Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland - Encounters at the Edge

Nuuk, meaning “the cape”, was Greenland’s first town (1728). Started as a fort and later mission and trading post some 240 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, it is the current capital. Almost 30% of Greenland’s population lives in the town. Not only does Nuuk have great natural beauty in its vicinity, but there are Inuit ruins, Hans Egede’s home, the parliament, and the Church of our Saviour as well. The Greenlandic National Museum has an outstanding collection of Greenlandic traditional dresses, as well as the famous Qilakitsoq mummies. The Katuaq Cultural Center’s building was inspired by the undulating Northern Lights and can house 10% of Nuuk’s inhabitants.

The largest town in southern Greenland, Qaqortoq has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Upon arrival in this charming southern Greenland enclave, it's easy to see why. Qaqortoq rises quite steeply over the fjord system around the city, offering breath-taking panoramic vistas of the surrounding mountains, deep, blue sea, Lake Tasersuag, icebergs in the bay, and pastoral backcountry. Although the earliest signs of ancient civilization in Qaqortoq date back 4,300 years, Qaqortoq is known to have been inhabited by Norse and Inuit settlers in the 10th and 12th centuries, and the present-day town was founded in 1774. In the years since, Qaqortoq has evolved into a seaport and trading hub for fish and shrimp processing, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair.

At 68 degrees North, Narvik lies 140 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Its history as a settlement began in the Stone Age, and Vikings are also known to have lived in the area. The modern town came into existence in the 1870s to serve the needs of the iron industry. Iron ore is mined in neighbouring Sweden and, as an ice-free port, Narvik was chosen as the ideal export location. The LKAB mining corporation is still a major employer and landowner in the area, shipping some 25,000,000 tons of iron ore from the port annually. This industrial heritage has shaped the town and now forms the basis of some of its most popular tourist attractions. In 1883 a co-owned British-Swedish company was given permission to build a railway connecting the Swedish iron mines in Kiruna to Narvik. It opened in 1902 and the town, then christened Victoriahavn, grew up around it. Unfortunately much of Narvik was destroyed in World War II. Invaded by the Nazis on 9 April 1940, it was later retaken by the Allies, representing the first military defeat of Hitler’s troops, but was evacuated as part of Operation Alphabet when it came under German occupation again. The local war museum documents the turbulent history of this period.

Old meets new in the province's capital (metro-area population a little more than 200,000), with modern office buildings surrounded by heritage shops and colorful row houses. St. John's mixes English and Irish influences, Victorian architecture and modern convenience, and traditional music and rock and roll into a heady brew. The arts scene is lively, but overall the city moves at a relaxed pace.For centuries, Newfoundland was the largest supplier of salt cod in the world, and St. John's Harbour was the center of the trade. As early as 1627, the merchants of Water Street—then known as the Lower Path—were doing a thriving business buying fish, selling goods, and supplying alcohol to soldiers and sailors.