Nuuk, Greenland

The most special leg of the One Ocean Expedition is the voyage through the Northwest Passage, and Nuuk is in many ways the gateway.

Nuuk, which means “cape,” is located at the mouth of the long Godthåb Fjord. The city is the capital of the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland and the largest city as well as the cultural and economic center of the island.

Just over 56,000 people live in Greenland, a little under 20,000 of them in Nuuk.

90 percent Inuit

Inuit have lived in the Godthåb Fjord since 2200 BC. Around the year 1000 AD, Norwegian Vikings settled in Greenland, but these settlements disappeared around the year 1500. Today, almost 90 percent of all Greenlanders are Inuit.

In 1728, Denmark built a fort they called Godthaab where Nuuk now stands. Greenland was then a Norwegian colony, but Norway was in union with Denmark until 1814, and only then did the Danes formally take over the colony.

Fisheries

Nuuk is a small city, and like the rest of Greenland, it depends on economic support from Denmark. Today, trade, industry, and fishing are the most important industries. Half of Greenland’s fishing fleet has its home port in the city.

Ilisimatusarfik Kalaallit Nunaat - the University of Greenland - was established in 1987, the cultural center Katuaq in 1997, and throughout the 2000s tourism has grown on the island.

Not for sale

During the Second World War, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany, and in 1941 the United States occupied Greenland. The U.S. established several military bases on the island and in 1946 wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark. Denmark declined, but agreed that the U.S. could keep its bases.

In 1953, Greenland’s status as a Danish colony was changed to a Danish county, fully integrated into Danish society. In 2009, Greenland gained more self-government, but Denmark still has responsibility for foreign policy and defense.

Cold

Nuuk lies in southwest Greenland at 64 degrees north, about the same latitude as Reykjavik in Iceland and just a bit farther north than Trondheim in Norway.

While the warmth the Gulf Stream brings makes central Norway lush and green, nature is entirely different in Greenland. The Greenland ice sheet, only the Antarctic ice sheet is larger, covers 81 percent of the island. Even the ice-free parts are - despite the name - barren and cold.

The winter is long; the mean temperature is below zero degrees Celsius from November through April. July and August are the warmest months. Average annual precipitation is 852 millimeters, with autumn as the wettest season.

As in the rest of the Arctic, climate change is very noticeable in Greenland. Since 1996, the Greenland ice sheet has decreased in volume. In 2012, 2019, and 2021, satellites revealed that the entire surface of the ice sheet was melting, and in 2021 it rained for the first time at the meteorological station on top of the glacier, 3,200 meters above sea level.

Normal maximum temperature in July and August: 11.1 and 10.7 °C
Normal rainfall in July and August: 69 and 91 mm