Uummannaq Island () is a small () island in

Avannaata Avannaata (, ) is a municipality of Greenland created on 1 January 2018 from the bulk of the former Qaasuitsup municipality. It encompasses an area of 522,700 km2 and has 10,726 inhabitants. Geography In the south, Avannaata is flanked ...

municipality in northwestern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. Located in the south-central part of the

Uummannaq Fjord Uummannaq Fjord is a large fjord system in the northern part of western Greenland, the largest after Scoresby Sund, Kangertittivaq fjord in eastern Greenland. It has a roughly south-east to west-north-west orientation, emptying into the Baffin ...

, it is home to the most prominent mountain on the Arctic coast of western Greenland and to

Uummannaq Uummannaq is a town on Uummannaq Island in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Foun ...

, the largest town north of

Ilulissat Ilulissat, also known as Jacobshavn or Jakobshav, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With a population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the ...

. The island is separated from

Nuussuaq Peninsula Nuussuaq Peninsula (, old spelling: ''Nûgssuaq'') is a large () peninsula in western Greenland. Geography The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay. To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay, an inlet ...

in the southwest by Sarqarput Strait in the southern arm of Uummannaq Fjord. In the east, the island is separated from the

Salliaruseq Island Salliaruseq Island (old spelling: ''Sagdliaruseq'', , translated: The-big-island) is an uninhabitedAssorput Strait. To the north, the central arm of Uummannaq Fjord separates it from the large

Appat Island Appat Island (old spelling: ''Agpat'') is an uninhabitedN ...

and the

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

Saattut Saattut (old spelling: ''Sâtut'') is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland. Located on small Saattut Island, southeast of Appat Island and northeast of Uummannaq in the Uummannaq Fjord system, the settlement had 226 i ...

.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992

Map of the island

Coast

The island has a very undeveloped

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, with a handful of small, rocky

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

s primarily in the southernmost, inhabited part. The only significant bay is Qasigissat () on the southwestern shore. The weakly indented Iterlak bay is located on the northwestern coast of the island. The sea is the only means of transport to the uninhabited northern part of the island.

Harbours

The Uummannaq port occupies a small inlet in the southeastern end of the island. It is not deep enough to service large cruise ships, but sufficiently deep to handle supply and fishing ships of

Royal Arctic Line Royal Arctic Line Aktieselskab, A/S (RAL) or Royal Arctic is a seaborne freight company in Greenland, wholly owned by the Naalakkersuisut, Government of Greenland. It was formed in 1993, and is headquartered in Nuuk. History Royal Arctic Line A ...

and

Royal Greenland Royal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland, spun off from Kalaallit Niuerfiat in 1990 but still wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish proce ...

, as well as motorboats and lesser fishing boats. There are several small bays between the port and Nuussuatsiaq promontory, in the vicinity of the heliport. Fishermen of Uummannaq town peruse the entire southern coast for anchorage of smaller fishing boats and motorboats. Outside the urbanized part of the island there are several inlets and

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

s providing protection for fishing nets and, in the summer, dogsleds. During summertime, a small and otherwise economically uninteresting skerry in Qasigissat Bay is used as an observation point for marine life, particularly fish schools migrating alongside the coast.

Promontories

Lakes

There are two significant lakes on the island: ''Tasersuaq'' lake, and the ''Blue Lake''. There are also several tiny ponds on the plateau, south of Uummannaq Mountain.

Blue Lake

The Blue Lake is located in a depression of the south-central plateau, at approximately , to the north of the

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

. Pipes laid on the ground carry

potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

from the lake to the central waterworks installation.

Tasersuaq

Tasersuaq ( Greenlandic for ''large lake'') is the largest lake situated in the southern part of the island, at approximately . It is surrounded by small hills from the west and south, and by taller cliffs of the plateau from the east and north. The northernmost houses in Uummannaq are located due west of the lake. Tasersuaq is the main water reservoir serving Uummannaq town, with pipe waterworks leading southwards through a deep

gully A gully is a landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given ter ...

Interior

The entire island is rocky, with the southern half progressively rising in altitude in the northern direction, towards the Uummannaq Twin Peaks mountain. The area south of the geographical center of the island is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

of folded

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

hills, dotted with tiny ponds. The plateau falls into the surrounding waters with steep cliffs crevassed with

couloir A couloir (, "passage" or "corridor") is a narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p. 121. . Geology A couloir may be a seam, scar, or fissure, o ...

s. The northeastern coast under the walls of the mountain features a large cone of loose

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is ap ...

. Movement on the outskirts of the interior is restricted to

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

Uummannaq Mountain

Uummannaq Mountain entirely dominates the landscape of the island, its base occupying its entire northern half. Formed of granite and basement

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

, it is the most prominent mountain in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

part of the west coast of Greenland. The mountain is a landmark of Greenland and a tourist magnet, often reproduced in art. The mountain has two summits of similar height (the eastern summit being the higher), hence the name ''Uummannaq'', Greenlandic for ''heart-shaped''. Deep

chimneys A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typically ...

fall to the south and the north from the

col A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

between the western and eastern summits. Its eastern wall has no significant depressions, falling in a uniform cliff into Assorput Strait between Uummannaq Island and Salliaruseq Island.

Settlement

The only settlement on the island is Uummannaq town, one of the cultural centers of northwestern Greenland. The town occupies approximately 10% of the island area, concentrated around the southern tip of the island.

Transport

Air

Uummannaq-heliport-air-greenland-bell212-landing

The island is well connected with the rest of Greenland.

Air Greenland Air Greenland Aktieselskab, A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly and Greenlandair) is the flag carrier of Greenland, owned by the Naalakkersuisut, Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 28 aircraft, including a single Airbus A330-800 airli ...

has its regional

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

hub on the island, serving all settlements in the region.Air Greenland, Timetable 2008
Several daily helicopter flights link the island with the nearby

Qaarsut Airport Qaarsut Airport () is an airport in Qaarsut, a settlement on the Nuussuaq Peninsula in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a primary airport with a gravel runway, capable of serving STOL aircraft of Air Greenland in all seaso ...

on Nuussuaq Peninsula, from where

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

connections are available to

Upernavik Kanunarinaqiniiaaq (known as Upernavik) is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,064 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...

Sisimiut Sisimiut (), also known by its Danish name Holstensborg or Holsteinsborg, is the capital and largest city of the Qeqqata municipality, the second-largest city in Greenland, and the largest Arctic city in North America.The term 'city' is loos ...

and further to central and southern Greenland.

Sea

Until 2006,

Arctic Umiaq Line Arctic Umiaq Line A/S (AUL) or Arctic Umiaq is a passenger and freight shipping line in Greenland. Its name derives from the Kalaallisut word for the traditional Inuit passenger boat, the umiak, distinguished from the kayak, used for hunting. Th ...

had provided ferry services from

Nuuk Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. It is also the seat of gove ...

to Upernavik, calling at Uummannaq,

, and

Aasiaat Aasiaat (), also known as Egedesminde, is a town in the Qeqertalik municipality in western Greenland, located on its namesake island in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 2,980 as of 2021, it ...

within what was then Qaasuitsup municipality. M/S ''Sarpik Ittuk''−which serviced

Disko Bay Disko Bay (; Christensen, N.O. & al.Elections in Greenland". ''Arctic Circular'', Vol. 4 (1951), pp. 83–85. Op. cit. "Northern News". ''Arctic'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar 1952), pp. 58–59.) is a large bay on the western coast of Greenland. ...

, Uummannaq Fjord and the

Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at ...

−was sold in 2006 to Nova Cruising, a company from

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. Since then the ferry services of AUL are available only southwards from Ilulissat, operated with the remaining ship, M/S ''Sarfaq Ittuk''. The

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

/passenger boat ''Pajuttaat'' of

links Uummannaq with Upernavik. Individual transport and sightseeing boats can be chartered from the Uummannaq Tourist Service. The island is often visited by cruise ships,greenland.com
The Official Tourism and Business Site of Greenland such as

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally, and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports ...

Photographs

File:Uummannaq-Salliaruseq.jpg, The port in Uummannaq town File:Uummannaq-santa-claus-turf-hut.jpg, A restored traditional Greenlandic

turf house An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely burie ...

serving the children of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

as the '

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

Castle', where they can write letters. File:Salliaruseq-uummannaq-aerial.jpg, Aerial view of the southern part of Uummannaq Island from the Air Greenland

Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Bell Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, twin-engine, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Queb ...

helicopter during the Uummannaq-Qaarsut flight

References

External links

* {{GeoGroupTemplate Avannaata Islands of Greenland Uummannaq Fjord