Landmark North America
Aasivissuit–Nipisat
Aasivissuit–Nipisat is a wide, wild landscape in Greenland. For thousands of years, people have hunted and fished here, from the sea to the ice.
Aasivissuit–Nipisat is a World Heritage landscape in West Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle. It stretches from the sea to the ice sheet, and UNESCO says it holds evidence of 4,200 years of people hunting, fishing and moving with the seasons.
Aasivissuit–Nipisat: Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea is a 417,800-hectare cultural landscape in West Greenland, a transect about 235 km long running from the Davis Strait to the ice sheet. Inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 under criterion (v), it preserves 4,200 years of evidence of fisher-hunter-gatherer cultures, from the Saqqaq to the Inuit of today.
Photo: Chmee2/Valtameri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Aasivissuit–Nipisat
Aasivissuit–Nipisat is a wide, wild land in Greenland.
It goes from the sea, past fjords and lakes, to the ice.
Aasivissuit–Nipisat lies in West Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle. It is a long strip of land and sea that runs from the ocean in the west, through fjords and valleys, all the way to the ice sheet in the east.
UNESCO calls it a cultural landscape: a place shaped by people living with nature. Its name joins two places: Nipisat, an island in the west, and Aasivissuit, a summer camp near the ice.
The property covers 417,800 hectares north of the Arctic Circle in West Greenland. ICOMOS, which evaluated it for UNESCO, describes an irregular west-to-east transect about 235 km long and up to 20 km wide, reaching from the Davis Strait into about 40 km of the ice sheet.
UNESCO inscribed it in 2018 as an organically evolved and continuing cultural landscape, on criterion (v). Its full name, Aasivissuit – Nipisat: Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea, joins its two ends: Nipisat Island in the west and Aasivissuit near the ice cap in the east.
- Where
- West Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle
- Area
- 417,800 hectares
- Human history
- About 4,200 years
- World Heritage
- 2018, cultural landscape
4,200 years of people
People have lived here for a very long time.
They hunted animals on land and at sea, and fished in the water.
UNESCO says this landscape holds evidence of 4,200 years of human history. Three groups of people came to Greenland from what is now Canada: the Saqqaq, the Dorset and the Thule Inuit. In the 1700s, settlers from Denmark-Norway built settlements on Nipisat.
The Saqqaq, the Dorset and the Inuit all lived by hunting animals on land and at sea, and by fishing. In summer, people traveled from the coast inland to hunt caribou, then went back in late autumn.
UNESCO dates the archaeological sites to the Saqqaq (2500-700 BC), Dorset (800 BC-1 AD), Thule Inuit (from the 13th century) and colonial periods (from the 18th century). ICOMOS notes that these three migrations of Paleo-Inuit and Inuit peoples came from present-day Canada, and that from the 18th century colonists from Denmark-Norway settled on Nipisat.
Despite many differences, ICOMOS says, these cultures shared a way of life based on hunting at sea and on land. People moved west to east in summer to reach the caribou hunting grounds and returned to the coast in late autumn; UNESCO notes that some of these seasonal hunting and migration practices continue today.
Houses, camps and caribou hunts
In winter, people shared big houses by the sea.
In summer, they camped inland and hunted caribou together.
UNESCO says two things make this landscape special: large shared winter houses, and signs of caribou hunts done together by groups of hunters.
At Aasivissuit, the biggest summer camp, ICOMOS describes a caribou drive system 3.9 km long, the largest in Greenland, along with piles of stones and fences that gave the hunters places to hide.
UNESCO names large communal winter houses and evidence of communal caribou hunting with hides and drive systems as the property's distinctive features. ICOMOS describes Aasivissuit, on the shores of a lake, as the largest summer camp, with Thule hunting features, tent rings, meat caches and a caribou drive system 3.9 km long, the largest in Greenland, along with stone cairns and fences used as hides for the hunters.
On the coast facing the Davis Strait, the winter settlements of Arajutsisut and Innap Nuua keep the remains of communal houses: ICOMOS counts five at Arajutsisut, typical of 17th-18th century coastal settlements, and three large, well-preserved ones at Innap Nuua.
Seven key places
The landscape has seven special places.
One island is in the sea. One summer camp is near the ice.
UNESCO tells the story of this landscape through seven key places, from Nipisat Island in the west to Aasivissuit in the east. On Nipisat, archaeologists dug up a summer camp of the Saqqaq people from 1989 to 1994.
Sarfannguit, founded in 1843, is the only village where people live today. Other places include summer camps that people still reach by small river boats.
ICOMOS describes the seven key localities from east to west: Aasivissuit; Itinnerup Tupersuai, summer camps on the route inland, still reached by small river boats; Saqqarliit, an abandoned fjord settlement founded in 1859; Sarfannguit, founded in 1843, the only inhabited settlement (about 120 people in 2018, working mainly in fishing and hunting); the winter settlements of Arajutsisut and Innap Nuua; and Nipisat Island.
On Nipisat a Saqqaq summer camp dated to 2200-700 BC was excavated from 1989 to 1994, yielding well-preserved bone, ivory and antler objects and stone tools; ICOMOS notes that many finds are shown at the museum in Sisimiut.
- Key localities
- Seven, from Nipisat to Aasivissuit
- Caribou drive system
- 3.9 km (ICOMOS)
- Village
- Sarfannguit, founded 1843
- Nipisat dig
- 1989-1994 (Saqqaq camp)
Fjord, river and tundra
This photo shows a fjord and a river on a cloudy summer day.
Green plants and dark rocks cover the ground.
This photo was taken on 30 July 2010, during a hike on the Arctic Circle Trail. It looks across low green land with pools and dark rocks to the Itinneq River, which winds toward the gray water of Maligiaq Fjord between rocky hills.
The ICOMOS report on the World Heritage landscape includes a photo of the same river and fjord.
The photo (Chmee2 and Valtameri, 30 July 2010) was taken on the Arctic Circle Trail, which ICOMOS says runs for 160 km and crosses part of the property. It looks along the Itinneq River and its pools to Maligiaq Fjord, framed by bare rocky slopes under an overcast sky; low plants and boulders cover the foreground.
ICOMOS describes seasonal routes from Ikertooq Fjord through Maligiaq and Itinneq to Aasivissuit, and its report includes a photo captioned 'River in Itinneq and fjord of Maligiaq'.
Amazing facts
-
Hunters here made a way to drive caribou that is almost 4 km long!
At Aasivissuit, hunters built a caribou drive system 3.9 km long, the largest in Greenland, ICOMOS says.
ICOMOS describes the caribou drive system at Aasivissuit (3.9 km) as the largest in Greenland, along with stone cairns and fences used as hides for the hunters.
-
Only one village in this land has people living in it today!
Sarfannguit, founded in 1843, is the only village inside the World Heritage landscape where people still live.
ICOMOS records Sarfannguit (founded 1843, about 120 inhabitants in 2018) as the only inhabited settlement in the property.
-
Long ago, the edge of the ice was farther away than it is now!
About 6,000 years ago, the edge of the ice sheet lay about 40 km farther east than it does today, ICOMOS says; the ice reached its present position about 3,500 years ago.
ICOMOS notes that about 6,000 years ago the ice sheet edge lay about 40 km east of its present extent, roughly at the property's eastern boundary, and reached its current position about 3,500 years ago.
Words to know
- cultural landscape
- a place shaped by people and nature working together over a long time
- fjord
- a long, narrow arm of the sea between steep hills or cliffs
- caribou
- a kind of wild deer that lives in cold northern lands
- ice sheet
- a very large, thick layer of ice that covers a wide area of land
- archaeologist
- a scientist who studies how people lived long ago from the things they left behind
- migration
- moving from one place to another, often with the seasons
Discovery challenge
-
On which big island is Aasivissuit–Nipisat?
On which island is Aasivissuit–Nipisat?
Aasivissuit–Nipisat lies in the western part of which island?
- Greenland
- Iceland
- Madagascar
Show the answer
Greenland
Greenland!
Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle.
Greenland: the property is in West Greenland.
-
Which animal did people hunt in summer?
Which animal did people travel inland to hunt each summer?
Communal summer hunts with drive systems and hides were aimed at which animal?
- Caribou
- Camels
- Zebras
Show the answer
Caribou
Caribou!
Caribou, a kind of wild deer.
Caribou.
-
How many years have people lived here?
UNESCO says the landscape holds evidence of how many years of human history?
How many years of human history does UNESCO say the transect preserves?
- 4,200
- 420
- 42
Show the answer
4,200
4,200 years!
About 4,200 years.
4,200 years.
-
How many key places does the landscape have?
Through how many key places does UNESCO tell the landscape's story?
How many key localities, from Nipisat to Aasivissuit, present the cultural landscape?
- Seven
- Two
- Twenty
Show the answer
Seven
Seven!
Seven key places.
Seven key localities.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how people moved between the coast and the inland with the seasons.
- Explain what a cultural landscape is.
- Name some of the peoples who lived in West Greenland over 4,200 years.
Recommended ages: 4 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might people move to different places in summer and winter?
- Why would many families share one big winter house?
- How can archaeologists learn about people from stones, tools and old camps?
Try at home or in class
- Draw a long strip from the sea to the ice and mark where people spent summer and winter.
- Make a timeline on a strip of paper from 2500 BC to today and mark the peoples on this page.
Key vocabulary: cultural landscape, fjord, caribou, ice sheet, archaeologist, migration
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Aasivissuit – Nipisat. Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea (World Heritage List) , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Decision 42 COM 8B.27: Aasivissuit – Nipisat , UNESCO World Heritage Committee
- Aasivissuit – Nipisat (Denmark), No 1557: ICOMOS evaluation , ICOMOS / UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Aasivissuit – Nipisat , Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces
- File:Maligiaq fjord in summer 2010 (2).JPG , Wikimedia Commons
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.