Qasigiannguit is a town located on the southeastern shore of Disko Bay

Disko Bay

Disko Bay is a bay on the western coast of Greenland. The bay constitutes a wide southeastern inlet of Baffin Bay.- Geography :To the south the coastline is complicated with multiple waterways of skerries and small islands in the Aasiaat archipelago...

, 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 western 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...

. With 1,253 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. The main industry is shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 and halibut

Halibut

Halibut is a flatfish, genus Hippoglossus, from the family of the right-eye flounders . Other flatfish are also called halibut. The name is derived from haly and butt , for its popularity on Catholic holy days...

 fishing.

History

Qasigiannguit was founded in 1734, and is home to Greenland's oldest wooden house. The former house of Paul Egede

Paul Egede

Paul Egede was a Danish-Norwegian theologian, missionary to Greenland and scholar of the Greenlandic language....

, was inaugurated on 25 July 1734, in the colony of Christianshåb. Because of the wind, the house was moved across the small bay to its present site during 1806. In 1997 the museum was officially opened in the Egede house. In the summer of 1999, an archaeological discovery provided the museum with a collection of finds from different prehistoric cultures.

Air

During winter Air Greenland

Air Greenland

Air Greenland A/S is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group, and the government of Denmark...

 operates winter-only air services from the town heliport to Ilulissat

Ilulissat

Ilulissat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut....

, Qeqertarsuaq

Qeqertarsuaq

Qeqertarsuaq is a port and a town in Qaasuitsup municipality, located on the south coast of Qeqertarsuaq Island, an island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, it is home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen...

 on Disko Island

Disko Island

Disko Island is a large island in Baffin Bay, off the west coast of Greenland. It has an area of , making it the second largest island of Greenland and one of the 100 largest islands in the world...

 and Aasiaat

Aasiaat

Aasiaat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland. Located in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 3,005 as of 2010, it is Greenland's fifth-largest town.-Etymology:...

.

Sea

During summer and autumn, when the waters of Disko Bay are navigable, communication between settlements is by sea only, serviced by Diskoline

Diskoline

Disko Line A/S is a passenger and freight ferry line in western Greenland. It was founded in 2004 as a small freight company.- Complementary transport services :...

. The ferry links Qasigiannguit with Ilulissat, Aasiaat, Ikamiut

Ikamiut

Ikamiut is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located on a small island in the Aasiaat Archipelago on the southern shores of Disko Bay. Its population is 96 as of 2010.- Transport :...

, Akunnaaq

Akunnaaq

Akunnaaq is a settlement in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland. Its population is 101 as of 2010. Akunnaaq is located east of Aasiaat on the Akunnaap Nunnaa island...

, and Qeqertarsuaq.

Population

With 1,253 inhabitants as of 2010, Qasigiannguit is the fourth-largest town in the Qaasuitsup municipality. The population has decreased by more than 22 percent relative to the 1990 levels, and by nearly 11 percent relative to the 2000 levels, decreasing over the course of the last decade.