Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq

Sermersooq

Sermersooq is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. It is home to Nuuk , the capital of Greenland, and is the most populous municipality in the country, with 21,232 inhabitants as of January 2010...

 municipality in southeastern 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...

. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland. The Sermilik Station

Sermilik Station

Sermilik Station is a glaciology research station on Ammassalik Island, dedicated to the research of the nearby the Mittivakkat Glacier. The station is located approximately at on the west side of the Ammasalik island in south east Greenland, on the shore of the Sermilik Fjord. The station is not...

, dedicated to the research of the nearby Mittivakkat Glacier

Mittivakkat Glacier

The Mittivakkat Glacier is located in SE Greenland, part of the largest icefield on Ammassalik Island. This glacier has been in retreat throughout most of recorded history ....

, is located near the town.

Prehistory to the fifteenth century

The people of Saqqaq culture

Saqqaq culture

The Saqqaq culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture in Greenland.-Timeframe:...

 were the first to reach eastern Greenland, arriving from the north, through what is now known as Peary Land

Peary Land

Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape...

 and Independence Fjord

Independence Fjord

Independence Fjord is a large fjord in the eastern part of northern Greenland. It is about long and up to wide. Its mouth, opening to Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean is located at...

, to be surpassed by the Dorset culture

Dorset culture

The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...

. Thule

Thule people

The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...

 migrations passed through the area in the fifteenth century, finding the southeastern coast uninhabited.

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Due to back migrations to the more densely populated western coast, the southeastern coast was deserted for another two hundred years−the region wasn't settled until late eighteenth century, with the village surviving as the only permanent settlement in the nineteenth century. Population increased however from the 1880s, dispersing over several villages in the area.

The permanent settlement was founded in 1894 as a Danish trading station. The town was previously known as Ammassalik (old spelling: Angmagssalik). The official name change took place in 1997.

Geography

Tasiilaq is located approximately 106 km (65.9 mi) south of the Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

, on the southeastern coast of Ammassalik Island, on the shore of a natural harbour in Tasiilaq Fjord, named Kong Oscars Havn by Alfred Gabriel Nathorst

Alfred Gabriel Nathorst

Alfred Gabriel Nathorst was a Swedish Arctic explorer, geologist and palaeobotanist. Nathorst was born in Väderbrunn outside Nyköping and died in Stockholm.-Biography:He was born on November 7, 1850....

 in 1883. The fjord is an inlet of the long Ammassalik Fjord emptying into the North Atlantic to the east of the town.

Population

With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, Tasiilaq is one the fastest-growing towns in Greenland, with migrants from the smaller towns and settlements reinforcing the trend. Together with Nuuk

Nuuk

Nuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...

, it is the only town in the Sermersooq municipality exhibiting stable growth patterns over the last two decades. The population increased by over 31 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by over 13 percent relative to the 2000 levels.

Air

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...

 operates helicopter services from Tasiilaq Heliport

Tasiilaq Heliport

Tasiilaq Heliport is a heliport in Tasiilaq, a town located on the Ammassalik Island in the Sermersooq municipality, in southeastern Greenland. Until 1997 the heliport was known as Ammassalik Heliport.-Airlines and destinations:...

 to neighboring Kulusuk Airport

Kulusuk Airport

Kulusuk Airport is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :- Bottlenecks :...

, which offers connections to Nuuk

Nuuk

Nuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...

, Ittoqqortoormiit

Ittoqqortoormiit

Ittoqqortoormiit is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population is 469 as of 2010.The Danish name Scoresbysund derives from the name of the Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby, who was the first to map the area in 1822. The Greenlandic name...

 via Nerlerit Inaat Airport

Nerlerit Inaat Airport

Nerlerit Inaat Airport is an airport in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. It is located on Jameson Land and serves the town of Ittoqqortoormiit, approximately to the south-east. The airport can serve STOL aircraft. A Bell 222 helicopter of Air Greenland is permanently housed at...

, and to Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

. The heliport serves as a local helicopter hub with flights to several villages in the region: Isortoq

Isortoq

Isortoq is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality, in southeastern Greenland. Its population is 93 as of 2010.- Population :...

, Kuummiit, Sermiligaaq

Sermiligaaq

Sermiligaaq is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. Its population is 222 as of 2010...

, and Tiniteqilaaq

Tiniteqilaaq

Tiniteqilaaq is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality, in southeastern Greenland. Its population is 134 as of 2010.- Population :...

.

Sea

In the summer, the cargo boats of Royal Arctic Line

Royal Arctic Line

Royal Arctic Line A/S or Royal Arctic is a freight company in Greenland, formed in 1992 and headquartered in Nuuk. It has 650 employees and is owned by the Government of Greenland...

 connect Tasiilaq with Kulusuk

Kulusuk

Kulusuk is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, located on an island of the same name. The settlement population of 286 is quite uncommon for an Inuit settlement in Greenland with many Danes choosing to live there, due to the airport...

, providing an ad-hoc alternative for the helicopter flights of Air Greenland.