Saqqaq Solsiden | |
|---|---|
  Saqqaq Location within Greenland | |
| Coordinates:70°00′35″N51°56′45″W / 70.00972°N 51.94583°W /70.00972; -51.94583 | |
| State |  Kingdom of Denmark |
| Constituent country |  Greenland |
| Municipality | Avannaata |
| First Settled | 2000 B.C.E. |
| Founded | 1755 |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 132 |
| Time zone | UTC−02:00 (Western Greenland Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−01:00 (Western Greenland Summer Time) |
| Postal code | 3952 Ilulissat |
Saqqaq (old spelling:Sarqaq) is a settlement in theAvannaatamunicipality in westernGreenland. Founded in 1755 asSolsiden, Saqqaq had 132 inhabitants in 2020.[1] The village'sKalaallisut name is a translation of theDanish meaning "Sunny Side", in reference to its position relative to Livets Top.
It is the site name for theSaqqaq culture.
It is located in the southwestern part of theNuussuaq Peninsula, on the northern shore ofSullorsuaq Strait (known inDanish as Vaigat Strait), northwest ofIlulissat. Immediately northeast of Saqqaq is the Livets Top mountain (1,150 metres (3,773 ft)).[2]
Archaeological excavations inQilakitsoq on the other side ofNuussuaq Peninsula on the shores ofUummannaq Fjord revealed the existence of an ancient Arctic culture, later named theSaqqaq culture, which inhabited the area of west-central Greenland between 2500 BCE and 800 BCE.[3]
RecentDNA samples from human hair suggest that the ancient Saqqaq people came fromSiberia around 3,500 BCE and independent of the migration that gave rise to the modernNative Americans and theInuit.[4][5]
On 21 November 2000 a large landslide atPaatuut, 40 kilometres (22 nmi; 25 mi) from Saqqaq, generated amegatsunami in Sullorsuaq (or Vaigat) Strait. Energy from thetsunami refracted after it struckDisko Island across thestrait, generating a wave with a run-up height of 3 metres (9.8 ft) which destroyed boats at Saqqaq.[6]
Air Greenland serves the village as part of government contract, with winter-only helicopter flights betweenSaqqaq Heliport andIlulissat Airport.[7] Settlement flights in theDisko Bay are unique in that they are operated only during winter and spring.
During summer and autumn, when the waters of the bay are navigable, communication between settlements is by sea only, serviced byDiskoline.[8] The ferry links Saqqaq withQeqertaq,Oqaatsut, and Ilulissat.
The population of Saqqaq has increased by 60 percent relative to the 1990 levels, stabilizing in the following decade. Saqqaq is one of the very few demographically stable settlements in the Disko Bay region.[9]
| Population chart | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Pop. | 126 | 152 | 163 | 189 | 188 | 203 | 212 | 202 | 211 | 198 | 196 | 214 | 185 | 177 | 180 | 183 | 190 | 173 | 173 | 188 |
| ±% | — | +20.6% | +7.2% | +16.0% | −0.5% | +8.0% | +4.4% | −4.7% | +4.5% | −6.2% | −1.0% | +9.2% | −13.6% | −4.3% | +1.7% | +1.7% | +3.8% | −8.9% | +0.0% | +8.7% |
| International | |
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| National | |
