Nuuk

Location of the Nuuk municipality in Greenland

Nuuk (The Cape) (Danish: Godthåb, which translates to "Good Hope" in English) is the capital and largest city of the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland.

File:GL Nuuk.gif

The municipal coat of arms.

The city was founded in 1721 by the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, and given the name Godthåb. At this time Greenland was technically a Norwegian colony under the Dano-Norwegian Crown, but the colony had not had any contact with Norway proper for more than two centuries.

However, the site has a long history of inhabitation by Viking explorers in the 10th century and thereafter, by Inuit peoples later and by Inuit and Danes today. It is located at the mouth of the Godthåbsfjorden inlet on the west coast of Greenland, about 150 miles (240 km) south of the Arctic Circle, and has a population of 14,501 (01/01-2005). Nuuk is located at approx. 64°10′N 51°43′W.

Nuuk from the air

The city is commonly known as Godthåb in Danish, although since home rule was enacted in 1979, the official name of the city is its Greenlandic name of Nuuk. It is the seat of government for the municipality of Nuuk, which encompasses about 39,000 square miles (100,000 km²) of Greenland.

Nuuk is home to the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik).

Air Greenland operates air services to Nuuk.

The VFB Stuttgart and former Ajax and Chelsea professional soccer player Jesper Grønkjær was born in Nuuk. The Winger is also a regular Danish International, and he is known for his speed and long range shots, many which have led to spectacular and memorable goals,

External links

• Official website of the city of Nuuk