Paamiut

Geography

Paamiut is located on the coast of Labrador Sea in the southern end of a small estuary called Kuannersooq ("Inlet").

History

People have lived in the Paamiut area since around 1500 BC. The name Paamiut is Kalaallisut for "Those who Reside by the Mouth (of the fiord)".

The trading post of Frederikshaab (sometimes anglicized as Frederick's Hope) was established by Jacob Severin's company in 1742 and named in honor of the Crown Prince Frederick (later King Frederick V of Denmark).

The community prospered on trading fur and whale products. It also became known for its soapstone artists. The town has one of the finest churches in Greenland, built in 1909 from wood in the Norwegian style.

Following the warming climatic trends since the 1920s, Paamiut developed a booming cod industry between the 1950s and 1989, when the stock dwindled. In connection with a development plan called G60, Paamiut was chosen as the place to live for the entire population of the former Paamiut municipality. Therefore, the number of people living there rose significantly during that period.

There is a local museum downtown in original buildings from the previous century, among them a carpenter workshop and a salt warehouse. The Danish Crown Princely family visited the town as part of an official tour of Greenland in summer 2014.

Economy

As is the case for other towns of western Greenland, the sea is free of ice during the winter, while fishing is the primary occupation of the inhabitants of the region. Icebergs, coming adrift along the east coast of Greenland with the East Greenland Current and continuing up along the west coast with the West Greenland Current normally arrive in the autumn, bringing numerous seals marking this season as a great time for the local hunters.

Population

With 1,308 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the tenth-largest town in Greenland, down from the seventh in 2005. Paamiut has been losing population for almost every year in the last two decades: more than 31% relative to 1990 levels, almost 20% relative to 2000, and more than 16% relative to 2005.

Transport

Paamiut is a port of call for the Arctic Umiaq ferry service. In November 2007, the Paamiut Airport was built by Mittarfeqarfiit. Connections to Nuuk and Narsarsuaq are served by Air Greenland STOL aircraft.

Climate

Like other coastal areas of Greenland, Paamiut has a typical tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET), with cold winters and cool summers. The average annual high temperature is 2.2 C, while the average annual low temperature is -4.0 C. July has the highest average high at 8.8 C and the highest average low at 2.8 C. January has the lowest average high at -3.4 C. February has the lowest average low at -10.2 C. The highest temperature recorded in Paamiut is 21.2 C in July, and the lowest is -29.6 C in February.

Paamiut receives 878 mm of precipitation over 119.9 precipitation days and 87.1 snowy days. Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year. August, the wettest month, receives 92 mm of rainfall over 10 precipitation days, although other months have more precipitation days. January has the most snowy days with 12.7 snowy days.

| Jan record high C = 12.9 | Feb record high C = 16.0 | Mar record high C = 22.7 | Apr record high C = 24.8 | May record high C = 20.9 | Jun record high C = 23.6 | Jul record high C = 22.7 | Aug record high C = 22.5 | Sep record high C = 20.8 | Oct record high C = 18.5 | Nov record high C = 16.3 | Dec record high C = 14.5 | year record high C = | Jan record low C = -28.9 | Feb record low C = -29.6 | Mar record low C = -30.9 | Apr record low C = -18.5 | May record low C = -14.6 | Jun record low C = -4.0 | Jul record low C = -4.0 | Aug record low C = -2.2 | Sep record low C = -6.5 | Oct record low C = -14.1 | Nov record low C = -20.5 | Dec record low C = -25.3 | year record low C =

References

References

1. "Population by Localities". Statistical Greenland.
2. The [[Kalaallisut orthography. pre-1973 Kalaallisut spelling]] was '''Pâmiut'''.
3. The [[Danish orthography. pre-1948 Danish spelling]] was '''Frederikshaab'''.
4. Rink, Elizabeth. (9 December 2016). "An evaluation of the interaction of place and community-based participatory research as a research methodology in the implementation of a sexually transmitted infection intervention for Greenlandic youth". [[International Journal of Circumpolar Health]].
5. i.a., Lieber, Francis & al. ''Encyclopædia Americana: A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics and Biography''. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=M4JRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA52 Greenland]". B.B. Mussey & Co., 1854.
6. Marquardt, Ole. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=FZQcjsSitEcC&pg=PA153 Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy]" in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006.
7. Del, Anden. "[http://www.ilisimatusarfik.gl/Portals/0/Ekstern/Generelt/Dokumenter/Gr%C3%B8nland%20som%20del%20af%20den%20bibelske%20fort%C3%A6lling%20-%20Ph.d.-afhandling.pdf ''Grønland som del af den bibelske fortælling – en 1700-tals studie''] {{webarchive. link. (2012-07-15 " ["Greenland as Part of the Biblical Narrative – a Study of the 18th-Century"]. {{in lang). da
8. O'Carroll, Etain. (2005). "Greenland and the Arctic". Lonely Planet.
9. "Official visit to Greenland - Qaqortoq, Paamiut and Qeqertarsuatsiaat.". Scandinavian Royalty.
10. [http://airgreenland.com/information/voresdestinationer/flybilletter_til_paamiut/ Air Greenland] {{webarchive. link. (2010-03-06 , Destination overview: Paamiut)
11. [http://www.aul.gl/images/stories/pdf/fartplan%2009.pdf AUL, Timetable 2009]{{dead link. (March 2018)
12. [http://airgreenland.com/ankomster__afgange/ Air Greenland, Departures and Arrivals] {{webarchive. link. (2010-03-09)
13. "Klimanormaler Grønland".
14. "Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020 Greenland".