Innaarsuit Island (old spelling: ''Ivnârssuit'') is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in 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 ...

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 ...

. It forms part of the

Innaarsuit Innaarsuit (old spelling: ''Ivnârssuit'') is an island settlement in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on an island of the same name. the settlement had 180 inhabitants in 2020. Upernavik Archipelago Innaarsuit is ...

settlement 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. The village had 166 residents in 2017, largely based on halibut fishing and associated processing infrastructure. In July 2018, the village was evacuated as an

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

weighing over 10 million tonnes, and towering over was headed for the settlement.

Geography

Innaarsuit Island is located in the outer belt of islands in

Tasiusaq Bay Tasiusaq Bay (Danish language, Danish: ''Vakkerprydsbugt'') is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentation of northeastern Baffin Bay. The name of the bay derives from the na ...

, in the south-central part of

. In the north, it is separated from Ateqanngitsorsuaq Island by a narrow channel. The island is hilly, but not mountainous, with Saattup Akia mountain the highest point on the island, at . The inner waterways of Tasiusaq Bay separate it from the small Naajaat Island in the east, and from Qaarsorsuatsiaq Island in the west. Several

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 ...

buffer the southern coast of the island. The coastline of Innaarsuit Island is developed, with several small inlets indenting the shore in the east, west, and northwest. The Innaarsuit settlement is located near the mouth of one of the inlets, in the northwestern part of the island. The island is nearly split in half in the center, with only a narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

joining the southern and northern halves. In July 2018, the village was evacuated as an

weighing over 10 million tonnes, and towering over was headed for the settlement.

Demographics and economy

The settlement which had a population of 30 residents in 1950, was home to 166 in 2017. The economy is predominantly dependent on fishing, especially

Greenland halibut The Greenland halibut or Greenland turbot (''Reinhardtius hippoglossoides'') belongs to the family Pleuronectidae (the right-eye flounders), and is the monotypic, only species of the genus ''Reinhardtius''. It is a predatory fish that mostly rang ...

, with a Royal Greenland processing plant near the settlement. Combined fishing, sealing, and

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

accounted for about 43 % of gross local income by 2001. Innaarsuit Heliport operates services through

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 ...

under a government contract, and maritime transport occurs via small boats and supply ships. The town infrastructure includes a diesel power plant, storage house, service house, chapel, and school. Dog sleds are used for travel along frequent routes..

References

{{Upernavik Archipelago Tasiusaq Bay Islands of the Upernavik Archipelago