Nuuk, Greenland, day 1

 After cruising around the Canadian Arctic area, we headed for Greenland and our first stop was at the capital, Nuuk. Greenland is the world's largest island and is about 80% ice capped.

The size of Greenland shown over a map of Europe -

Greenland is geographically a part of the North American continent. Since 1721, Denmark has held colonies in Greenland, but the country was made part of Denmark in 1953. Almost one-quarter of Greenland’s population lives in the capital city of Nuuk. Today, 88% of Greenland’s population are Inuit (predominantly Kalaallit) or mixed Danish and Inuit. The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Danish. The currency is the Danish kroner. 

We were there early August so missed the midnight sun. The sun does not set from May 25th to July 25th, and it stays visible throughout the entire day and night. As we sailed into Nuuk harbour at 7.20 am we could see the small colourful old buildings.

Nuuk means The Cape. The old name is Godthab. It is on the tip of a large peninsula at the mouth of the spectacular Godthaab Fjord. It is the smallest capital in world, also the world's northernmost capital.

Reykjavik 64.1470° N, 21.9408° W

Nuuk 64.1743° N, 51.7373° W

Because of its latitude, 64°11' north, Nuuk is the world's northernmost capital. It's just a few kilometers farther north than Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland.

 Nuuk has Greenland's tallest building and is the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality.

The majority of the population in Greenland speaks both Greenlandic (mainly Kalaallisut) and Danish. The two languages have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979. Today, the young generation learn both languages, as well as English, in school. “Kayak” and “igloo” are Greenlandic words. There are no nouns. e.g. hairbrush is the thing used to brush hair. To say "yes" you raise eyebrows, to say "no" you wrinkle your nose.

The only place with free wifi is the library. I sat on the steps outside to use the wifi, as the library didn't open until 1pm. My hands were so cold, it was about 6⁰ C. Then I went for a walk around the block, checked out the Coop and an Akiki supermarket.

Despite having such a huge land size, there are no roads or railway that connect settlements in Greenland. There are roads within the towns, but they end at the outskirts. All travel between towns is done by plane, boat, helicopter, snowmobile or dogsled.

Nuuk population is almost 20,000 and they want to increase that to 30,000 in 6 years, by 2030. It contains one third of Greenland's population. Some old housing blocks being demolished to make taller blocks, and the cemetery was decommissioned some time ago -

There is construction work everywhere -

The new housing -

And the airport is being extended, it is behind the concrete wall marked with the yellow arrow. It currently is used for domestic flights as well as international ones to Reykjavik in the summer -

After lunch on the ship I took the shuttle bus back into town and walked down to the water front.

Main road down to the water front

This house is the oldest in Nuuk -

The museum buildings closest to the water -

The Mother of the Sea statue, which is almost submerged at high tide -

I climbed the small hill to the statue of Hans Egede who founded Greenland -  

I spent time watching the steeple of the old church being craned back into place -

I went to the meat market which sells all kinds of wildlife including whale. The information boards give details of the permitted hunting seasons -

The next day I had another look around Nuuk before taking a boat tour around the area.