Scoresbysund, Greenland

Location of the Ittoqqortoormiit municipality in Greenland

Ittoqqortoormiit (IPA: [itoqɔʁtɔʁmit], Danish: Scoresbysund) is a town in East Greenland. The town is located at approximately 70°31′N, 22°00′W near the mouth of Kangertittivaq (Danish: Scoresby Sund). It is one of the most remote of Greenland's towns, only reachable by plane to Constable Pynt airport (two weekly departures from Iceland), and then with helicopter or by boat a few months a year.

Ittoqqortoormiit is also the administrative center of the Municipality of Ittoqqortoormiit which encompasses an area of 235,000 km² (91,000 sq mi) along the Denmark Strait and the Greenland Sea. Population is 537 (as of 2005). The place is known for its wildlife which includes polar bears, muskoxen, and seals.

The Danish name Scoresbysund derives from the name of the Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby, who was the first to map the area in 1822. The Greenlandic name Ittoqqortoormiit means "Big House".

History

Ittoqqortoormiit was founded in 1925 by Ejnar Mikkelsen and some 70 settlers on the ship Gustav Holm. The settlement was encouraged by the colonial power Norway which at the time had a growing interest in Northeast Greenland. At the same time, the colonization was intended to improve declining living conditions in Tasiilaq, from where the settlers were more or less voluntarily transferred. The settlers soon prospered on the good hunting conditions of the new area, which was rich in seals, walruses, narwhals, polar bears and arctic foxes.

Before that, however, the area itself had been home to a dense population of Inuit in the past, as testified by ruins and other archeological remains.

Economy

Local hunters have for generations lived from whale and polar bear hunting, and it remains up to the present a significant cultural-economical factor in the area. Flesh and byproducts play a direct part in the economy of the hunting families. Income is gained by trading these products, but these options are seasonal and variable. Ittoqqortoormiit lies near large populations of shrimp and Greenland halibut, but the presence of sea ice prevents explointing these resources year-round, and as a result fishing has never been extensively developed in the municipality. Tourism, on the other hand, is growing in importance.

References

• Greenland and the Arctic. By Etain O'Carroll and Mark Elliott. Lonely Planet 2005. ISBN 1-74059-095-3.
• Greenland in Figures 2005 Statistics Greenland. 3rd Edition, May 2005. ISSN 1604-7397
• Information pages on www.ittoqqortoormiit.gl http://www.ittoqqortoormiit.gl/uksider/english.htm]

External links

• website of the municipality of Ittoqqortoormiit

70°29′8″N 21°58′1″W / 70.48556, -21.96694Coordinates: 70°29′8″N 21°58′1″W / 70.48556, -21.96694

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