Qaasuitsup (Greenlandic pronunciation:[qaːsuitt͡sup̚], Place of Polar Darkness) was a municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009[2] to 31 December 2017.[3] As of January 2015, its population was 17,168.[1] The administrative centre of the municipality was in Ilulissat (formerly called Jakobshavn).
Creation
The municipality consisted of the former municipalities of western and northern Greenland, each named after the biggest settlement:
The municipality was located in northwestern Greenland. With an area of 660,000 km2 (254,827.4 sq mi),[4] it was the largest municipality in the world by area,[5] larger than France at 643,427 km2 (248,428.6 sq mi).[6]
At the southern end of the municipal coastline were the waters of Disko Bay, an inlet of the larger Baffin Bay, which to the north edges into the island of Greenland in the form of Melville Bay. The coastline of northeastern Baffin Bay is dotted with islands of the Upernavik Archipelago, which was entirely contained within the municipality. In the far northwest near Qaanaaq and Siorapaluk, the municipal shores extended into Nares Strait, which separates Greenland from Ellesmere Island.
Kalaallisut, the West Greenlandic dialect, is spoken in the towns and settlements of the western and northwestern coasts. Inuktun is also spoken in and around Qaanaaq.