Qaanaaq

Qaanaaq (IPA: [qɑːnɑːq]), formerly Thule or New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak Kalaallisut and Danish and many also speak the Inuktun language. The town has a population of 656 as of 2013. The tallest construction in Greenland, the 378-meter Globecom Tower (Radio Mast Thule) which was demolished in 1992, was located near the town.

History

The Qaanaaq area in northern Greenland was first settled around 2000 BC by the Paleo-Eskimo migrating from the Canadian Arctic.

The town of Qaanaaq was established in the winter of 1953 when the United States expanded their airbase at Thule and forcibly relocated the population of Pituffik and Dundas, 31 km (19 mi) to the north within four days during the height of the Cold War. The settlement was subsequently moved another 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the north.

Culture

Ways of living so far north and in such severe climatic conditions are passed on from generation to generation, and this ability to adapt has contributed to the survival of this small community. When the sea becomes open sometime around August, large dinghies with powerful engines are used for both hunting trips and ordinary journeys. It is still light twenty-four hours a day at this time - the Midnight Sun lasts from the middle of April to the end of August. Nothing from the hunt goes to waste: the skins are used for clothing and covering the kayaks; the flesh and offal are eaten by humans and domestic animals; the narwhal and walrus tusks are carved into finely-worked figures, jewellery and hunting implements, and even feathers can be used in handicrafts.