Disko Bay

Disko Bay (Greenlandic: Qeqertarsuup tunua; Danish: Diskobugten) is a bay on the western coast of Greenland. The bay constitutes a wide southeastern inlet of Baffin Bay.

Geography

To the south the coastline is complicated with multiple waterways of skerries and small islands in the Aasiaat archipelago. Qasigiannguit and Ilimanaq are the main settlements in the southeastern inlet, just south of the outflow of Ilulissat Icefjord.

From the north the bay is bounded by Qeqertarsuaq, the largest island on the western coast. North of Ilulissat and west of Aluttoq Island the bay transforms into Sullorsuaq Strait separating Qeqertarsuaq from Nuussuaq Peninsula.

History

Disko Bay has been an important location for centuries. Its coastline was first encountered by Europeans when Erik the Red started a settlement in 985 AD on the more habitable western coast of Greenland. The two settlements, called the Eastern and Western settlements, were sustenance economies that survived on animal husbandry. Soon after the Western settlement was established, the Norsemen traveled up the coast during the summer thaw and discovered Disko Bay.