Ilulissat

Ilulissat () is the third largest settlement in Greenland with a population of 4,453, and also the seat of the municipality of Ilulissat (Ilulissat Kommuniat) which covers an area of 47,000 km². The town is located at , about halfway up the country's west coast, and about 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

In direct translation Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for "The Icebergs". Ilulissat is Greenland's most popular tourist destination on account of its proximity to the picturesque Ilulissat Icefjord - tourism is now the town's principal industry.

History

Inuit settlements have existed in the area of the ice-fjord for at least three thousand years. The abandoned settlement of Sermermiut two kilometres south of the modern town of Ilulissat was once amongst the largest settlements in Greenland with around 250 inhabitants. The modern town was founded in 1741 by missionary Danish Poul Egede for trader Jakob Severin who had an established a trading lodge in the area.

In 2006, ITV News' science editor Lawrence McGinty visited Ilulissat for a series about climate change called 3 Degrees from Disaster.

In August of 2007, the band 30 Seconds to Mars used Ilulissat as a base of operations to film a music video for the song "A Beautiful Lie," which was released on January 28th of 2008.

The Ilulissat Declaration was announced in May 2008 at the inaugural Arctic Ocean Conference held in Ilulissat, attended by foreign ministers from Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States.Full text of the declaration

Ilulissat Icefjord

The Ilulissat Icefjord (Ilulissat Kangerlua) runs west 40 kilometres from the Greenland Ice Sheet to Disko Bay close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier, the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere. The glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 metres per day, resulting in around 20 billion tonnes of icebergs calved off and passing out of the fjord every year. Icebergs breaking from the glacier are often so large (up to a kilometer in height) that they are too tall to float down the fjord and lie stuck on the bottom of its shallower areas, sometimes for years, until they are broken up by the force of the glacier and icebergs further up the fjord. On breaking up the icebergs emerge into the open sea and initially travel north with ocean currents before turning south and running into the Atlantic Ocean. Larger icebergs typically do not melt until they reach 40-45 degrees north (south of the United Kingdom and level with New York City).

The Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

Transportation

Air Greenland operates air services to Ilulissat. Albatros TravelGo2Greenland - A cooperation between Topas Adventure Travel, Albatros Travel and Greenland Travel also offers air services and cruises to Ilulissat.

References

• Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, Lonely Planet, ISBN 0-86442-686-0

External links

• Official homepage of the Municipality of Ilulissat (In Danish and Greenlandic)
• Ilulissat tourist information site
• NASA study: Fastest Glacier in Greenland Doubles Speed
• Ilulissat Icefjord. Book edited by Ole Bennike, Naja Mikkelsen, Henrik Klinge Pedersen and Anker Weidick, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 28th September, 2004, ISBN 87-7871-136-3

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