Itissaalik Island is a small, uninhabited island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. As of January 2010 its population is 17,749. The administrative center of the municipality is in Ilulissat...

 municipality in northwestern Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

.

History

Itissaalik Island was inhabited, although not continuously. Between 1904-1909, a small settlement of the same name

Itissaalik

Itissaalik is a former settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It was located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, on the southern shore of Itissaalik Island, an island in Sugar Loaf Bay.- History :Itissaalik was established in 1904, and temporarily...

 (also spelled Itussaalik) was established on the island. It was repopulated again in 1911, and finally abandoned in 1957, during the post-war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 consolidation phase in northwestern Greenland.

Geography

Itissaalik Island is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...

, in the northern part of Sugar Loaf Bay

Sugar Loaf Bay

Sugar Loaf Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentiation of northeastern Baffin Bay...

, an indentiation of Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...

. The island is part of a chain of small islands off the southern coast of Nuussuaq Peninsula

Nuussuaq Peninsula (Upernavik Archipelago)

Nuussuaq Peninsula is a mainland peninsula in northwestern Greenland, located at the northern end of Upernavik Archipelago, approximately to the south of Melville Bay...

. Other islands in the chain include Sugar Loaf Island

Sugar Loaf Island

Sugar Loaf Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. The island is a single flooded mountain of . Its name means "heart-shaped" in the Greenlandic language...

, Timilersua Island

Timilersua Island

Timilersua Island is a small, uninhabited island in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- Geography :...

, and Saarlia to the southwest of Itissaalik − and Paornarqortuut and Inussulikassak to the northeast. The closest settlement is Nuussuaq

Nuussuaq

Nuussuaq is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is the only mainland settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago, located near the western tip of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, on the northern coast of Sugar Loaf Bay, an indentiation of Baffin Bay.The settlement was...

, approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) to the west-north-west of the island.