Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas all consist mostly of sea). Established in 1974 and expanded to its present size in 1988, it protects of the interior and northeastern coast of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

and is bigger than all but 29 of the world's 195 countries. It was the first national park to be created in the Kingdom of Denmark and remains Greenland's only national park. It is the northernmost national park in the world. It is the second largest by area of any second level subdivision of any country in the world trailing only the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada.

Geography

The park shares borders, largely laid out as

straight lines In geometry, a line is an infinitely long object with no width, depth, or curvature. Thus, lines are one-dimensional objects, though they may exist in two, three, or higher dimension spaces. The word ''line'' may also refer to a line segment ...

, with the Sermersooq municipality in the south and with the Avannaata municipality in the west, partly along the 45° West meridian on the ice cap. The large interior of the park is part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, but there are also large ice-free areas along the coast and on Peary Land in the north. The park includes the King Frederick VIII Land and King Christian X Land geographical areas. The area is subject to larger loss of ice than expected.Ramskov, Jens.
Climate models underestimate the melting of the ice cap In English
'' Ingeniøren'', 26 December 2014. Accessed: 26 December 2014.

History

Originally established on 22 May 1974 from the northern, practically uninhabited part of the former

Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality () was one of the two municipalities of East Greenland. Since 1 January 2009 it has been incorporated into the Sermersooq municipality. It encompassed an area of 235,000 km2 (91,000 sq mi) along the Den ...

in Tunu (East Greenland), in 1988 the park was expanded by another to its present size, adding the northeastern part of the former county of Avannaa (North Greenland). In January 1977 it was designated an international biosphere reserve. The park is overseen by the Greenland Department of Environment and Nature. The historical research camps on the ice sheet— Eismitte and North Ice—fall within the boundaries of the present-day park.

Population

The park has no permanent human population, although 400 sites see occasional summertime use. In 1986, the population of the park was 40, living at Mestersvig. These 40 were involved in cleanup and closeout operations at mining exploration sites and soon left. Since then censuses have recorded zero permanent human population. In 2008, only 31 people and about 110 dogs were present over winter in North East Greenland, distributed among the following stations (all on the coast, except Summit Camp):NOAA Research
* Daneborg (12) headquarters of the Sirius Patrol, the park policing agency *

Danmarkshavn Danmarkshavn (Denmark's Harbour) is a small weather station located in Dove Bay, on the southern shore of the Germania Land Peninsula, in Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland. History The location was chosen as a suitable winter harbo ...

(8) civilian weather station * Station Nord (5) military base * Mestersvig (2) military outpost with 1,800 m gravel runway * Zackenberg (0) summer-only research station * Summit Camp (4) research station on the Greenland Ice Sheet During summer scientists add to these numbers. The research station Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO) can cater for over 20 scientists and station personnel.

Fauna

An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 musk oxen, as well as numerous polar bears and walrus, can be found near the coastal regions of the park. In 1993, this was estimated to be 40% of the world population of musk ox. Other mammals include Arctic fox, stoat, collared lemming, Arctic hare and a small but important population of Greenland wolf. Other marine mammals include ringed seal, bearded seal, harp seal and hooded seal as well as narwhal and

beluga whale The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the ...

. Species of birds which breed in the park include great northern diver,

barnacle goose The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus ''Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser'' species. Despite its superficial ...

, pink-footed goose, common eider, king eider, gyrfalcon, snowy owl, sanderling, ptarmigan and raven.

References

External links

Main park webpage

Image gallery

ZERO - Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations
*
Exploration History of Northeast Greenland

Icebergs in Hekla Havn - slideshow
{{Authority control National parks in Greenland Biosphere reserves of Greenland Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Denmark Greenland Arctic