Nuuk, << nook >> (pop. 14,350), is the capital and largest town of Greenland. Called Godthab in Danish, it lies on Davis Strait near the entrance of Nuuk Fiord. With a harbor that remains free of ice all year, Nuuk serves as the island’s leading seaport. The Greenland National Museum and the University of Greenland are in Nuuk.
In the 900’s, Norse explorers settled the area near Nuuk, but they disappeared by 1350. A Norwegian missionary, Hans Egede, set up a mission on an island in the fiord in 1721. Godthab was founded in 1728 when the mission moved onshore. The town became Greenland’s administrative center during Danish colonial rule. In 1979, it took the Greenlandic name Nuuk.
