Avannaa

Avanersuaq (also Avannaa, dän. Nordgrønland, Kalaallisut: Avanersuaq " the most remote place in the north," the emphasis is on the third syllable, German: northern Greenland ) was until 2009, the northernmost of the three counties ( amt ) of Greenland. Other names are also " Thule District " or " Thule region", as the Thule Air Base is in the field. The district stretched from the 70th to the 80th degree of north latitude, and bordered to the south by the districts tunu and Kitaa. The largest resort in the region with its 650 inhabitants of Qaanaaq ( Thule).

The Inuit who live there today are descendants of the Thule culture, which reached 1000 Avannaarsua around the year. However, there are archaeological finds, already let the suspect a settlement of the region 5,000 years ago. In the 13th century, probably settled in southern Greenland Grænlendingar have driven on their forays into the northern waters with the inhabitants of Avanersuaq - region trade. With William Baffin and Robert Bylot met in 1616 the Europeans in the area before. They wanted to learn the north central Baffin Bay more about the big ice-free water surfaces ( see polynyas ).

It was the most sparsely populated local authority in the world with 843 people who live on 106.7 thousand km ² ice-free land with a density of 0.0079 persons per square kilometer. The total land area including the area covered by the icecap area is over 500,000 square kilometers. North Greenland has a higher percentage of ice-free area than most other parts of the country, because large parts of the far north as Pearyland are largely ice-free due to low rainfall.

The Inuit in Avanersuaq traditionally live mainly by hunting. In recent years, however, the region has been an increasingly popular destination for extreme tourists. The highest temperatures are to be expected in the summer, be around 12 ° C, in winter average at -40 ° C.

With the Thule Air Base, the area is militarily used by the Americans.

North Greenland was divided into one municipality and two unincorporated areas:

• Community Qaanaaq
• Thule Air Base ( Pituffik ) (municipality free area ), an enclave in the town of Qaanaaq
• Northeast Greenland National Park ( northern part) (municipality free area )

With effect 1 January 2009 the former municipalities and districts of Greenland by the four major municipalities Qeqqata Press Office, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Qaasuitsup Press Office and Municipality Kujalleq were replaced as part of a comprehensive administrative reform.