Nuuk
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| City of Nuuk, Greenland | |
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| Nickname(s): Godthåb | |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Province | Greenland |
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| Municipality | Sermersooq |
| First Settled | 2000 B.C. |
| Incorporated | 1728 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Nikolaj Heinrich (Siumut) |
| Area | |
| - City | 105,000 km2 (40,540.7 sq mi) |
| Population (January, 2007) | |
| - City | 15,047 |
| - Metro | 15,047 |
| City and Metropolitan population is co-extensive, The entire Metro area belongs to Nuuk City. | |
| Time zone | UTC−3 (UTC-3) |
| Website | http://www.nuuk.gl |
Nuuk (Danish: Godthåb) is the capital, the largest city of Greenland, and the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. It has a population of 15,047 (as of January 2007), of whom 11,862 were born in Greenland.[1] This makes it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.
It is located at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua (Danish: Godthåbsfjorden) inlet on the west coast of Greenland, about 240 km (150 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, at approximately .[2]
The city is commonly known as Godthåb ("Good Hope") in Danish, although since 1979, when home rule was granted to Greenland, the official name of the city has been Nuuk, its Greenlandic name.
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[edit] History
The site has a long history of different inhabitation: first by the ancient pre-Inuit, Paleo-Eskimo people known as the Saqqaq culture around 2000 BC, later by Viking explorers in the 10th century, and shortly thereafter by Inuit peoples. Inuit and Vikings both lived with little interaction in this area from around 1000 AD until around 1500 AD, 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.
Like the rest of Greenland, Nuuk is populated today by both Inuit and Danes. The city contains many modern amenities.
[edit] Universities
Nuuk is home to the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik). Other educational institutions are:
- Nuuk Technical College
- The Greenlandic School of Journalism
- The College of Education
[edit] Climate
Nuuk has a maritime influenced subarctic climate with cold, snowy winters and cool summers. Temperatures are below freezing during winter and stay cool in summer.[3].
| 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 |
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (September 2007) |
[edit] Transport
Nuuk is a port of call for the Arctic Umiaq Line coastal ship, and serves as a focus city for Air Greenland.
[edit] Sport
- Godthåbhallen - Nuuk handball stadium
[edit] Notable people
- Jesper Grønkjær, professional football winger, was born in Nuuk. He has played for the FC Copenhagen, VfB Stuttgart, Ajax, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, and Danish International teams.
[edit] See also
[edit] Gallery
 Godthaab's fjord |
 Hans Egede's statue |
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 Nuuk Godthabhallen |
[edit] Twin towns
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Grønlands Statistik; see especially this pdf.
- ^ Municipality information. De grønlandske kommuners Landsforening, KANUKOKA
- ^ Extreme temperature records since 1850
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