Qaarsorsuaq Island is an uninhabited island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. As of January 2010 its population is 17,749. The administrative center of the municipality is in Ilulissat...

 municipality in northwestern 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...

. At 124.7 square kilometre, it is one of the largest islands in the Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...

, located in its southern part. The name of the island means "a large rock surface" in the Greenlandic language.

Location within the archipelago

Qaarsorsuaq Island is located in the outer belt of islands in the Upernavik Archipelago, in the group between the Upernavik Icefjord

Upernavik Icefjord

Upernavik Icefjord is a fjord in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- Geography :The long fjord flows to the northwest between two chains of islands, emptying into Baffin Bay...

 in the north, and Nunavik Peninsula in the south, approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) to the southeast of Upernavik

Upernavik

Upernavik is a small town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,129 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the thirteenth-largest town in Greenland. Due to the small size of the settlement, everything is within walking distance...

 town, from which it is separated by the smaller Akia Island

Akia Island

Akia Island is an uninhabited island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. The name of the island means "turned on its side" in the Greenlandic language.- Geography :...

.

In the north, the Torsuut strait separates it from Atilissuaq Island

Atilissuaq Island

Atilissuaq Island is a island of Greenland. It is located in Baffin Bay in the Upernavik Archipelago....

, and several skerries

Skerry

A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....

. In the northeast, small, low islands of Tapeq, Qeqertat, and Nunaa separate the island from the larger Aappilattoq Island

Aappilattoq Island (Upernavik Icefjord)

Aappilattoq Island is an island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of two islands of the same name in the Upernavik Archipelago.- Geography :...

, home to the Aappilattoq

Aappilattoq, Qaasuitsup

Aappilattoq is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on an island of the same name in the southern part of Upernavik Archipelago. Founded in 1805, the settlement had 180 inhabitants in 2010.- Upernavik Archipelago :...

 settlement. In the east and southeast, Qaarsorsuaq Island is separated from the large Nutaarmiut Island by the Akornat Strait

Akornat Strait

Akornat Strait is a strait in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It separates Qaarsorsuaq Island in the northwest from Nutaarmiut Island in the southeast. The strait waterway opens into Baffin Bay in the southwest, and into the inner waterways of...

.

Coastline

The island has a complicated shoreline, with several small bay and inlet indentiations. The largest inlet is the Saqqarsuaq Fjord in the south.

Promontories

Due to the complicated shoreline the island has a number of promontories, some of which bear identical names, such as Qoornoq and Apparsuit. The names: rock surface and rock fall (or rock wall), respectively, refer to the landform shapes of the promontories, and are very common in the archipelago.

Name	Direction	Latitude N	Longitude W
Naujannguaq	Northern Cape	72°46′57″	55°43′15″
Qoornoq (north)	Eastern Cape	72°44′34″	55°38′41″
Qoornoq (south)	Southeastern Cape	72°40′46″	55°45′00″
Apparsuit (Akornat Strait)	Central-southern Cape	72°39′24″	55°52′55″
Qaarsoq	Southern Cape	72°38′55″	56°01′46″
Inngia	Southwestern Cape	72°39′45″	56°08′46″
Apparsuit (Baffin Bay)	Western Cape	72°42′15″	56°10′52″

Mountains

The island is mountainous throughout, with several distinct summits. The highest point on the is the summit of the Sandersons Hope

Sandersons Hope

Sandersons Hope is a mountain in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located in the western part of Qaarsorsuaq Island in the Upernavik Archipelago.- Geography :...

 mountain in the western part of the island, at 1042 m (3,418.6 ft). Via a small isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

 in the north, the island is connected with an otherwise standalone mountain, the flooded peak of Umiasussuk

Umiasussuk

Umiasussuk is a mountain in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, located in the northern part of Qaarsorsuaq Island in the Upernavik Archipelago...

, the trapezoid

Trapezoid

In Euclidean geometry, a convex quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides is referred to as a trapezoid in American English and as a trapezium in English outside North America. A trapezoid with vertices ABCD is denoted...

 shape of which is the landmark of Upernavik town, visible from the Upernavik Airport

Upernavik Airport

Upernavik Airport is an airport located northeast of Upernavik, a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, capable of serving STOL aircraft...

 and the entire eastern and northern coast of Upernavik Island

Upernavik Island

Upernavik Island is a island of Greenland. It is located in Baffin Bay in the Upernavik Archipelago....

.

Valleys

There are two significant valleys on the island. Saqqarsuup Itillia (old spelling: Sarqarssûp itivdlia) dissects the eastern part of the island into two separate massifs, the southern topping at a 910 m (2,985.6 ft) peak, and the northern topping at 470 m (1,542 ft) peak, to the east of the Umiasussuk mountain. The valley holds a small lake of the same name.

The southwestern coast is home to several small lakes, most of which are in the north-south oriented Itillersuaq (old spelling: Itivdlerssuaq) valley, through which leads a walking trail. The name of the valley means "a crossing point between two fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

s" in the Greenlandic language.