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Ilulissat Ilulissat today Ilulissat is the third largest municipality in Greenland, with a population of 5,072 (on August, 2008), following Sisimiut (6,237 inhabitants) and Nuuk (15,328 inhabitants). The resident population numbers 5,072, (on August, 2008). 4,599 people live in Ilulissat town, 85 in Ilimanaq, 52 in Oqaatsut, 136 in Qeqertaq and 200 in Saqqaq. Ilulissat town has 4,646 inhabitants. Besides the town Ilulissat there are four settlements in the municipality. The municipality of Ilulissat covers an area of 47,000 square km. Of this, 5,500 square km are ice free., approx. 35,000 square km are permanently covered with ice and approx. 6,000 square km is sea. This compares with Denmark's total area of approx. 43,092 square km. The Danish name for the town is Jakobshavn, after the founder Jakob Severin (1691-1753). |
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The Greenlandic name for the town is Ilulissat, which means icebergs. This is derived from the location of the town at the mouth of the ice fiord, where enormous quantities of ice are discharged into the sea from the glacier. The ice front itself is some 40km inside Ilulissat icefiord. Ilulissat glacier is the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere pushing out some 16 cubic km of ice annually at a speed of 20 30 metres per day. The ice often starts its journey with a thundering crash as it falls into the fiord, before moving more sedately out to sea. The southernmost point in Ilulissat Municipality is near the ice cap at Tiningilik which is on 68' 48' northern latitude and the northernmost point is near Tasinngortarsuaq / Nuussuaq which is on 70' 28' northern latitude. |
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The distance from the southernmost point to the northernmost point is approx. 210 km. The easternmost point is near the ice cap on 44' western longitude and the westernmost point is near Nuussuaq/Vaigat on 53' 14' western longitude. The distance from the easternmost point to the westernmost point is approx. 350 km. The highest point in the municipality (other than the ice cap) is the glacier near Paatuut Puiattua which is approx. 2,010 m above sea level. The geographical position of Ilulissat means that there is midnight sun from May 21 until July 24 and winter darkness from about Dec. 1 until January 13. The sun "returns" to Ilulissat on January 13, and it's a tradition that the townspeople go out to Holms Bakke on that particular day. If the weather is clear the sunrise can be seen from there, beyond the valley, over the southern horizon at 13 minutes before one o'clock. The sun cannot be seen in town, even from the higher parts, until a week later. |