Northeast Greenland National Park (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, Danish: Grønlands Nationalpark) is the largest national park in the world and the 10th largest protected area. Most of the larger protected areas are mostly ocean. The park was created in 1974 and grew to its current size in 1988. It covers 972,000 square kilometers (375,000 square miles) of Greenland’s interior and northeastern coast. This area is larger than Tanzania but smaller than Egypt. This means the park is bigger than 166 of the world’s 195 countries. It was the first national park in the Kingdom of Denmark and remains Greenland’s only national park. The park is the northernmost national park in the world. It is also the second-largest area among second-level regions in any country, only smaller than the Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, Canada.
Geography
The park has borders that are mostly straight lines, shared with the Sermersooq municipality in the south and with the Avannaata municipality in the west, partly along the 45° West meridian on the ice cap. Most of the park is covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, but there are also large areas without ice along the coast and on Peary Land in the north. The park includes the geographical areas of King Frederick VIII Land and King Christian X Land.
History
The park was first created on May 22, 1974, from the northern, nearly empty area of the former Ittoqqortoormiit Municipality in Tunu (East Greenland). In 1988, the park was expanded by an additional 272,000 km (105,000 mi), adding the northeastern part of the former county of Avannaa (North Greenland). In January 1977, the park was named an international biosphere reserve. It is managed by the Greenland Department of Environment and Nature. The historical research camps on the ice sheet—Eismitte and North Ice—are located within the park's boundaries.
Population
The park does not have any permanent human population, though 400 sites are used sometimes in the summer. In 1986, 40 people lived at Mestersvig. These individuals worked on cleaning and closing mining exploration sites and later left. Since then, population counts have shown zero permanent human residents. In 2008, 31 people and about 110 dogs were present during winter in North East Greenland. These individuals were spread across the following stations (all located on the coast, except Summit Camp):
- Daneborg (12) – headquarters for the Sirius Patrol, which is the park's police force
- Danmarkshavn (8) – civilian weather station
- Station Nord (5) – military base
- Mestersvig (2) – military outpost with a gravel runway that is 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) long
- Zackenberg (0) – a research station used only in the summer
- Summit Camp (4) – research station on the Greenland Ice Sheet
During the summer, scientists increase the number of people present. The research station Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations (ZERO; located at 74°28′11″N 20°34′15″W / 74.469725°N 20.570847°W / 74.469725; -20.570847) can accommodate more than 20 scientists and station staff.
Fauna
An estimated 5,000 to 15,000 musk oxen, as well as many polar bears and walrus, live near the coastal areas of the park. In 1993, this number was about 40% of the world's musk oxen population. Other mammals in the park include Arctic fox, stoat, collared lemming, Arctic hare, and a small but important group of Greenland wolves. Marine mammals found here are ringed seal, bearded seal, harp seal, hooded seal, narwhal, and beluga whale.
Birds that breed in the park include great northern diver, barnacle goose, pink-footed goose, common eider, king eider, gyrfalcon, snowy owl, sanderling, ptarmigan, and raven.