Qaanaaq is the hunting culture's northernmost town and the settlement at Siorapaluk is one of the world's northernmost settlements. It is in the area of Qaanaaq that you come closest to what for many is a connection with the original Greenlandic hunting culture. The place is also known for its arts and crafts from Ultima Thule that can be purchased over Greenland, because they are of such high quality.
Qaanaaq's dramatic history
Qaanaaq's traditional Greenlandic lifestyle is displayed today in a relatively modern town. When the American air base in Thule (also called Dundas) was expanded in 1953, the original inhabitants were moved 100 miles to the north, where an entirely new town, Qaanaaq, was built.
The area around Qaanaaq is located close to the North American continent and has been the gateway for immigration to Greenland for millennia. The most recent immigration - a group of Inuit from Baffin Island - only took place about 130 years ago.
More drama has unfolded in this far northern corner of the world; seven of polar explorer Knud Rasmussen's expeditions departed from here and it was from these parts that the American explorer Robert Peary attempted to reach the North Pole in 1909.
Facts about
Qaanaaq
Population: 678 in the town, 143 inhabitants in four settlements.
The farther north you go, the more clearly the store's selection is marked by what a hunter family needs and that a supply ship only comes two or three times a year.