NUUK

also spelled Nk, also called Godthb, capital and main port of Greenland, on the southwestern coast, near the mouth of the Godthb Gulf, an inlet of the Davis Strait, and the Hjortetakken (meaning deer antlers), a mountain landmark. The modern town dates from 1721, when Hans Egede, a Norwegian missionary, founded a colony near the site of Vesterbygden, a 10th-century Norse settlement. It is the seat of the 21-member Parliament (Landsting) and Supreme Court and has foreign consulates, a teachers' college, hospital, and radio station. Government administrative work and hunting, fishing, fish canning, and reindeer and sheep raising are the main occupations. Most transportation is by boat. Helicopter services link Nuuk with other towns in Greenland and with the airport at Sndre Strmfjord, which has connecting flights to Copenhagen. An airfield was built at Nuuk in the late 1970s. Pop. (1990 est.) 12,217.