Savissivik (

West Greenlandic (), also known as West Greenlandic (), is the primary language of Greenland and constitutes the Greenlandic language, spoken by the vast majority of the inhabitants of Greenland, as well as by thousands of Greenlandic Inuit in Denmark proper (i ...

; old spelling: ''Savigsivik'') or Havighivik (

Inuktun Inuktun (, , ) is the language of approximately 1,000 Indigenous Inughuit (Polar Inuit), inhabiting the world's northernmost settlements in Qaanaaq and the surrounding villages in northwestern Greenland. Geographic distribution Apart from the t ...

) is a settlement in 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 northern

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 on

Meteorite Island Meteorite Island () is an island in Baffin Bay, in Avannaata municipality, off NW Greenland. The Cape York Meteorite fell thousands of years ago on the southern shore of this island. Geography Meteorite Island is quite barren and desolate. It l ...

, off the northern shores of

Melville Bay Melville Bay (; ), is a large bay off the coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to the north of the Upernavik Archipelago, it opens to the south-west into Baffin Bay. Its Kalaallisut name, ''Qimusseriarsuaq'', means "the great dog sledding pla ...

, the settlement had 55 inhabitants in 2020.

History

In the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Kalaallisut (, ), is an Inuit languages, Inuit language belonging to the Eskaleut languages#Internal classification, Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleut languages, Eskaleut language family. ...

, the name ''Savissivik'' means "Place of

Meteoric Iron Meteoric iron, sometimes meteoritic iron, is a native metal and early-universe protoplanetary-disk remnant found in meteorites and made from the elements iron and nickel, mainly in the form of the mineral phases kamacite and taenite. Meteoric ...

" or "Knives", alluding to the numerous

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

fragments that have been found in the area dating to about 10,000 years ago. The

Cape York meteorite The Cape York meteorite, also known as the Innaanganeq meteorite, is one of the largest known iron meteorites, classified as a medium octahedrite in chemical group IIIAB meteorites, IIIAB. In addition to many small fragments, at least eight large ...

is estimated to have weighed 100 tonnes before it exploded. The iron from the meteorite is believed to have attracted migrating

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 ...

from

Arctic Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories a ...

Transport

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 ...

operates settlement flights to

Qaanaaq Airport Qaanaaq Airport (; ) is an airport located northwest of Qaanaaq, a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northern Greenland. It was established in 1991 to serve Qaanaaq and neighboring communities because Thule Air Base in Pituffik is no ...

via

Pituffik Space Base Pituffik Space Base ( ; ; ), formerly Thule Air Base (), is a United States Space Force base located on the northwest coast of Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark under a defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. 150 United Stat ...

. The twice-weekly flights are subsidized by the Government of Greenland. Transfers at the airbase are subject to access restrictions by the Danish Foreign Ministry.

Population

The population of Savissivik decreased by over 40 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by 10 percent relative to 2000 levels.Statistics Greenland

Film

Savissivik is depicted in the 2023 documentary film The Color of Ice. The film follows a local hunter, Olennguaq Kristensen, and highlights the climate and cultural change underway in Northwest Greenland. Savissivik itself is alternatively portrayed in the documentary as harsh outdoors and cozy indoors. The film, and Kristensen, appeared at the 2024 Nuuk International Film Festival.

References

{{Settlements in Greenland Populated places in Greenland Populated places of Arctic Greenland