cHash=230a71d32c]
  11. ^ [3]
  12. ^ a b c Statistics Greenland
Cities, towns, and villages in Greenland
Kujalleq Greenland-muni-names.svg
Qaasuitsup
Qeqqata
Sermersooq
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