Kulusuk
Encyclopedia
Kulusuk is a settlement in the Sermersooq
municipality in southeastern Greenland
, located on an island of the same name
. The settlement population of 286 is quite uncommon for an Inuit
settlement in Greenland with many Danes
choosing to live there, due to the airport. In the Greenlandic language, the name of the village means "the chest of a black guillemot
".
sound. Industrial utility buildings are also scattered in the vicinity of the airport, to the northwest of the runway.
, at 676 m (2,217.8 ft) topping a wide mountain massif in the southeast, directly above the airport.
were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north, through what is now known as Peary Land
and Independence Fjord
, to be surpassed by the Dorset culture
. Thule
migrations passed through the area in the 15th century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited.
−then known as Ammassalik−surviving as the only permanent settlement in the 19th century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area.
of the ship itself. A model of the ship still hangs above the organ
of the church, rebuilt and brought into its present state in 1922.
The village cemetery is located about 200 m (656.2 ft) southeast of the village center, on permafrost ground, straddling the southern and northern slopes of a small hill. No names appear on the crosses in honour of the Inuit tradition that the name of the deceased is passed on to another at death and lives on to the next generation.
In the 1930s the population reached 165 inhabitants, the village surpassing the older Tasiilaq as the largest settlement in the region. As of 2010, Kulusuk is the third-largest settlement in the region, after Tasiilaq and Kuummiit, and the fourth-largest on the eastern coast, although the number of villagers dipped below 300 in the late 2000s.
municipal authorities to convert the old Royal Greenland
fish processing
plant for school use.
Few families have access to running water. Despite the harsh, icy winter, potable water
drawn from the centrally located lake is available all year round through the central pump installation. As in most settlements in Greenland, pipe waterworks are led above the ground due to permafrost
.
The village is served by the communal all-purpose Pilersuisoq
store with an integrated a post office of Post Greenland
.
focus on the traditional culture of eastern Greenland, including drum dance performances and dogsledding
.
In winter it is possible to cross the frozen sounds, making Kulusuk no less attractive for mountaineers
, climbers, and polar adventurers than the neighboring Tasiilaq
. The mountains on Apusiaajik Island
dominating the Kulusuk panorama culminate in several summits, whilst the front of the active Apusiaajik glacier
can be reached on foot or by snowmobile
.
Polar cruises bound for, or returning from the coastal voyages in the Kangertittivaq fjord and the shores of Northeast Greenland National Park
often visit the area on their way from/to Tasiilaq, albeit without anchoring in the harbour due to the shallowness of the coastal waters.
, one of two international airports in eastern Greenland. It provides direct connections to Nuuk
on the western coast, Reykjavík
in Iceland
, and Tasiilaq on Ammassalik Island, which links many other villages in the region through settlement helicopter flights.
In the summer, the cargo boats of Royal Arctic Line
connect Kulusuk and Tasiilaq, providing an ad-hoc alternative for the helicopter flights of Air Greenland
.
In the winter, the inhabitants of the village use snowmobiles and traditional dogsleds as additional means of transport−families arriving at the airport are ferried to the settlement on both. Dogsleds are then left briefly untended, albeit accidental escapes amongst the dogs are rendered impossible through overturning the sled, and binding of the front paws of the dog pack leaders.
of islands in the Ammassalik region, Kulusuk Island is the most exposed to the persistent northeasterly winds from the Greenland Sea
. Although the average winter temperatures are higher than in the more northerly settlements on the west coast of Greenland−often in single digits below zero−the ferocity of winds brings the effective temperatures down by more than an order of magnitude. During a quarter or more January days the island experiences wind speeds between 8 and 10 on the Beaufort scale
, qualifying as fresh gales, strong gales, or storms.
Wind speeds exceeding 100km/h occur throughout the year, often causing flight cancellations at the Kulusuk Airport. Neighboring Tasiilaq−where the main local weather station is located−holds the settlement windspeed record for Greenland: on 7 February 1970 the speed peaked at or
Pack ice and small iceberg
s pushed forth by the East Greenland Current ram against the northeastern coast, blocking the Ikaasaartik Sound and facilitating the freeze of the wider Torsuut Tunoq waterway.
Conversely, when the Greenland High
pressure area from the Greenland ice sheet
moves towards the area in winter, Kulusuk can be as wind-free and sunny as the inner parts of the Uummannaq Fjord
region known as the sunniest spot in Greenland.
Kulusuk experiences one of the windiest winters, with rougher weather than the rest of Greenland. A particular feature of the local climate is the instantly freezing rain
, covering the northeast-facing surfaces with layers of rime ice. There is little snow in winter, with the island remaining icebound for several months, the ice forms varying from solid firn
, through glazed surfaces, to rime ice.
Even though Kulusuk lies approximately 110 km (68.4 mi) south of the Arctic Circle
, the celestial phenomenon of Aurora borealis
can still be observed in the village.
Sermersooq
Sermersooq is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. It is home to Nuuk , the capital of Greenland, and is the most populous municipality in the country, with 21,232 inhabitants as of January 2010...
municipality in southeastern Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, located on an island of the same name
Kulusuk Island
Kulusuk Island is an island in the Sermersooq municipality on the southeastern shore of Greenland. It is an outlying island in the Ammassalik archipelago of islands on the coast of the North Atlantic. The island is home to Kulusuk, the fourth-largest settlement on the entire eastern coast of...
. The settlement population of 286 is quite uncommon for an Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
settlement in Greenland with many Danes
Danes
Danish people or Danes are the nation and ethnic group that is native to Denmark, and who speak Danish.The first mention of Danes within the Danish territory is on the Jelling Rune Stone which mentions how Harald Bluetooth converted the Danes to Christianity in the 10th century...
choosing to live there, due to the airport. In the Greenlandic language, the name of the village means "the chest of a black guillemot
Black Guillemot
The Black Guillemot or Tystie is a medium-sized alcid.Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill, and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large...
".
Geography
The urbanized area of the settlement is centered around the harbour in the northwestern part of the island, on the shores of the Torsuut TunoqTorsuut Tunoq
Torsuut Tunoq is a sound on the southeastern coast of Greenland. It is an inner waterway of the North Atlantic.- Geography :...
sound. Industrial utility buildings are also scattered in the vicinity of the airport, to the northwest of the runway.
Kulusuk Island
The island is small, 8 km (5 mi) from north to south and 11 km (6.8 mi) from west to east. It is hilly throughout, with several distinct mountains dominating the eastern and southern coast. The southernmost point is the Naujaangivit cape ( − a name often extended to the settlement or the island) under the Isikajia mountain.Qalorujoorneq
The highest point on the island is the summit of QalorujoorneqQalorujoorneq
Qalorujoorneq is a high mountain in southeastern Greenland, located in the eastern part of Kulusuk Island, to the southeast of the Kulusuk Airport. It is the highest mountain on the island.- Topography :- Walls :...
, at 676 m (2,217.8 ft) topping a wide mountain massif in the southeast, directly above the airport.
From prehistory until 15th century
The people of Saqqaq cultureSaqqaq culture
The Saqqaq culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture in Greenland.-Timeframe:...
were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north, through what is now known as Peary Land
Peary Land
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape...
and Independence Fjord
Independence Fjord
Independence Fjord is a large fjord in the eastern part of northern Greenland. It is about long and up to wide. Its mouth, opening to Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean is located at...
, to be surpassed by the Dorset culture
Dorset culture
The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...
. Thule
Thule people
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
migrations passed through the area in the 15th century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited.
18th and 19th centuries
Due to back migrations to the more densely populated western coast, the southeastern coast was deserted for another two hundred years−the region wasn't settled until late 18th century, with the current town of TasiilaqTasiilaq
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...
−then known as Ammassalik−surviving as the only permanent settlement in the 19th century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area.
20th century
The small Kulusuk Island wasn't permanently settled until the early 1900s, with the village founded only in 1909, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. The church in the village was constructed in 1908 by the crew of a Danish sailing vessel that ran aground on the nearby coast and constructed from the timbersLumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
of the ship itself. A model of the ship still hangs above the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
of the church, rebuilt and brought into its present state in 1922.
The village cemetery is located about 200 m (656.2 ft) southeast of the village center, on permafrost ground, straddling the southern and northern slopes of a small hill. No names appear on the crosses in honour of the Inuit tradition that the name of the deceased is passed on to another at death and lives on to the next generation.
In the 1930s the population reached 165 inhabitants, the village surpassing the older Tasiilaq as the largest settlement in the region. As of 2010, Kulusuk is the third-largest settlement in the region, after Tasiilaq and Kuummiit, and the fourth-largest on the eastern coast, although the number of villagers dipped below 300 in the late 2000s.
Language
Due to its relative and longstanding isolation, the dialect of Greenlandic spoken in Kulusuk, Tunumiit oraasiat, is sundered from that of its relatives of the western coast. Amongst Greenlandic dialects, it is considered the most innovative.Facilities
Medical services are provided by one resident Danish nurse and one resident educated local helper. The school, which was rebuilt in 2005, has about 70 pupils with a high proportion of educated teachers. In 2009 the village received permission from the SermersooqSermersooq
Sermersooq is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. It is home to Nuuk , the capital of Greenland, and is the most populous municipality in the country, with 21,232 inhabitants as of January 2010...
municipal authorities to convert the old Royal Greenland
Royal Greenland
Royal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish processing plants and ship bases of local subsidiary units...
fish processing
Fish processing
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer...
plant for school use.
Few families have access to running water. Despite the harsh, icy winter, potable water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
drawn from the centrally located lake is available all year round through the central pump installation. As in most settlements in Greenland, pipe waterworks are led above the ground due to permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
.
The village is served by the communal all-purpose Pilersuisoq
Pilersuisoq
Pilersuisoq A/S is a state-owned chain of all-purpose general stores in Greenland. Based in Sisimiut, it is a subsidiary of KNI, the largest commerce company in the country...
store with an integrated a post office of Post Greenland
Post Greenland
Post Greenland is the company responsible for postal service in Greenland. The company is wholly owned by Tele Greenland A/S, operating under Greenland Home Rule...
.
Tourism
Unemployment is high and many of the villagers depend upon tourism to supplement the more traditional pursuits of hunting and fishing. The village is served by Hotel Kulusuk which was erected in 1999 and provides a base for tourists and hikers. Day trips organized by the hotel and Air IcelandAir Iceland
Air Iceland is a regional airline with its head office on the property of Reykjavík Airport in Reykjavík, Iceland. It operates scheduled services to domestic destinations and to Greenland. Its main bases are Reykjavík Airport and Akureyri Airport...
focus on the traditional culture of eastern Greenland, including drum dance performances and dogsledding
Dog sled
A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...
.
In winter it is possible to cross the frozen sounds, making Kulusuk no less attractive for mountaineers
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, climbers, and polar adventurers than the neighboring Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...
. The mountains on Apusiaajik Island
Apusiaajik Island
Apusiaajik Island is an uninhabited island in the Sermersooq municipality on the southeastern shore of Greenland. It is an outlying island in the Ammassalik archipelago of islands on the coast of the North Atlantic....
dominating the Kulusuk panorama culminate in several summits, whilst the front of the active Apusiaajik glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
can be reached on foot or by snowmobile
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...
.
Polar cruises bound for, or returning from the coastal voyages in the Kangertittivaq fjord and the shores of Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park in the world, with an area of , making the park larger than 163 countries. It is the only national park in Greenland, and the most northerly national park in the world, its most northerly point reaching slightly further than the most...
often visit the area on their way from/to Tasiilaq, albeit without anchoring in the harbour due to the shallowness of the coastal waters.
Population
The population of Kulusuk has decreased nearly 18 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by nearly 14 percent relative to the 2000 levels.Transport
The village is served by Kulusuk AirportKulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :- Bottlenecks :...
, one of two international airports in eastern Greenland. It provides direct connections to Nuuk
Nuuk
Nuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...
on the western coast, Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and Tasiilaq on Ammassalik Island, which links many other villages in the region through settlement helicopter flights.
In the summer, the cargo boats of Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line A/S or Royal Arctic is a freight company in Greenland, formed in 1992 and headquartered in Nuuk. It has 650 employees and is owned by the Government of Greenland...
connect Kulusuk and Tasiilaq, providing an ad-hoc alternative for the helicopter flights of Air Greenland
Air Greenland
Air Greenland A/S is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group, and the government of Denmark...
.
In the winter, the inhabitants of the village use snowmobiles and traditional dogsleds as additional means of transport−families arriving at the airport are ferried to the settlement on both. Dogsleds are then left briefly untended, albeit accidental escapes amongst the dogs are rendered impossible through overturning the sled, and binding of the front paws of the dog pack leaders.
Climate
As an outlying island in the small archipelagoArchipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of islands in the Ammassalik region, Kulusuk Island is the most exposed to the persistent northeasterly winds from the Greenland Sea
Greenland Sea
The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as part of the Arctic Ocean, sometimes as part of the...
. Although the average winter temperatures are higher than in the more northerly settlements on the west coast of Greenland−often in single digits below zero−the ferocity of winds brings the effective temperatures down by more than an order of magnitude. During a quarter or more January days the island experiences wind speeds between 8 and 10 on the Beaufort scale
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
, qualifying as fresh gales, strong gales, or storms.
Wind speeds exceeding 100km/h occur throughout the year, often causing flight cancellations at the Kulusuk Airport. Neighboring Tasiilaq−where the main local weather station is located−holds the settlement windspeed record for Greenland: on 7 February 1970 the speed peaked at or
Pack ice and small iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s pushed forth by the East Greenland Current ram against the northeastern coast, blocking the Ikaasaartik Sound and facilitating the freeze of the wider Torsuut Tunoq waterway.
Conversely, when the Greenland High
North American High
The North American High is an impermanent high-pressure area or anticyclone created by anticyclogenesis , a formative process that occurs when cool or cold dry air settles onto North America.North American Highs moves...
pressure area from the Greenland ice sheet
Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...
moves towards the area in winter, Kulusuk can be as wind-free and sunny as the inner parts of the Uummannaq Fjord
Uummannaq Fjord
Uummannaq Fjord is a large fjord system in the northern part of western Greenland, the largest after Kangertittivaq fjord in eastern Greenland...
region known as the sunniest spot in Greenland.
Kulusuk experiences one of the windiest winters, with rougher weather than the rest of Greenland. A particular feature of the local climate is the instantly freezing rain
Freezing rain
Freezing rain is the name given to rain that falls when surface temperatures are below freezing. The raindrops become supercooled while passing through a sub-freezing layer of air, many hundred feet , just above the surface, and then freeze upon impact with any object they encounter. The resulting...
, covering the northeast-facing surfaces with layers of rime ice. There is little snow in winter, with the island remaining icebound for several months, the ice forms varying from solid firn
Firn
Firn is partially-compacted névé, a type of snow that has been left over from past seasons and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé. It is ice that is at an intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice...
, through glazed surfaces, to rime ice.
Even though Kulusuk lies approximately 110 km (68.4 mi) south of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, the celestial phenomenon of Aurora borealis
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
can still be observed in the village.