Nuup Kangerlua is a long

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

in the Sermersooq

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 southwestern

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 is ...

. It was formerly known by its colonial name as Godthaab Fjord ( da, Godthåbsfjorden), Gilbert Sound and Baal's River.Nicoll, James.
An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands
'. Oliver & Boyd, 1840. Located by the island's capital,

Nuuk Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

, it is the longest fjord on the

Labrador Sea The Labrador Sea (French: ''mer du Labrador'', Danish: ''Labradorhavet'') is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean between the Labrador Peninsula and Greenland. The sea is flanked by continental shelves to the southwest, northwest, and northeast. I ...

coast of Greenland, and one of the longest in the inhabited part of the country.

Geography

The fjord head is located deep inland, with the fjord beginning as an icefjord at , with two glaciers draining the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equ ...

( kl, Sermersuaq) flowing into the fjord. Initially, the fjord flows to the northwest, to then turn southwest at , splitting into three arms in its lower run, with three large, mountainous islands in between the arms:

Sermitsiaq Island Sermitsiaq Island ( da, Sadelø) is an uninhabited island in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. Geography Sermitsiaq is one of three mountainous islands located in the middle section of the long Nuup Kangerlua fjord, to th ...

with the

Sermitsiaq Sermitsiaq may refer to: *Sermitsiaq (mountain), on Sermitsiaq Island * ''Sermitsiaq'' (newspaper), a Greenlandic newspaper *Sermitsiaq Island, in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, Greenland *Sermitsiaq Glacier Sermitsiaq Glacier is a tidewater glacier i ...

mountain visible from most of

, Qeqertarsuaq Island, and Qoornuup Qeqertarsua Island. The fjord widens into a bay dotted with skerries near its mouth, opening into Labrador Sea at approximately , near the former Kangeq settlement.

Settlement

, the capital of Greenland, is located near the mouth of the fjord, on a mountainous peninsula bounding the fjord from the southeast. Kapisillit is located northeast of Nuuk, near the head of

Kapisillit Kangerluaq Kapisillit is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. In 2020, the settlement had 52 inhabitants. ''Kapisillit'' means ''the salmon'' in the Greenlandic language ( da, laksen). The name refers to the belief that th ...

, one of the tributary fjords of Nuup Kangerlua.

References

{{reflist, 2 Fjords of Greenland Labrador Sea Geography of Nuuk

Geography

Settlement

See also

References