| Nuup Kangerlua | |
| Other Name: | Godthåbsfjord Gilbert Sound |
| Pushpin Map: | Greenland |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Greenland |
| Location: | Arctic |
| Coords: | 64.5°N -74°W |
| Oceans: | Labrador Sea |
| Countries: | Greenland |
| Length: | 160km (100miles) |
| Width: | 7km (04miles) |
Nuup Kangerlua[1] is a 1601NaN1 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]
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]
The fjord head is located deep inland, with the fjord beginning as an icefjord at 64.3306°N -49.6028°W, with two glaciers draining the Greenland ice sheet (Kalaallisut; Greenlandic: Sermersuaq) flowing into the fjord.
Initially, the fjord flows to the northwest, to then turn southwest at 64.7167°N -87°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 64.05°N -109°W, near the former Kangeq settlement.
| Satellite view of Nuup KangerluaFile:Nuup-Kangerlua.jpg | Aerial view of the fjord and Sermitsiaq mountain |
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 75km (47miles) northeast of Nuuk, near the head of Kapisillit Kangerluaq,[5] one of the tributary fjords of Nuup Kangerlua.