Igaliku

Igaliku
Garðar, Igaliko
Illerfissalik seen from Igaliku
Igaliku
Location within Greenland
Coordinates: 60°59′16″N 45°25′15″W / 60.98778°N 45.42083°W / 60.98778; -45.42083Coordinates: 60°59′16″N 45°25′15″W / 60.98778°N 45.42083°W / 60.98778; -45.42083
State  Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country  Greenland
Municipality Kujalleq
Founded 1783
Government[1]
 • Mayor Klaus Egede
Population (2010)
 • Total 55
Time zone UTC-03
Postal code 3921 Narsaq

Igaliku (IATA: QFX) is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The town was founded as Igaliko in 1783 by the trader and colonial administrator Anders Olsen and his wife Tuperna, who was a Greenlander. In 2010, Igaliku had 55 inhabitants.[2]

Geography

Igaliku is located southeast of Narsarsuaq, on a peninsula jutting off the mainland of Greenland near the eastern shore of upper Tunulliarfik Fjord.[3] Access to Igaliku from Narsarsauq is cheaper and easier by landing at the small harbor of Itilleq and then crossing the isthmus 4 km (2.5 mi).[4]

Landmarks and sights

Igaliku is best known for the ruins of Garðar, once the religious heart of 12th-century Norse Greenland.[5] The area was at the very heart of the Eastern Settlement and has been extensively archaeologically excavated since the 1830s. There are several historical graves in the area, although most have not presently been identified. The nearby area was documented by New York fine art photographer, Steve Giovinco, as part of a grant from the Scandinavian-American Foundation.

Hay bales in Igaliku

Infrastructure

The settlement has a general store, a church including the congregation building, and a school, Atuarfik Igaliku (Greenlandic for "the school of Igaliku"). The is only one road into the village (called King's Road), which connects Igaliku to a small dock at the farming settlement, Itilleq.

Population

The population of Igaliku has been stable in the last two decades.[2]

Igaliku population dynamics
Igaliku population growth dynamics in the last two decades. Source: Statistics Greenland[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Sermitsiaq, 2008/07/18" (in Danish). Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Statistics Greenland" (in Danish). Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ Ivittuut/Narsarsuaq/Qaqortoq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
  4. ↑ "Metal Traveller in Igaliku". www.metaltraveller.com/en/. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  5. ↑ O'Carroll, Etain (2005). Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. p. 108. ISBN 1-74059-095-3.
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