Igaliku Explained

Igaliku
Other Name:Garðar, Igaliko
Pushpin Map:Greenland
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Greenland
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Subdivision Type:State
Subdivision Type1:Constituent country
Subdivision Name1: Greenland
Subdivision Type2:Municipality
Subdivision Name2: Kujalleq
Government Footnotes:[1]
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Klaus Egede
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1783
Population As Of:2020
Population Total:21
Coordinates:60.9878°N -45.4208°W
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:3921 Narsaq

Igaliku 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 Greenlandic wife Tuperna. In 2020, Igaliku had 21 inhabitants.[2] The nearby Norse ruins of Garðar and the farms surrounding the town were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 as part of the Kujataa Greenland: Norse and Inuit Farming at the Edge of the Ice Cap site. [3]

Geography

Igaliku is located southeast of Narsarsuaq, on a peninsula jutting off the mainland of Greenland near the eastern shore of upper Tunulliarfik Fjord.[4] 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).[5]

Landmarks and sights

Igaliku is best known for the ruins of Garðar, once the religious heart of 12th-century Norse Greenland.[6] 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.

Infrastructure

The settlement has a general store, a church including the congregation building, and a school, Atuarfik Igaliku (Greenlandic for "the school of Igaliku"). There 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.[7]

Climate

Igaliku has a tundra climate (ET) with cool summers and cold winters.

Notes and References

  1. News: Sermitsiaq, 2008/07/18. April 17, 2011. da. https://web.archive.org/web/20080802020552/http://sermitsiaq.gl/kultur/article47823.ece. August 2, 2008. dead.
  2. Web site: Population by Localities. Statistical Greenland. 7 April 2020. 26 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200726135012/https://bank.stat.gl/pxweb/en/Greenland/Greenland__BE__BE01__BE0120/BEXST4.PX/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=27d6ab46-03f8-43bd-868c-24a2a5a0a8e0. dead.
  3. Web site: Kujataa Greenland: Norse and Inuit Farming at the Edge of the Ice Cap . UNESCO World Heritage Centre. UNESCO World Heritage Centre . United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization . 2021-07-30.
  4. Ivittuut/Narsarsuaq/Qaqortoq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
  5. Web site: Metal Traveller in Igaliku. 2011-09-09. Metaltraveller.
  6. Book: O'Carroll, Etain. Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. 108. 2005. 1-74059-095-3.
  7. Web site: Statistics Greenland. April 17, 2011. da. dead. August 12, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110812052835/http://bank2.stat.gl/.