Ilulissat means “icebergs” in Greenlandic. It sits beside the Ilulissat Icefjord (Kangia), where the enormous Sermeq Kujalleq glacier produces huge quantities of icebergs. The area has been inhabited for about 4,400 years, including by the Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule peoples.
The modern town was established as the Danish colony of Jakobshavn in 1741. It grew as a trading and missionary centre, while Inuit communities had already been living around the fjord for centuries. The nearby settlement of Sermermiut was particularly important; the last residents gradually moved to Ilulissat, with the settlement being abandoned around 1850.
Ilulissat is also famous for its connection to Arctic exploration. Knud Rasmussen, one of Greenland's most famous Arctic explorers, was born there in 1879, and Jørgen Brønlund, another Greenlandic polar explorer, was born there in 1877.
Today, Ilulissat is Greenland's third-largest town and an important fishing and tourism centre. The Ilulissat Icefjord became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 because of its exceptional glacial landscape and scientific importance.
