Kangerlussuaq
Sign in to saveAlso known as Søndre Strømfjord
Kangerlussuaq (; ; ) is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name. The town and airport were built as a U.S. base during and after World War II, when the site was known as Bluie West-8 and then Sondrestrom Air Base, but transitioned to a Greenlandic settlement in 1992. Kangerlussuaq Airport was Greenland's primary air transport hub until the rebuilt and expanded Nuuk Airport opened in 2024.
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Place details
- Locality
- Kangerlussuaq
- Region
- Qeqqata
- Country
- Kalaallit Nunaat
- Population
- 508
- Timezone
- America/Nuuk
via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames
Key facts
- Settlement.name
- Kangerlussuaq
- Settlement.other_name
- Søndre Strømfjord
- Settlement.image_skyline
- Kangerlussuaq town (Quintin Soloviev).png
- Settlement.imagesize
- 300px
- Settlement.image_caption
- Residential houses East of Kangerlussuaq Airport
- Settlement.pushpin_map
- Greenland
- Settlement.pushpin_map_caption
- Location within Greenland
- Settlement.pushpin_mapsize
- 300
- Settlement.subdivision_type
- State
- Settlement.subdivision_type1
- Constituent country
- Settlement.subdivision_type2
- Municipality
- Settlement.subdivision_name2
- 22px Qeqqata
- Settlement.leader_title
- Mayor
- Settlement.leader_name
- Albrecht Kreutzmann
- Settlement.established_title
- Built as military base
- Settlement.established_date
- 1941
- Settlement.established_title1
- Transitioned to settlement
- Settlement.established_date1
- 1992
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human settlement
- Country
- Greenland
- Located in
- Qeqqata
- Population
- 499
- Area
- 53.69
- Image
- Greenland 9, Kangerlussuaq, Myers Avenue.JPG
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Kangerlussuaq
- topic's main category
- Category:Kangerlussuaq
- postal code
- 3910
- inception
- 1941-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
15 sectionsContents
- Geography
- History
- Transition from U.S. base to settlement
- Closure of hub
- Climate
- Population
- Transport
- Air
- Sea
- Road
- ATV track to Sisimiut
- Scientific research
- Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility
- References
- External links
Kangerlussuaq (; ; ) is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name. The town and airport were built as a U.S. base during and after World War II, when the site was known as Bluie West-8 and then Sondrestrom Air Base, but transitioned to a Greenlandic settlement in 1992. Kangerlussuaq Airport was Greenland's primary air transport hub until the rebuilt and expanded Nuuk Airport opened in 2024.
The Kangerlussuaq area is also home to Greenland's most diverse terrestrial fauna, including muskoxen, caribou, and gyrfalcons. The settlement's economy and population of 399 is almost entirely reliant on the airport and tourist industry. It is the only town in Greenland which is not located on the proper ocean, being situated at the end of a 160 km long fjord, although it still has a coastline on the ocean.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kangerlussuaq” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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