Ittoqqortoormiit

Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenlandic) or Illoqqortoormiut (West Greenlandic) (Pronounced: [itːoqːoʁtoːʁmiːt]), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020 and has been described as one of the most remote settlements on earth.[1][2]

Ittoqqortoormiit

Illoqqortoormiut (Greenlandic)
Scoresbysund (Danish)
Ittoqqortoormiit
Coat of arms
Ittoqqortoormiit
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 70°29′07″N 21°58′00″W
State Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country Greenland
Municipality Sermersooq
Founded1925
Population
 (2020)
 • Total345[1]
Time zoneUTC-01
 • Summer (DST)UTC
Postal code
3980

The former name Scoresbysund derives from the Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby, who was the first European to map the area in 1822. The name "Ittoqqortoormiit" means "Big-House Dwellers" in the Eastern Greenlandic dialect. The region is known for its wildlife, including polar bears, muskoxen, and seals.

Geography

Ittoqqortoormiit is located on Liverpool Land, east of Hurry Inlet near the mouth of the northern shore of the Kangertittivaq fjord, which empties into the Greenland Sea.[3]

History
Inside Ittoqqortoormiit Church

Ittoqqortoormiit was founded in 1925 by Ejnar Mikkelsen and some 80 Inuit settlers (70 persons from Tasiilaq and four families from western Greenland). They were brought on the ship Gustav Holm and settled 400 kilometres (249 miles) south of the last known Inuit settlement in northeastern Greenland (Eskimonæs at Dødemandsbugten on the south coast of Clavering Ø, 27 km (17 miles) southwest of later Daneborg, 1823).

The settlement was encouraged by the colonial power Denmark which at the time had a growing interest in Northeast Greenland. At the same time, the colonization was intended to improve declining living conditions in Tasiilaq, from where the settlers were more or less voluntarily transferred. The settlers soon prospered on the good hunting conditions of the new area, which was rich in seals, walruses, narwhals, polar bears and Arctic foxes.

Before that, however, the area itself had been home to a dense population of Inuit in the past, as testified by ruins and other archeological remains.

Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality was a former municipality of Greenland. It is now part of Sermersooq Municipality.

Transport
Ittoqqortoormiit houses

Ittoqqortoormiit is one of the most remote towns in Greenland. It is served by Ittoqqortoormiit Heliport, with Air Greenland helicopters shuttling passengers between the settlement and Nerlerit Inaat Airport (38 km (24 mi) distance), with boat transfer also possible for a few months a year. In the summer, there are two Air Iceland weekly departures from Reykjavík to Nerlerit Inaat, most of the year only one flight to Iceland a week. Air Greenland has weekly flights from Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk.

Economy
Ittoqqortoormiit Cemetery (2018)

Local hunters have made a living from whale and polar bear hunting for generations, and it remains, up to the present, a significant cultural-economical factor in the area. Flesh and by-products play a direct part in the economy of the hunting families. Income is gained by trading these products, but these options are seasonal and variable.

Ittoqqortoormiit lies near large populations of shrimp and Greenland halibut, but the presence of sea ice prevents the exploitation of these resources year-round, and as a result fishing has never been extensively developed in the municipality.

Tourism, on the other hand, is growing in importance. Ittoqqortoormiit is the closest town in Greenland from Iceland. The buildings at the abandoned Uunarteq settlement are used by the local inhabitants as cottages during summer.

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Greenland

Twin towns – Sister cities

Ittoqqortoormiit is twinned with:

Climate

Ittoqqortoormiit features a tundra climate (Köppen ET) with bitterly cold winters, chilly summers and no monthly average even close to the 10 °C threshold that would allow tree growth. This coupled with an average annual temperature of −8.6 °C makes Ittoqqortoormiit one of the coldest permanently inhabited locations on Earth.

On the afternoon of 22 February 2005, the time of year that is normally the coldest, the temperature in the village briefly reached +15.9°C (60.6°F)[5] due to a combination of exceptionally warm airmass and a strong foehn effect.

Climate data for Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.5
(56.3)		 15.9
(60.6)		 6.4
(43.5)		 9.2
(48.6)		 9.5
(49.1)		 17.7
(63.9)		 18.5
(65.3)		 21.0
(69.8)		 13.0
(55.4)		 8.9
(48.0)		 9.7
(49.5)		 7.5
(45.5)		 21.0
(69.8)
Average high °C (°F) −10.2
(13.6)		 −10.5
(13.1)		 −9.8
(14.4)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 0.8
(33.4)		 6.1
(43.0)		 9.5
(49.1)		 8.6
(47.5)		 3.8
(38.8)		 −2.8
(27.0)		 −6.5
(20.3)		 −8.9
(16.0)		 −2.0
(28.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −14.0
(6.8)		 −14.4
(6.1)		 −14.1
(6.6)		 −9.2
(15.4)		 −2.4
(27.7)		 2.6
(36.7)		 5.7
(42.3)		 5.2
(41.4)		 1.1
(34.0)		 −5.4
(22.3)		 −10.1
(13.8)		 −12.9
(8.8)		 −5.6
(21.9)
Average low °C (°F) −17.7
(0.1)		 −18.3
(−0.9)		 −17.9
(−0.2)		 −13.0
(8.6)		 −5.5
(22.1)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 2.3
(36.1)		 2.4
(36.3)		 −1.1
(30.0)		 −7.6
(18.3)		 −12.4
(9.7)		 −15.7
(3.7)		 −8.6
(16.5)
Record low °C (°F) −36.9
(−34.4)		 −36.6
(−33.9)		 −40.5
(−40.9)		 −33.5
(−28.3)		 −18.3
(−0.9)		 −7.1
(19.2)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 −8.0
(17.6)		 −19.3
(−2.7)		 −25.1
(−13.2)		 −30.0
(−22.0)		 −40.5
(−40.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 31.8
(1.25)		 44.2
(1.74)		 37.1
(1.46)		 28.9
(1.14)		 15.6
(0.61)		 16.6
(0.65)		 26.1
(1.03)		 39.3
(1.55)		 49.7
(1.96)		 31.4
(1.24)		 33.8
(1.33)		 40.8
(1.61)		 387.5
(15.26)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6 7 6 5 3 3 5 5 5 4 6 5 66
Mean monthly sunshine hours 1 31 108 205 251 291 278 229 142 71 8 0 1,583
Source 1: Danish Meteorological Institute (sun 1982–1999)[6][7]
Source 2: NOAA (precipitation days 1961–1990)[8]

Population

The population of Ittoqqortoormiit has fluctuated over the past two decades, decreasing almost 17% since 2006.[1]

Ittoqqortoormiit population growth dynamics, 1991–2010. Source: Statistics Greenland[1]

References
  1. "Population by Localities". Statistical Greenland.
  2. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, one of the remotest settlements on Earth
  3. Greenland and the Arctic. By Etain O'Carroll and Mark Elliott. Lonely Planet 2005. ISBN 1-74059-095-3.
  4. "Aalborg Twin Towns". Europeprize.net. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. Decoded synop reports
  6. "DMI Report 18–19: Climatological Standard Normals 1981–2010 Denmark, The Faroe Islands and Greenland Based on Data Published in DMI Reports 18–08, 18–04 and 18–05" (PDF). Danish Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  7. "The Observed Climate of Greenland, 1958–99 with Climatological Standard Normals, 1961–90" (PDF). Danish Meteorological Institute. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  8. "Scoresbysund Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
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