The vast majority of Greenland's 60,000 residents live in coastal cities on the island's west coast. The east coast is mostly ice blocked and sparsely populated.

Nuuk, Greenland's largest city and the Home Rule's capital, sits on the west coast, several hundred miles south of the Arctic circle. It was founded in 1728 by Danish missionary Hans Egede. A company and church were established, with a community of 12 Greenlandic families. Today, Nuuk has more than 14,000 residents.

As the island's largest urban center, Nuuk may give first-time visitors a distorted view of contemporary Greenland and Greenlandic society, the way New York would distort a visitor's view of the U.S.A. In Nuuk, you'll find lots of cars, a few stoplights, three city buses, teenagers zipping by on roller blades, two large food stores, enormous apartments built by the Danish government, new subdivisions, and a very large and active port. I didn't particularly like the city; it's a gray, foggy place, and it rained frequently during my stay in June 1998. My stay in Nuuk a year later, in 1999, was marked by amazing blue skies and one of the most remarkable moon rises I've ever seen.

In addition to visiting Nuuk in 1998, I also saw Maniitsoq, Kangaamiut, and Sisimiut. Like Nuuk, these coastal cities are accessible by Greenland's ferry system called KNI. Sisimiut is Greenland's second-largest city, with about 5,500 residents. Sisimiut was my favorite city, and I spent more than a week there. It is surrounded by fantastic mountains and is home to nearly 5,000 Greenland sledge dogs. Their howls during feeding time are not to be forgotten. All of these cities, and Nuuk, rely extensively on commercial fishing, which is the primary employer.

In 1999, I landed in south Greenland (see this map), at the old U.S. airbase called Narsasuaq. From here I fanned out to the towns of Nanortalik, Qaqortoq, Narsaq, Igaliku, and Qassiarsuk. Narsaq ranks as my favorite city in the south, with hillsides covered with buttercups and magical fog.

I did not have a chance to visit Greenland's coastal communities around Disko Bay, where calved icebergs float in the ocean and whales abound. I regret that lost opportunity and hope to visit them on a future trip. The most popular destination among tourists was Ilulissat, birthplace of Greenland's most famous first son, Knud Rasmussen.

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