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Kingittorsuaq Island

Coordinates: 72°57′55″N 56°12′45″W / 72.96528°N 56.21250°W / 72.96528; -56.21250
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Kingittorsuaq
Aerial view of Kingittorsuaq Island
Kingittorsuaq is located in Greenland
Kingittorsuaq
Kingittorsuaq
Geography
LocationGreenland
Coordinates72°57′55″N 56°12′45″W / 72.96528°N 56.21250°W / 72.96528; -56.21250
ArchipelagoUpernavik Archipelago
Length3.7 km (2.3 mi)
Width2.7 km (1.68 mi)
Administration
Greenland
MunicipalityAvannaata

Kingittorsuaq Island (old spelling: Kingigtorssuaq) is a small, uninhabited island in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a small island in the southern part of the Upernavik Archipelago, located on the southwestern shores of Upernavik Icefjord, near the mouth of the latter where it opens into Baffin Bay.[1] The name of the island means "a large protruding rock" in the Greenlandic language.

History

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Runestone

The Kingittorsuaq runestone (old spelling: Kingigtorssuaq runestone) dating from the Middle Ages[2] was found in 1824 on the highest point of the island, in a group of three cairns forming an equilateral triangle. The stone is now located at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

References

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  1. ^ Upernavik, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
  2. ^ Enterline, James Robert (2002). Erikson, Eskimos & Columbus: Medieval European Knowledge of America. Center for American Places (illustrated ed.). JHU Press. pp. 127–129. ISBN 0-8018-6660-X. Retrieved 2010-08-26.