Qassiarsuk is a settlement in the Kujalleq

Kujalleq

Kujalleq is a new municipality in the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. With 7,589 inhabitants as of January 2010, it is the least-populated municipality in Greenland. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq...

 municipality, in southern Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. Its population was 89 in 2010.

History

Brattahlíð

Brattahlíð

Brattahlíð was Erik the Red's estate in the Eastern Settlement Viking colony he established in south-western Greenland toward the end of the 10th century. The present settlement of Qassiarsuk, approximately southwest from the Narsarsuaq settlement, is now located in its place...

 was the site of the Erik the Red

Erik the Red

Erik Thorvaldsson , known as Erik the Red , is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Thorvald Asvaldsson, he therefore...

's estate in the times of the Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 Eastern Settlement

Eastern Settlement

The Eastern Settlement was the largest and first of the three areas of Greenland, settled in approximately 985 AD by Norse farmers from Iceland . At its peak it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants...

. The current village is located in the same place.

Geography

The settlement is located roughly 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Narsarsuaq

Narsarsuaq

Narsarsuaq is a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. It had 158 inhabitants in 2010. There is a thriving tourism industry in and around Narsarsuaq, whose attractions include a great diversity of wildlife, gemstones, tours to glaciers, and an airfield museum...

, on Narsaq Peninsula, on the northwestern shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord

Tunulliarfik Fjord

Tunulliarfik Fjord is a fjord in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. In times of the Norse settlement in southern Greenland, it was known as Eiriksfjord.- Geography :...

. The plains of are wider than those of Narsaq

Narsaq

Narsaq is a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. The name Narsaq is Greenlandic for "plain", referring to the beautiful plain on the shore of Tunulliarfik Fjord where the town is located.- History :...

 at the far end of the peninsula, while the earth is also fertile, both factors contributing to farming and land cultivation being the primary occupation of the inhabitants.

Transport

It is possible to cross overland to Narsarsuaq, although crossing the glacial Narsarsuaq river is difficult due to deposits of silt

Silt

Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...

 quicksand

Quicksand

Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...

 the river carries from the Greenland ice sheet

Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...

 . All transport at Qassiarsuk is by sea, with boats linking the settlement to Narsarsuaq, home to the only international airport in southern Greenland. The airport primarily functions as a transfer point for passengers heading for the helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 hubs of Air Greenland

Air Greenland

Air Greenland A/S is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group, and the government of Denmark...

 in Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq Heliport

Qaqortoq Heliport is a heliport in the southern part of Qaqortoq, a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :...

 and Nanortalik

Nanortalik Heliport

Nanortalik Heliport is a heliport in the eastern part of Nanortalik, a town in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :...

.

Population

The population of Qassiarsuk has been stable in the last two decades.