Nuuk Godthåb |
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City | |||||||
Nuussuaq district of Nuuk with the Sermitsiaq mountain in the background
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Location within Greenland | |||||||
Coordinates: 64°10′30″N 51°44′20″W / 64.17500°N 51.73889°WCoordinates: 64°10′30″N 51°44′20″W / 64.17500°N 51.73889°W | |||||||
State | Kingdom of Denmark | ||||||
Constituent country | Greenland | ||||||
Municipality | Sermersooq | ||||||
Founded | 29 August 1728 | ||||||
Incorporated | 1728 | ||||||
Government | |||||||
• Mayor | Asii Chemnitz Narup (Inuit Ataqatigiit) | ||||||
Area | |||||||
• City | 690 km2 (265 sq mi) | ||||||
Elevation | 5 m (16 ft) | ||||||
Population (2016) | |||||||
• City | 17,316 (Largest in Greenland) | ||||||
• Metro | 18,040 (including Qeqertarsuatsiaat and Kapisillit) | ||||||
City and metropolitan population is co-extensive, the entire Metro area belongs to Nuuk City | |||||||
Demonym(s) | Nuummioq | ||||||
Time zone | Western Greenland Standard (UTC−03:00) | ||||||
• Summer (DST) | Western Greenland Daylight (UTC−02:00) | ||||||
Postal code | 3900 |
Nuuk (Greenlandic pronunciation: [nuːk]; Danish: Godthåb) is the capital and largest city of Greenland. It is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities closest to the capital are Iqaluit and St. John's in Canada and Reykjavík in Iceland. Nuuk contains almost a quarter of Greenland's population, and also has the tallest building in Greenland. Nuuk is the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. In January 2016, it had a population of 17,316, making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.
Nuuk is the Kalaallisut word for "cape". It is so named because of its position at the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea. Its latitude, at 64°10' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital, located only a few kilometres farther north than the Icelandic capital Reykjavík.