Qaqortoq district

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Qaqortup Communia
Qaqortoq district
location
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Greenland
Commune Kujalleq municipality
Seat Qaqortoq
surface 8500 km²
Residents 3257 (January 1, 2018)
density 0.4 inhabitants per km²

Qaqortoq has been a district in western Greenland since 2009 .

location

The Qaqortoq district is located in southern Greenland. It is divided into two parts by the Narsaq district . The northwestern part borders the Paamiut district in the north , while the southeastern part borders the Nanortalik district in the southeast .

history

Before the colonial era

The district was settled in the Middle Ages by the Grænlendingar , who built their Eystribyggð here. In contrast to the Nanortalik and Narsaq districts, the Qaqortoq district was less attractive to the settlers. According to the Landnámabók , only Hafgrímr of the first settlers settled securely in what is now the district, where he took land in the Eqaluit Bay and in the Vatnahverfi lake area , which is still dominated by agriculture today. Of great importance, however, is the Hvalsey farm in today's Qaqortukulooq , which is known for its church , which was described in detail by Hans Egede on his research trip in 1723 .

South Greenland was approached several times by English and Dutch seafarers in the 16th and 17th centuries without their land sightings and names being precisely identifiable due to the inaccurate reports, mappings and dimensions.

18th and 19th centuries

A European lived in South Greenland for the first time since the Middle Ages in 1751, when the merchant Peder Olsen Walløe built a peat wall house on the site of what would later become Qaqortoq , which served as a stopover for his expedition to the east coast of Greenland, which lasted until 1753.

In 1775, Anders Olsen founded the Julianehaab colony in Qaqortoq. Until decolonization in 1950, the colonial district comprised all of South Greenland, including the later communities of Narsaq and Nanortalik.

In 1803 the colonial district had 1,797 inhabitants. By 1830 the entire population was baptized. The Udsted Qassimiut was founded in 1834 . In the middle of the 19th century the population had risen to around 2500. In 1853 today's district received a second Udsted, Saarloq . At the beginning of the 20th century the population rose to over 3,000 people. In 1901 the Innatsiaq copper mine was built near Qassimiut , but it only existed for a short time. The third Udsted Eqalugaarsuit was not founded until 1952 .

The majority of the population in what is now Qaqortoq District used to belong to the Danish Mission. The population was previously considered to be tall and not particularly Eskimo-looking, so it was theorized at the time that the population were descendants of Inuit and Grænlendingar. Hinrich Johannes Rink described a third of the population as looking European. The population in the colonial district, however, was considered to be very slightly ethnically mixed compared to the rest of Greenland. Even in 1921 it was still assumed that only ten to twelve percent of the population were of European descent, which can be traced back to the widespread presence of the Moravian Brethren in the southern part of the colonial district. Even today, the Kujataamiut are the weakest European population group in West Greenland (see Demography of Greenland ).

20th century

The colonial district of Julianehaab was divided into nine parishes from 1911, of which the parishes of K'agssimiut , Julianehaab and Sârdloĸ were in the area of ​​today's Qaqortoq district. In 1918, five residential spaces were subordinate to these communities. The parishes were divided between the 4th and 5th district electoral district of South Greenland. Today's district belonged together with the district of Narsaq to the parish Julianehaab, which in 1918 had a church, four school chapels and two schools in the district of Qaqortoq. The entire colonial district corresponded to a medical district, which had its seat in the colony, where there was also a hospital.

During the administrative reform in 1950, the colonial district was divided. One part became Qaqortoq Municipality, while the other parts formed Nanortalik Municipality and Narsaq Municipality . During the administrative reform in 2009, the municipality of Qaqortoq was incorporated into the municipality of Kujalleq and became a district.

places

In addition to the city of Qaqortoq , the following villages are located in the Qaqortoq district:

There are also the following shepherd settlements in the district:

In addition, there are the following abandoned shepherd settlements:

In addition, the following abandoned settlements are in what is now the district area:

In addition, the abandoned Simiutaq station is in the Qaqortoq district.

coat of arms

Blazon : In silver, a blue pole, bent on both sides, in which a silver scales in confused colors stand over a silver anchor .

The coat of arms of Qaqortoq shows a scale that symbolizes the foundation by the merchant Anders Olsen. The blue stripe in the middle represents the river flowing through the city, the crown stands for Queen Juliane Marie , after whom Qaqortoq is named. The anchor shows the importance of the sea and should also stand for hope.

literature

Coordinates: 60 ° 24 ′  N , 46 ° 6 ′  W