Kulusuk: A Rocky Island Settlement in East Greenland

Kulusuk is a small settlement on Kulusuk Island in the Ammassalik region of southeastern Greenland. A permanent settlement was established in 1909, when Danish Lutheran missionaries founded a mission and families from nearby islands settled around it. The community occupies rugged exposed bedrock with sparse, shallow soils; permafrost occurs discontinuously rather than beneath the entire island.

Kulusuk Airport was built by the United States in 1956 to support the DYE-4 Cold War radar station. It later became a civilian gateway to East Greenland. Gravel roads connect the settlement, airport and former radar site, while regional transportation includes aircraft, helicopters and small boats. Within and around Kulusuk, people travel mainly on foot or by boat in summer and by dog sled, snowmobile, skis or snowshoes in winter.

Statistics Greenland recorded 204 residents on January 1, 2026, compared with the 267 cited in the original 2015 story. The photographs document brightly painted and weathered wooden buildings, small boats, sled dogs, a cemetery and sparse tundra vegetation across the rocky landscape.