Ilulissat, also known as Jacobshavn or Jakobshav, is the municipal seat and largest town of the

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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in western

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 approximately north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. With a population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the third-largest city in Greenland, after

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The city is home to almost as many sled-dogs as people. In direct translation, Ilulissat is the Kalaallisut word for "Icebergs" (). The nearby

Ilulissat Icefjord Ilulissat Icefjord () is a fjord in western Greenland. Located 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, the Ilulissat Icefjord runs west from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay just south of the town of Ilulissat. Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a ...

is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, and has made Ilulissat the most popular tourist destination in Greenland. Tourism is now the town's principal industry. The city neighbours the Ilulissat Icefjord, where there are enormous icebergs from the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere.

History

The town was established as a trading post by

Jacob Severin Jacob Sørensen Severin (27 October 1691 – 21 March 1753) was a Danish merchant who held a trade monopoly on Greenland from 1733 to 1749. Biography He was born in Sæby, Denmark, to Søren Nielsen ( 1655–1730) and his wife Birgitte O ...

's company in 1741; it was named in his honorMarquardt, Ole.
Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy
in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006.Kjærgaard, Kathrine (2010).
''Grønland som del af den bibelske fortælling – en 1700-tals studie''
" Greenland as Part of the Biblical Narrative – a Study of the 18th Century" ''Kirkehistoriske Samlinger'', 51-130. after the

Battle of Jacobshavn The Battle of Jacobshavn (, ) also referred to as the Battle of Ilulissat, was a battle between Danish and Dutch ships over the control of Ilulissat (Then Jacobshavn) on 6 June 1739. It has been the only naval battle fought over the rights of Gre ...

. The Zion Church (''Zions Kirke'') was built in the late 18th century; it was the largest man-made structure in Greenland at the time. The final resident of nearby

Sermermiut Sermermiut was an Inuit settlement in the Disko Bay, Greenland. The location is now part of the Ilulissat Icefjord World Heritage Site. History The pre-colonial history of Sermermiut was pieced together by a series of archaeological excavations ...

moved to Ilulissat in 1850.

Ilulissat Declaration

The town was the site of the

Arctic Ocean Conference The inaugural Arctic Ocean Conference was held in Ilulissat (Greenland) on 27-29 May 2008. Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States discussed key issues relating to the Arctic Ocean.Office The meeting was significant because of its pla ...

in May 2008. The joint meeting between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Denmark,

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 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was held to discuss key issues relating to

territorial claims in the Arctic The Arctic consists of land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and international waters above the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33 minutes North latitude). All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the ...

(particularly

Hans Island Hans Island (Inuktitut and , ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; , ; , ) is an island in the centre of the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait in the high Arctic region, split between the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut a ...

- eventually settled in 2022 -, and

Arktika 2007 Arktika 2007 () was a 2007 expedition in which Russia performed the first ever crewed descent to the ocean bottom at the North Pole, as part of research related to the 2001 Russian territorial claim, one of many territorial claims in the Arct ...

) and

Arctic shrinkage Sea ice in the Arctic region has declined in recent decades in area and volume due to climate change. It has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in winter. Global warming, caused by greenhouse gas forcing is responsible for the decline ...

produced by

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. The Ilulissat Declaration arose from the conference. It stated that the law of the sea provided for important rights and obligations concerning the delineation of the outer limits of the

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

, the protection of the marine environment (including ice-covered areas), freedom of navigation, marine scientific research, and other uses of the sea. It also said that it remained committed to this legal framework and to the orderly settlement of any possible overlapping claims. With this existing legal framework providing a solid foundation for responsible management, there was no need to develop a new comprehensive international legal regime to govern the Arctic Ocean. The states involved would continue the developments within the Arctic Ocean and continue to implement appropriate measures to further said developments.

Hotel Ilulissat fire

On 7 March 2021 at 20.12 (local time), a major fire broke out in Hotel Ilulissat, which at the time was still under construction. The fire and smoke was seen throughout the city. Police asked everyone in the area to stay home and keep their windows closed, until the fire fighters ended the fire. The police in

are to start an investigation. Not long after the fire fighters arrived, a gas cylinder exploded. The explosion was heard throughout the city.

Geography and environment

The Ilulissat Icefjord () southeast of Ilulissat was declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2004. Ilulissat has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

( ET) with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Ilulissat is one of the driest settlements in Greenland, receiving only of precipitation. Ilulissat is also one of the sunniest settlements in Greenland, especially during summer. Interestingly, March is the coldest month in Ilulissat despite similar locations experiencing February as the coldest month of the year. March also holds the all-time record low temperature of .

Population

With 4,670 inhabitants in 2020, Ilulissat is the largest town in the Avannaata municipality. The population increased over 8% relative to 1990 levels but has remained steady since around 2003.

Statistics Greenland Statistics Greenland (, ) is a central statistical organization in Greenland, operating under the auspices of the Government of Greenland, working in cooperation with the Ministry for Finance. Based in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, the organiza ...

Population in districts and municipalities January 1st 1977-2020 BEEST3
/ref> Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) ImageSize = width:1150 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:50 bottom:50 right:50 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4800 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:200 start:0 PlotData= color:yellowgreen width:38 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1991 from:start till:4135 text:"4,135" bar:1992 from:start till:4156 text:"4,156" bar:1993 from:start till:4072 text:"4,072" bar:1994 from:start till:4057 text:"4,057" bar:1995 from:start till:4052 text:"4,052" bar:1996 from:start till:4086 text:"4,086" bar:1997 from:start till:4168 text:"4,168" bar:1998 from:start till:4159 text:"4,159" bar:1999 from:start till:4167 text:"4,167" bar:2000 from:start till:4199 text:"4,199" bar:2001 from:start till:4145 text:"4,145" bar:2002 from:start till:4285 text:"4,285" bar:2003 from:start till:4525 text:"4,525" bar:2004 from:start till:4470 text:"4,470" bar:2005 from:start till:4533 text:"4,533" bar:2006 from:start till:4511 text:"4,511" bar:2007 from:start till:4512 text:"4,512" bar:2008 from:start till:4584 text:"4,584" bar:2009 from:start till:4528 text:"4,528" bar:2010 from:start till:4546 text:"4,546" bar:2011 from:start till:4606 text:"4,606" bar:2012 from:start till:4621 text:"4,621" bar:2013 from:start till:4541 text:"4,541" bar:2014 from:start till:4530 text:"4,530" bar:2015 from:start till:4491 text:"4,491" bar:2016 from:start till:4442 text:"4,442" bar:2017 from:start till:4555 text:"4,555" bar:2018 from:start till:4563 text:"4,563"

Tourist attractions

* Ilulissat Art Museum

Transport

;Air Ilulissat Airport is located to the northeast of the town center and was built in 1983. It serves Ilulissat with connections to towns in northwestern and midwestern Greenland via

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 ...

. Service to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, began in April 2011 via Air Iceland Connect and

in 2017. ;Sea The

Arctic Umiaq 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 ...

ferry links Ilulissat with Sisimiut, Nuuk, and other towns and settlements on the western and southwestern coast of Greenland.

Sport

The town is home to

Nagdlunguaq-48 Nagdlunguak 1948 is a sports club from Greenland based in 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 ...

who play in the

Greenlandic Men's Football Championship The Greenlandic Football Championship (, ) is the premier men's association football, football competition in Greenland. It was established in 1954, and since 1971 it has been organised by the Football Association of Greenland. This association i ...

, Greenland's top

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition. Nagdlunguaq-48, who play all their league games in Nuuk, have won the championship ten times (as of 2016).

Film

The fourth series of the Danish TV series '' Borgen'' (2022) plays partially in the city of Ilulissat and was filmed on location. It was also the location for the filming of ''

Smilla's Sense of Snow ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (), published in America as ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'', is a 1992 novel by Danish author Peter Høeg tracing the investigation into the suspicious death of a Greenlandic boy in Denmark. A global bestseller, it ...

'' (1997).

Notable people

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies) ...

(1879–1933), noted

polar Polar may refer to: Geography * Geographical pole, either of the two points on Earth where its axis of rotation intersects its surface ** Polar climate, the climate common in polar regions ** Polar regions of Earth, locations within the polar circ ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

, referred to as the "father of

Eskimology Eskimology or Inuitology is a complex of humanities and sciences studying the languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of the speakers of Eskimo–Aleut languages and Inuit, Yupik and Aleut (or Unangam), sometimes collec ...

"; born in Ilulissat.Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen
, biography by Sam Alley.

Minnesota State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

. He was the first man to cross the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...

via

dog sled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for Sled dog racing, dog sl ...

. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.Elizabeth Cruwys, 2003. *

Jørgen Brønlund Jørgen Brønlund (14 December 1877 – November 1907) was a Kalaallit, Greenlandic List of polar explorers, polar explorer, educator, and Catechism, catechist. He participated in two Danish expeditions to Greenland in the early 20th century. ...

(1877–1907), also a polar explorer, born in Ilulissat. He grew up with Rasmussen and accompanied him, along with

Harald Moltke Harald Viggo Moltke (14 December 1871 – 24 June 1960) was a Danish painter, author and explorer. As an explorer he acted as draftsman in four Arctic expeditions. Early life and education Harald Moltke was born in Helsingør, the son of Oskar P ...

and

Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen (15 January 1872 – 25 November 1907) was a Danish author, ethnologist, and explorer, from Ringkøbing. He was most notably an explorer of Greenland. Literary expedition With Count Harald Moltke and Knud Rasmussen Mylius- ...

, on the Danish Literary Expedition (1902–1904) to examine

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

culture. In 1906 he joined Mylius-Erichsen and Peter Høegh Hagen on the Danmark-ekspeditionen to map the northernmost regions of Greenland.

Jørgen Brønlund Fjord Jørgen Brønlund Fjord or Brønlund Fjord is a fjord in southern Peary Land, northern Greenland. It was named after polar explorer Jørgen Brønlund by the Danmark expedition. Geography It runs roughly from NW to SE with its mouth located at ...

Peary Land Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the nor ...

is named after him.Famous sons
*

Jens Rosing Jens Christian Rosing (28 July 1925 – 24 May 2008) was a notable Greenlandic artist, author and storyteller. He designed the Coat of arms of Greenland, coat of arms of Greenland, many Greenlandic postage stamps, as well as illustrated childr ...

(1925–2008), artist; designed the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Greenland and numerous Greenlandic postage stamps; illustrated children's books; watercolours; born in Ilulissat * Ricky Enø Jørgensen, racing cyclist

Twin towns – sister cities

Ilulissat is twinned or cooperating with several towns and cities, including: *

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region Denmark, Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vej ...

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 ...

Fuglafjørður Fuglafjørður () is a village on Eysturoy's east coast in the Faroe Islands. Its name means "fjord of birds". The village is at the edge of a bay and expands into the surrounding steep hills. The town centre is located close to the harbour a ...

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður, officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður, is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region, on the s ...

Gallery

File:KRABBE(13) Greenland. Church and doctor's residence of the town Jakobshavn - Ilulissat (11340038626).jpg, Church and doctor's residence of the town Jacobshavn (1900) File:Ilulissat, Greenland (Quintin Soloviev).png, Ilulissat harbor File:Costa Luminosa in the fjord front Ilulissat - panoramio.jpg, Cruise ships in the fjord front of Ilulissat File:FourHuileBaleineTrankessel.JPG, "Trankessel" for boiling blubber in Ilulissat, Greenland File:Rasmussenhaus.JPG, Knud Rasmussen's birthplace in Ilulissat, Greenland;

Knud Rasmussen's Museum Ilulissat Museum is a museum dedicated to the famous Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen. It is located in the town of Ilulissat, Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest ge ...

File:Greenland-Ilulissat-26.jpg, Kayaking in Ilulissat File:Dog sled road sign ilulissat 2007-08-23 retouched.jpg, Dog sled sign in Ilulissat File:Ilulissat-port.jpg, Cruise ship at Ilulissat port File:Ilulissat.jpg, Ilulissat, old part of the city with icebergs from the

in the background File:Greenland 7, sailing through Ilulissat Icefjord.jpg, Sailing in Ilulissat Icefjord File:Greenland 4, Ilulissat, soccer field.jpg, The football field File:Ilulissat welcome sign (Quintin Soloviev).png, Ilulissat welcome sign File:Ilulissat-airport-runway.jpg, Ilulissat Airport from the south File:Blue iceberg in the Ilulissat icefjord - edited.jpg, Blue iceberg in the

File:Buiobuione - Greenland - Ilulissat Town.jpg, View of Ilulissat city from the sea File:Ilulissat town with snow.jpg, Ilulissat under snow File:Buiobuione_-_Ilulissat_-_greenland_-_2018_-_7.tif, Ilulissat from a plane File:Ilulissat Church - Greenland - Panoramic - View - Fjords - Buiobuione.jpg, Ilulissat Church

References

External links

Overviews and data

Daily updated satellite images from Ilulissat Icefjord & Disko Bay

Government

Avannaata
Official municipal and city website

Maps

*
Satellite image of Retreating Terminus of the Ilulissat Glacier
at the

NASA Earth Observatory NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information about the climate and the environment which are being provided by NASA for ...

News and media

Google news Ilulissat

Ilulissat museum and archive

GEUS Maps of the Ilulissat area

Travel

Kangia - Ilulissat Icefjord
Official website
Ilulissat entry at Visit Greenland
nbsp;– the official Greenlandic Tourist Board tourism website
A Photographer's View of Ilulissat & Disko Bay
Documentary produced by Florent Piovesan {{Authority control Disko Bay Populated places in Greenland Populated places established in 1741 Populated places of Arctic Greenland Cities and towns in Greenland Municipal seats of Greenland Populated coastal places in Greenland Port cities and towns in Greenland