Tarajornitsut is an uninhabited

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

in the

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, ) is a municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in the central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,378 as of January 2020. The administrative cente ...

municipality in central-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 ...

, within the bounds of Kangaamiut dike swarm. The highland has many lakes, shallow valleys, hills, and wetlands, with plentiful wildlife, such as arctic geese. It is also a major calving ground for

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

. In the future the area will become a protected nature reserve. The ''Polar Route'' from

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 ...

Kangerlussuaq Kangerlussuaq (; ; ) is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipalities of Greenland, municipality located at the head of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord, fjord of the same name. It was Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of G ...

ends in Tarajornitsut, on the shore of

Kangerlussuaq Fjord Kangerlussuaq Fjord (old spelling: ''Kangerdlugssuaq'', ) is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is long and between and wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua river to the southwest, ...

Geography

Tarajornitsut is located north of

, behind the dike scarp bounding the fjord from the northwest. The eastern part of the wide highland region of numerous lakes (some of which are

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

), wet valley depressions, and mostly barren hills, begins immediately to the north of

, and is bounded from the east by the large Sanningasoq lake. The long Tasersuaq lake in the west separates the highland from the

Pingu ''Pingu'' is a stop motion animated children's television series originally produced in Switzerland. It was co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It centres on the titular anthropomorphic emperor penguin and his family, who live i ...

mountain group halfway between

Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...

and the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of thick and over thick at its maximum. It is almost long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of at a latitude ...

(). The range flattens considerably to the northwest of Tarajornitsut, due to pressure exerted by the icesheet for long periods in the past. The entire region is part of the

biome, with the depressions and lakes being an important site for migrating birds, such as

geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...

. The northern and northeastern part of the region is an important calving ground for the reindeer. The wetlands in the heart of Tarajornitsut dominate the depressions. Protected by the hills on the eastern side, they are deprived of wind blowing from the icesheet. Still water in these depressions is an incubator for billions of

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es during the summer season. Menyanthes trifoliata - Tarajornitsut-wetland-plants

The southern and southwestern edge of the region, north of Kangerlussuaq port, near the small Mount Evans hillock overlooking Kangerlussuaq Fjord is strewn with artifacts and trash dating from the era when the

Sondrestrom Air Base Sondrestrom Air Base, originally Bluie West-8, was a United States Air Force base in central Greenland. It was closed in 1992 and it is now the site of Kangerlussuaq Airport. The site is located north of the Arctic Circle and from the north ...

was still operational. Numerous rusting barrels, wooden platforms, and small wetland bridges left by the American Army are common in the area. The climate of the region is polar continental, and very stable due to considerable distance from the coast of Davis Strait, with the area receiving very little rainfall.

Nature reserve

Kangerlussuaq is one of the settlements in Greenland exhibiting stable population growth patterns over the past two decades, with a dynamically growing tourism industry, primarily thanks to the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. Within the newly drafted development plan for the Kangerlussuaq area, the municipal authorities aim to establish a nature preserve in Tarajornitsut, with tourism channeled instead into the

Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua () is a river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet. The river is a tributary o ...

valley with Russell Glacier, and into the

Isunngua Isunngua (old spelling: ''Isúngua'') is a highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, located immediately west of the Greenland Ice Sheet edge. In large part it is covered by the tundra, although in the immediate vicinity o ...

highland to the east, towards the icesheet.

Polar Route

The tough, long ''Arctic Circle Race'' takes place each winter, with the trail partially overlapping with the ''Polar Route'' from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq. The race was inaugurated in 1998, since then becoming an international competition. The ''Polar Route'' passes through the western reaches of Tarajornitsut, ending in Umiarsualivik on the shores of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, approximately west-south-west of Kangerlussuaq.

References

{{coord, 67, 03, N, 51, 00, W, display=title Highlands of Greenland Kangerlussuaq