Qaarsut (old spelling: ''Kʼaersut'') is a 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, 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 is situated on the northeastern shore of the

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 ...

. It had 174 inhabitants in 2020.

Geography

The village is located on the north coast of the Nuussuaq peninsula at the foot of the 1977 m high mountain ''Qilertinnguit'' and approx. 20 km west of Uummannaq.

History

Until January 2009, the settlement belonged to Uummannaq Municipality. The first coal mine in Greenland operated between 1778 and 1924 in Qaarsuarsuit. Mine Qaarsut

Inuit Settlement

A few kilometers east of Qaarsut is the Inuit settlement

Qilakitsoq Qilakitsoq is an ghost town, abandoned settlement and an important archaeological site in Greenland. It is the location of the discovery of eight mummy, mummified corpses from the Thule people, Thule period. These Inuit mummies offer important ...

. The settlement is known for the discovery in 1972 of eight mummified bodies from the

Thule culture The Thule ( , ) or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by 1000 AD and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the ...

. The mummies of Qilakitsoq provided important insight into the lives of Inuit people who lived 500 years ago in the Thule culture.

Infrastructure

The school and the church are housed in the same building. Additionally, the village provides essential amenities such as a shop, service center, and health station.

Education

In 2011, the school had a total of 40 students, spanning from 1st to 9th grade, but organized into just four classes. The school is part of the Greenlandic school network, known as ATTAT, and is equipped with video conference equipment for teaching purposes.

Transport

Qaarsut Airport, located to the northwest of the settlement, serves both Qaarsut and

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 latter accessible only by

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 ...

Population

The population of Qaarsut has dropped by over 18 percent relative to the 2000 levels, reflecting a general trend in the region.Statistics Greenland

Gallery

File:Qaarsut and its church.jpg, Qaarsut's chapel File:Qaarsut and Uummannaq's mountain.jpg, Qaarsut and Uummannaq's mountain in the background File:Overview of Qaarsut, Greenland.jpg, Overview of Qaarsut File:Colourful houses in Qaarsut.jpg, Colourful houses File:Qaarsut's primary school.jpg, School File:Qaarsut at midnight.jpg, Qaarsut at midnight sun

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Greenland Populated places of Arctic Greenland Avannaata Uummannaq Fjord