Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik or Angmagssalik, town, southeastern Greenland, on the south coast of Ammassalik Island. The island is 25 miles (40 km) long and 12–20 miles (19–32 km) wide, with a high point of 4,336 feet (1,322 metres). Although Europeans landed as early as 1472, the region was not explored until 1884, when Gustav Holm, a Dane, mapped the coast. A trading and mission station was established in 1895 to help sustain the Greenlandic (Eskimo) population with imported food and firearms for hunting. It was originally named for a type of fish called ammassat in Greenlandic (English: capelin), which spawns in the coastal waters. Today the town is the administrative and educational centre of southeastern Greenland. Fishing is limited, but hunting is a major activity. Tourism is a growing industry. Pop. (2007) 1,895.