DUNDAS

formerly Thule, former Greenlandic (Eskimo) settlement of Umanak (Umnaq), now a major U.S. air base and communications centre, northwestern Greenland. It lies on Cape Atholl and the southern shore of Wolstenholme Fjord, an inlet of Baffin Bay. The region was explored (191224) by the expeditions of Knud Rasmussen, who brought in polar Eskimo and founded the original settlement of Umanak in 1910. The name was subsequently changed to Thule, derived from the prehistoric Thule culture. A U.S. air base, established there during World War II, was adapted in 1952 as an intermediate stop on the transpolar air route between North America and northern Europe. A ballistic missile early warning station was completed at Dundas in 1961. By the late 20th century there was no longer any civilian population at Dundas.