NUUK

'Nuuk' (or 'Godthåb') is the capital and largest city of Greenland. It is located at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (or in Danish "Godthåbsfjorden") inlet on the west coast of Greenland, about 150 miles (240 km) south of the Arctic Circle, at approximately .Municipality information. ''De grønlandske kommuners Landsforening'', KANUKOKA It has a population of 15,047 (as of January 2007), of whom 11,862 were born in Greenland^[1].
The city is commonly known as Godthåb in Danish, although since home rule was enacted in 1979, the official name of the city is its Greenlandic name of Nuuk. It is also the seat of government for the municipality of Nuuk, which encompasses about 39,000 square miles (100,000 km²) of Greenland. The current mayor is Agnethe Davidsen.
Nuuk is home to the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik). Air services to the city are operated by Air Greenland.

Contents

History

Climate

Notable people from Nuuk

See also

Gallery

Twin Towns

Notes and references

External links

History

The site has a long history of different inhabitation: first by the ancient Inuit people known as the Saqqaq culture around 2000 B.C., later by Viking explorers in the 10th century, and shortly thereafter by Inuit peoples. Inuit and Vikings lived together in this area from around 1000 A.D. until around 1500 A.D. when human habitation suddenly stopped most likely due to change in climate and vegetation.
The city was founded in 1728 by the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, and given the name Godthåb (Good Hope). However Hans Egede had arrived at a place he called Colony of Hope close to the already existing Inuit population living in Kangeq. At this time Greenland was a Norwegian colony under the Dano-Norwegian Crown, but the colony had not had any contact with Norway proper for more than two centuries.
Today Nuuk – as the rest of Greenland – is populated by Inuit and Danes.

Climate

Nuuk has a moderate polar climate with a yearly average temperature of -1°C. 18°C is exceeded on average only once per year, with 24.2°C being the highest recorded temperature and -29.5°C being the lowest[1].

Climatic Table (°C, mm) [2]

Location	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Nuuk	-4.4	-4.5	-4.8	-0.8	3.5	7.7	10.6	9.9	6.3	1.7	-1.0	-3.3	1.74	Mean Daily High
	-10.1	-10.6	-10.6	-6.1	-1.5	1.3	3.8	3.8	1.6	-2.5	-5.8	-8.7	-3.89	Mean Daily Low
	39	47	50	46	55	62	82	89	88	70	74	54	756	Precipitation

Notable people from Nuuk

★ The FC Copenhagen and former VfB Stuttgart, Ajax and Chelsea professional soccer player Jesper Grønkjær was born in Nuuk. The winger is also a regular Danish International, and he is known for his speed and long range shots, many of which have led to spectacular and memorable goals.

See also

★ Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa

★ Kapisillit

★ Nuuk Airport

Gallery

Twin Towns

★ Cuxhaven, Germany

★ Aalborg, Denmark

★ Vantaa, Finland

Notes and references

1. Grønlands Statistik; see especially this pdf.

External links

★ Official website of the city of Nuuk