Nuup Kangerlua

Nuup Kangerlua[1] is a 160 km (99.4 mi) long fjord[2] in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It was formerly known by its colonial name as Godthaab Fjord (Danish: Godthåbsfjorden), Gilbert Sound[3] and Baal's River.[4]

For the fjord in the northeastern coast, see Godthab Gulf.
Nuup Kangerlua
Godthåbsfjord
Gilbert Sound
Nuup Kangerlua is located in Greenland
Nuup Kangerlua
Nuup Kangerlua
Location in Greenland
LocationArctic
Coordinates64°30′N 51°23′W
Ocean/sea sourcesLabrador Sea
Basin countriesGreenland
Max. length160 km (99 mi)
Max. width7 km (4.3 mi)

Located by the island's capital, Nuuk, it is the longest fjord on the Labrador Sea coast of Greenland, and one of the longest in the inhabited part of the country.[2]

Geography

The fjord head is located deep inland, with the fjord beginning as an icefjord at 64°19′50″N 49°36′10″W, with two glaciers draining the Greenland ice sheet (Greenlandic: Sermersuaq) flowing into the fjord.

Initially, the fjord flows to the northwest, to then turn southwest at 64°43′N 50°37′W, splitting into three arms in its lower run, with three large, mountainous islands in between the arms: Sermitsiaq Island with the Sermitsiaq mountain visible from most of Nuuk, Qeqertarsuaq Island, and Qoornuup Qeqertarsua Island.[5]

The fjord widens into a bay dotted with skerries near its mouth, opening into Labrador Sea at approximately 64°03′N 51°58′W, near the former Kangeq settlement.

Settlement

Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, is located near the mouth of the fjord, on a mountainous peninsula bounding the fjord from the southeast. Kapisillit is located 75 km (47 mi) northeast of Nuuk, near the head of Kapisillit Kangerluaq,[5] one of the tributary fjords of Nuup Kangerlua.

Nuup Kangerlua
Nuup Kangerlua seen from the outskirts of the Nuussuaq district of Nuuk.

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nuup Kangerlua.
  1. The pre-1973 spelling was Nûp Kangerdlua
  2. "TIL OPPLYSNING". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  3. Markham, Clements R. The Voyages of William Baffin. Hakluyt Society.
  4. Nicoll, James. An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Oliver & Boyd, 1840.
  5. O'Carroll, Etain (2005). Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. p. 154. ISBN 1-74059-095-3.
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