Kangeq or Kangek (Kalaallisut: "Promontory") is a former settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It is located on the same island that formed the first Danish-Norwegian colony on Greenland between 1721 and 1728.
Kangeq
Håbets Ø | |
|---|---|
 Kangeq, ca. 1890 | |
  Kangeq Location within Greenland | |
| Coordinates: 64°07′00″N 52°04′00″W | |
| State |  Kingdom of Denmark |
| Constituent country |  Greenland |
| Municipality |  Sermersooq |
| First settled | before 1000 CE |
| Abandoned | 1973[citation needed] |
| Time zone | UTC-03 |
History
As a coastal settlement, Kangeq was positioned on the migration route of the ancient Inuit peoples. Archeological finds from the Dorset culture era have been found near Kangeq.[1] The Dorset people had vanished from the Nuuk region prior to 1000 CE.[1]
The island of Kangeq, dubbed Håbets Ø ("Island of Hope"), formed the site of Hans Egede's first settlement in Greenland after his landing on July 3, 1721.[2] The settlement was relocated to the mainland by Major Claus Paarss in 1728.[3]
In the mid-19th century, it was also home to the artist Aron of Kangeq (1822-1869), a Greenland Inuit hunter, painter, and oral historian.[4] In 1854, Kangeq became an official trading station, and an official residence was built for the assistant representing the Royal Greenland Trade Department.[5]
Today the ruins of Kangeq are sometimes visited by historically oriented tourists.[6] In 2009, the old houses of Kangeq were used as a backdrop for the Eksperimentet film, with the settlement emulating the look of Nuuk in 1952.[7]
Geography
Kangeq was located in an island at the mouth of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord,[8] on the coast of Labrador Sea, approximately 18 km (11 mi) west-south-west of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.[5]
Former notable residents
- Aron of Kangeq (1822-1869), painter and oral historian[9]
References
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