Capital Region - Greenland

The capital Nuuk is surrounded by a wonderful area of fjords - the World's second largest, with plenty of whales. The city is Greenland's oldest, founded in 1728 and is a hectic metropolis with its nearly 16,000 inhabitants.

The area reflects the enormous cultural development that Greenland has gone through. Here you meet fishermen, artists, hunters, executives and IT experts, and you can visit restaurants, nightclubs and cafes. The culture is flourishing and wide-ranging; from exhibitions of old and new to experimental theatre and new music. Farther south is Paamiut, which is known for its large number of sea eagles and great hiking terrains.

Capital Region Quick Facts:

Area:

More than a ¼ of the population lives in Nuuk. The land and permanent ice covered areas of Nuuk and Paamiut are 1,5 times bigger than the entire island of Iceland.

Climate:

In summer and winter, by virtue of the Irminger current from the south, West Greenland has temperatures higher than East Greenland. A lot of pack ice drifts around Cape Farewell, but melts on the way north along the west coast. There is a mild arctic climate with average temperatures in, for example, Nuuk of seven degrees in July and minus eight degrees Celsius in January.

Natural phenomena:

Northern Lights, polar night, icebergs, ice sheet, glacier ice, foehn wind, pack ice.

Wildlife:

All over Greenland there are baleen and toothed whales, seals, arctic foxes, hares and birds - eiders, loons, peregrine falcons and auks. The sea eagle is Greenland's largest bird and lives mainly south of Nuuk in the Paamiut region. Lots of whales swim in Nuuk's fjord complex. Everywhere along the coasts seals live in their millions.