Thumbnail Profile: Greenland

Greenland, the world’s largest island, lies between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. Devoid of land boundaries, it boasts over 44,000 km of coastline. Greenland possesses the world's second largest ice sheet.



The tiny town of Qaanaaq is about 1,100 km north of the Arctic Circle and is Greenland’s northernmost permanent settlement. Rather uniquely, it counts more huskies than people amongst its resident population. With a population of 640 and a dentist who makes the trip to this town only twice a year, Qaanaaq is also the world’s most northerly palindrome—that is, in this case, a town with a name that reads the same backwards or forwards. Still, that distinction makes it no more geographically accessible! In the middle of nowhere and hours from the next settlement, Qaanaaq can be reached only by helicopter.